THE SISKIN 105 



branch ; or if the eggs are quite fresh it sometimes flies right 

 away, and we see no more of it. 



During the breeding season the Twite lives on numerous 

 insects, especially a small black beetle; but in autumn it 

 changes its diet considerably, and subsists almost entirely on 

 seeds until the following spring. In autumn the Twite 

 collects into flocks, which wander from the moors to the 

 cultivated lowlands. We often see them on the stubbles or 

 the weedy pastures which the Sky Lark loves, and not un- 

 frequently a flock may be seen amongst the meadow grass. 

 Here their habits and actions are very similar to those of the 

 Linnet and the Bedpole. These flocks of Twites often keep 

 together till very late in the spring and long after the birds 

 have reached their summer haunts on the moors. I have 

 seen the Twite in flocks as late as the end of May ; and in 

 St. Kilda in early June numbers of these birds, mostly young 

 ones, were feeding on the weedy grass lands. When alarmed 

 the whole flock rise simultaneously and career about the air, 

 uttering their musical twittering call-notes ; and even in 

 winter the males occasionally indulge in little bursts of song. 



