X THE S i S K i N , 



Fiiiiyilla gjjiiius. — Linn^us. 

 Dei- Zeiziff. — Bech«tei*n. 



T has often been matter for sur- 

 prise that this sweetly docile, 

 pretty, and amusing little bird 

 is not better known, though 

 certainly its merits are fast at- 

 tracting attention; and before 

 long, if the supply of Gold- 

 finches becomes exhausted, the 

 Siskin may j)ossibly sujDply its 

 place as a cage-bird. Better 

 knojyn in Lo'ndon, and in some 

 other parts of England, as the 

 Aberdevine, it may be that 

 the double name has mystified 

 amateur ornithologists ; but 

 from the numbers lately im- 

 ported from Germany, it is 

 seldom that a well-constituted 

 aviary is destitute of one of 

 these sprightly little birds. 



Since no mention of the 

 bird appears in the Rev. Gilbert 

 White's " History of Selborne^'" 

 — and he was a most observant 

 and true naturalist — it would 



