104 OUR RARER BRITISH BREEDING BIRDS. 



which, luckily enough, cannot be visited by even, 

 the most daring cragsman on account of its rotten 

 character. 



The Manx Shearwater breeds fairly plentifully 

 in the Scilly Islands and in suitable places round 

 the Irish coast, in addition to the west side of 

 Scotland, where it patronises the Inner Hebrides, 

 principally. It also rears its young in the Orkney 

 and Shetland Islands. 



The nesting burrow is said to be invariably 

 dug by the bird itself, and the single smooth 

 white egg is like that of its near relative the 

 Fork-Tailed Petrel sometimes laid on a few blades- 

 of dead grass or fern fronds, and at others on the 

 bare mould. 



SISKIN. 



ALTHOUGH numbers of Siskins are no doubt caught 

 every winter in England, to supply the demand 

 for them as cage pets, in which capacity they are 

 great favourites, I think these chiefly belong to 

 the continental species, roaming from place to 

 place in search of food. 



The nest has been found very sparingly in various 

 parts of England from time to time, but in Scot- 

 land it breeds regularly in many of the great pine 

 forests so well suited to its habits. I have heard 

 that its breeding numbers are decreasing in that 

 country, but the increase of timber land and game 

 preserving one would think ought to help it, and 

 whilst in some of the great Highland forests last 

 spring, I could find no evidence of its diminution. 

 But, of course, precise evidence in regard to a 

 bird of its rarity and habits is obviously difficult 



