THE SISKIN. 279 



thistle-down, which the winds and rains have spared ; 

 and climb, and cling, and flit about in most beau- 

 tiful attitudes. Their song is not powerful, but 

 very sweet ; nor so plaintive as that of the linnet, 

 nor so sprightly as that of the goldfinch ; and the 

 sweetness of the strain is now and then inter- 

 rupted by a jarring note, similar to that made by 

 the nightingale, when angry. The Saxon stocking- 

 weavers fancy that its tones resemble the noise 

 made by the loom, and are accordingly very fond 

 of the siskin. This indefatigable singer can also 

 imitate the notes of other birds, as the chaffinch, 

 or the lark, but it cannot learn to repeat a mu- 

 sical air. 



In Germany, where the siskin remains through- 

 out the year, the nest is fixed to the top of a 

 pine or fir-tree, with the entangling threads of the 

 v/eb wrought by the spider or caterpillar. It is 

 formed of small twigs, and lined with vegetable 

 fibres ; and it contains four or five eggs, of a grey- 

 ish white, spotted with red. 



It is among the dark old forests of the ISTorth, 

 where the rough cold winds sweep in among the 

 evergreen branches, and bronzed trunks of the firs, 

 that another of our winter visitants rears its young. 



