108 SISKIN. 



Lincolnshire, which he saw in the marshes. In Surrey, 

 Cambridgeshire, Sussex, Salop, Dorset, Devon, Suffolk, Norfolk, 

 Durham, Northumberland, Lancashire, and Cornwall, they are 

 more or less frequently met with. 



In Scotland they are, on the whole, rare, though they are 

 believed to breed there, and considerable numbers have occa- 

 sionally been observed in Edinburghshire, Perthshire, Selkirk- 

 shire, and East Lothian. 



In Ireland it is also an occasional visitor, and has been 

 noticed near Belfast, Ballymena, Lough Mask, Armagh, Hock- 

 land, Mertoun, Cork, Tanderagee, Antrim, Ranelagh, and 

 Dublin, and in the counties of Wicklow, Cavan, Wexford, and 

 Londonderry. 



The Siskin, with us, migrates from the north to the south 

 in the autumn, leaving in September, and returning in April. 

 A few have been known to breed in the latter portion of the 

 island, and more in the former. Mr. Yarrell mentions two 

 such instances near London, and Mr. Meyer two others, both 

 in Coombe wood, in the same neighbourhood. Near Lan- 

 caster, several pairs remained and bred in the summer of 

 1836. In Scotland a few pairs breed in different parts every 

 season, and have been noticed at New Abbey, in Gralloway, 

 Killin, Inverary, the Yale of Alford, Aberdeenshire and Argyle- 

 shire, Camperdown, near Dundee, and on the borders of Lough 

 Fine. 



They are companionable birds with each other, going in 

 flocks, in association also not unfrequently with others of their 

 'country cousins,' the Linnets of the smaller and the larger 

 species. In confinement they shew great affection for their 

 mates, and pair with the Canary. They are almost con- 

 stantly in motion, both in their wild and confined state. 



Their food consists of the seeds of the alder, the sycamore, 

 the beech, the broom, the thistle, the dandelion, the ragwort, 

 and those of other plants and trees. 



Their song is sweet, and much esteemed; and a pleasant 

 thing it is to hear this 'Bonnie wee thing' twittering its small 

 note, as it hangs in every variety of attitude on the alder, 

 or flits from bough to bough, or tree to tree, in search of its 

 accustomed food. 



The nest is placed in trees, at only a short or moderate 

 height from the ground, and is composed of stalks of grass, 

 and small roots and fibres, moss and lichens, lined with hair, 

 rabbits' fur, thistle-down, wool, or a few feathers. 



