the first eggs are laid early in April and the second in June. The nest is 

 nearly always in some pine or fir, at a considerable height from the ground, 

 and is placed in a fork near the end of a horizontal branch far from the 

 trunk of the tree. I once flushed a Siskin from a blackthorn bush on the 

 side of a bare hill near Callander, Perthshire, and found a newly-made nest ; 

 but though I returned on several occasions, and waited some time in the 

 neighbourhood, I never saw the bird again save once, and no eggs were 

 ever deposited in the nest. Near the Lake of Monteith I used to find a 

 good many nests in a small clump of large silver firs ; they were nearly always 

 very near the tops of the trees, and out on the point of some branch which 

 was overhung by the one above. The gale of 1894 laid low all the silver firs, 

 and I have not since observed the same number of birds. In Rothiemurchus 

 Forest the nests I have seen were usually in the top twigs of some Scotch 

 fir, or on the tip of some spruce fir branch high up ; as a rule, the nest is 

 quite out of sight from the ground, and can only be located by watching the 

 birds. 



The nest somewhat resembles that of the Greenfinch, but is usually more 

 carefully constructed. A foundation of dry grass and heather or fir sticks 

 is first made ; on this the nest proper is built of moss and grass-roots with a 

 little lichen on the outside lined with fir-roots and thistledown ; a second 

 type of nest is very like that of the Chaffinch, but is not lined with horse- 

 hair. 



Five or six eggs are laid ; the ground-colour is a pale bluish green with 

 markings of a deep reddish brown, and underlying marks of pinkish grey. 

 On some specimens the markings take the form of streaks and specks ; on 

 others they are mere round spots ; they are generally most conspicuous on the 

 larger end of the egg. They measure from 72 to '64 inch in length, and 

 from '54 to '50 inch in breadth. 



The female builds the nest herself, the male assisting in collecting the 

 materials. During the period of incubation the female alone sits on the eggs, 

 while the male brings food to her; both birds, however, supply the young 

 with food. 



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