162 THE SISKIN. 



The varieties are the black siskin, the white siskin, and the 

 speckled siskin. I have occasionally killed these birds with a 

 breast entirely black. 



HABITATION. In its wild state it is found throughout Europe ; it is very 

 common in Germany, where it remains all the year *, but in winter it 

 wanders about in search of food, and most frequents the parts well planted 

 with alders. In the house, whether in a cage or not, it soon becomes very 

 familiar. 



POOD When wild it varies according to the season ; in summer it eats 



in the woods the seeds of the pine and fir ; in autumn, of hops, thistles, 

 burdock ; in winter, of the alder and the buds of trees. 



In.the house its food is poppy.seed and a little hemp-seed bruised. If 

 allowed to range, the first universal paste suits it. It is a complete glutton, 

 and, though so small, eats more than the chaffinch ; it is at the seed drawer 

 from morning till night, constantly eating, and driving off all its com- 

 panions. It does not drink less, and requires abundance of fresh water ; 

 yet it bathes but little, only plunging the beak in the water, and thus 

 scattering it over its feathers, but it is very assiduous in arranging them ; 

 it may be called a fop, always engaged with finery. 



BREEDING. The siskin rarely builds its nest among the alders, but 

 generally in the pine forests, placing it at the extremity of the highest 

 branches, and fixing it there with cobwebs, the threads of insects and lichens. 

 The outer part is well formed of small twigs, and the lining is formed of 

 finely divided roots. It has two broods in the year, each of five or six 

 eggs, of a light grey, strongly spotted with purplish brown, particularly at 

 the large end. The young males become finer each year till the 

 fourth. 



The mules, produced by the siskin pairing with the canary, partake of 

 the two species, and are very prettily spotted if the canary is yellow ; but 

 this union is not so easy as that with the green canary, which appears to 

 bear a nearer relation to the siskin. 



DISEASES. To the other maladies common to the birds of this family we 

 must add epilepsy, of which these birds often die y. They may, however, 

 be kept from eight to twelve years. 



MODE OF TAKING. With good traps and nets made for this purpose, 

 several dozen of these birds may be taken at once in the winter. They also 

 collect in numbers, in the spring, on the decoy bush, and they are so fear- 

 less, that in the villages a person, who has his house situated near a stream 

 bordered with alders, need only place a siskin in the window, near a stick 

 covered with bird-lime, and he may catch as many as he wishes. I have 



* It only comes to England during winter. TRANSLATOR. 



t It is not so often of epilepsy, and fat, that male birds die, as for the want of 

 pairing. Perhaps this may be increased, thoughtlessly, by too heating and too 

 succulent food. However this may be, if a male that has died thus in spring be 

 dissected, its reproductive organs will be found exceedingly swelled. It can only be 

 preserved by giving at the time refreshing and moderate food. Boiled bread and 

 milk is very useful. TRANSLATOR. 



