248 A HOME BREEDER. 



with Linnets, twitting almost incessantly as they fly, appa- 

 rently for the purpose of keeping their numbers together ; 

 while they search the alder, "birch, and larch trees for seeds 

 as food. Their note very much resembles that of the 

 Lesser Eedpole. Macgillivray says that < the Siskin ap- 

 pears in autumn and winter, in large flocks, feeding on the 

 seeds of thistles and other composite, as well as on those 

 of the birch and alder, which it extracts from the cones. 

 When engaged in this manner, it clings to the twigs in all 

 sorts of attitudes, and is commonly so intent on its occupa- 

 tion as to allow a person to approach unobserved. It has, 

 of late years, been found breeding in England and Scotland ; 

 and it is probable that most, if not all, of the individuals 

 seen in this country in the winter months are indigenous.' 



Among other authorities cited by this author in proof of 

 the Siskin's breeding in Scotland, is Mr. Weir, who gives 

 this account of the habits of the bird : 



About the latter end of May 1834, as I was returning from Bath- 

 gate, I was astonished at seeing, on the parish road between it and 

 my house, a pair of Siskins feeding very greedily on the ripe tops of 

 the dandelion. The head of the male was very dark, and the yellow 

 on the wings uncommonly rich. I followed them for several hundred 

 yards, being exceedingly anxious to discover their nest. In this, 

 however, I did not succeed, as they flew off to a considerable distance, 

 when I lost sight of them. Several individuals with whom I was 

 acquainted told me they had seen them near to the place where I had 

 formerly started them. I again and again renewed my search, but 

 without success. A few days after this, when persons were catching 

 Rose Linnets with birdlime in a small park belonging to me, they 

 were struck with an unusual chirping of young birds in a spruce, 

 which was planted in the middle of a very strong hawthorn hedge. 

 When they were looking into the tree in order to discover what kind 

 of birds they were, they immediately flew out of the nest, and, being 

 ripe, effected their escape. They appeared to have a resemblance to 

 the female Siskin. The nest was a small one ; it was built upon two 

 branches, one side of it resting upon the trunk of the tree. It was 

 about five and a half feet from the ground, and within twelve yards 

 of the north Glasgow road, and was one of the best concealed nests 

 I ever saw. The old Siskins, with their four young ones, were seen 

 for two or three weeks afterwards in the immediate neighbourhood. 



I 



