AUTUMN BIRD LIFE 257 



occasionally nesting. " They perch on trees ; and I 

 have seen them more often about beech-trees than 

 any other ; but this may be the effect of chance." 

 In appearance, they resemble the female of the 

 snow-bunting, but differ in their perching habit. 



Our own resident members of the same group 

 scatter south, in numbers varying with the mild- 

 ness, or severity of the season. All our finches, 

 indeed, all our seed-eating birds which move at 

 all, change from colder latitudes. All our native 

 finches move from the Highlands to the Lowlands. 

 Whereas, the soft-billed birds appear in the southern 

 counties of England, and some refuse to go very 

 far beyond ; the hard - billed birds strike our 

 northern and eastern coasts, or come from across 

 the Tay. 



The sky-line of the Grampians would seem to be 

 the southern limit of several seed birds; for, although 

 they may overflow into the Atholl Highlands, they 

 are nowhere so numerous, or so much at home, as by 

 Dee, or Spey side. 



The siskin is one of those. That interesting 

 little cage-bird, which has nested, and raised its 

 brood, or broods among the alders of mountain 

 streams, or hill-sides, comes out of his Highland 

 fastnesses to the open grounds beyond, in search 

 '7 



