SISKIN. 109 



The eggs are pale greenish white, spotted around the thicker 

 end with purple, and a few brown dots. 



Incubation lasts fourteen days; the young are fledged in 

 fifteen more, and are able to leave the nest at the end of the 

 third week. 



Male; length, four inches and three quarters; bill, light 

 grey above, and dull white below, the tip dusky; in summer 

 it is orange brown: it is rather long and pointed, and much 

 attenuated towards the tip, which is slightly curved down- 

 wards a sort of rudiment, as it were, of that of the Creeper; 

 the upper mandible extends a little beyond the lower one. 

 Iris, dusky brown: a yellow band extends over and from it 

 backwards, and in front of it, to the bill, is black. Head 

 on the back and sides, yellowish green, streaked with black; 

 crown, black; neck on the back and nape, yellowish green, 

 streaked with black; in front, yellow. Chin and throat, 

 black, when fully adult; breast, yellowish green, whitish at 

 the lower part, and greyish white on the sides, each feather 

 with a black central streak. Back above, yellowish green, 

 tinged with grey, each feather having a dusky streak in its 

 centre; below, yellow. 



The wings, which extend to within half an inch of the 

 end of the tail, expand to the width of nine inches; the first 

 three quills are of nearly equal length and the longest in the 

 wing, the first being rather the longest of the three; the 

 fourth an eighth shorter than the third; greater wing coverts, 

 yellow at the base, black at the tip; lesser wing coverts, 

 black, greenish yellow at the end, forming a broad band of 

 that colour across the wing. 1 Primaries, dusky black, yellow 

 at the base and on the outer edges; secondaries and ter- 

 tiaries, dusky black, with olive-coloured edges. The tail, 

 which is slightly forked, is yellow at the base, black at the 

 end, the edges of the feathers narrowly edged with lighter 

 colour; the two middle feathers brownish black; upper tail 

 coverts, yellow, or yellowish brown ; under tail coverts, greyish 

 white, tinged with yellow, the shafts dark. Legs, toes, and 

 claws, pale brown, with a reddish tinge. 



After the autumnal moult the yellow is less brilliant, and 

 the black of the head is obscured with brown. 



Female; length, not 'quite four inches and a half. The bill 

 is pale brown above and lighter beneath. The yellow streak 

 over the eye is very pale. Head on the sides, pale yellowish 

 brown; crown, neck on the back, and nape, light greyish 



