548 FRINGILLID^E. 



birds covered with a black down. The old ones were 

 also taken." Loudon^s Magazine, vol. viii. This gentle- 

 man has succeeded in breeding and rearing Siskins in con- 

 finement, and states that incubation lasts fourteen days ; 

 the young were fledged in fifteen days, and left the nest 

 at the end of the third week. 



This species inhabits Scandinavia, and the southern pro- 

 vinces of Russia ; is said to breed occasionally in Ger- 

 many, but is a visitor for the winter, appearing in autumn 

 in Holland, France, Provence, and Italy. M. Temminck 

 states that specimens received from Japan resemble our 

 Siskin in every particular. 



The adult male in summer has the beak orange brown ; 

 the top of the head velvet black ; the lore, or space be- 

 tween the beak and the eye, is also black ; the irides 

 dusky brown ; the cheeks and ear-coverts yellowish green ; 

 back and scapulars greenish olive, streaked longitudinally 

 with dusky black ; small wing-coverts black, tipped with 

 yellow ; greater wing-coverts yellow at the base, tipped 

 with black ; quill-feathers dusky black, edged with yel- 

 low ; rump and upper tail-coverts yellow ; tail-feathers 

 yellow at the base, dusky black at the end, with narrow 

 light-coloured edges ; the tail slightly forked. Chin black; 

 throat, breast, and belly, yellowish green, streaked longi- 

 tudinally with dusky black on the sides, flanks, and belly ; 

 under tail-coverts greyish white; legs, toes, and claws, brown. 



The whole length of the bird four inches and five- 

 eighths. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, 

 two inches and seven-eighths : the first three quill-feathers 

 nearly equal in length, and the longest in the wing, the 

 first being rather the longest of the three; the fourth 

 one-eighth shorter than the third. 



At the moult which follows the breeding season, the 

 yellow colour is much less brilliant, and the feathers of 



