THE SISKIX.^ 51 



and fibj;es, moss and liehcnsj lined with haii-, rabbits' fur, 

 thistle-^wn, wool, or a few feathers.'" Bechstein, how- 

 ever, thus : — " It prefers building in forests of pine or fir, 

 and phices its nest on the highest boug-h of one of those 

 trees, or sometimes on the branch of the alder. It is 

 fastened to the bough with spiders' wel), coral moss, and 

 threads from the cocoons of various insects, and is cleverly 

 constructed of these materials, woven together with small 

 twigs, "and lined with very fine roots." 



The eggs are of a greyish- white, spotted thickly, par- 

 ticularly at the largerend, with purplish-brown, and are 

 gencTally five or six in number. 



The migratory appearance of the Siskin in this country 

 is somewhat erratic, and is in keeping with the mystery 

 that enshrouds some other of the proceedings of its life. 

 In some years a considerable migration arrives in England 

 from the north, which would almost point to the fact that 

 these little birds must have crossed the German Ocean ; or 

 it may be — for their numbers so considerably vary — that 

 these are merely the birds bred in Scotland. In other 

 years — and this appears to be the real migration — the move- 

 ment proceeds from Norway and Sweden via Germany, 

 picking up the stragglers in that country, and so to the 

 south of England. 



Beclistein observes that the male_generally loses the 

 blaclv of the throat in the moult of the second year ; but 

 this is not a uniform_ rule, as we h ave k nown many varying 

 specimens. The birds, however, invariably increase in 

 brilliancy and beauty of plumage with age. 



The food of the Siskin whilst in Norway and Sweden 

 seems to be the seeds of the firs3nd.^es. In the aut_amn, 

 Bechstein says they exist upon the seeds of t he th istle and 



