THE SISKIN-FINCH. 65 



The wooded parts of the continent appear to be its prin- 

 cipal haunts ; but it is rather confined to the middle latitudes, 

 than extended either to the extreme north or the extreme 

 south ; and when it visits this country, its habits agree with 

 such a locality, as it perches on shrubs and trees, and feeds 

 on the seeds and buds of these, rather than on the seeds of 

 herbaceous plants. The nest is said to be placed, in accordance 

 with the habit in feeding, much higher above the ground 

 than that of the gold-finch, but in a fork, or against a stiff 

 branch, so as not to be exposed to the same violent rocking 

 during winds as that of the other. 



The siskin cannot be considered as a very rare bird, because 

 it is met with in many parts of Britain, though seldom, if 

 ever, in the extreme north; and when it does appear, it is 

 not in solitary straggling individuals, but in flocks, or at least 

 in packs ; but as little can it be considered as a regular winter 

 visitant, having an equatorial migration, and in consequence 

 of that, appearing and disappearing at nearly the same times 

 every year. Its migration is rather a migration in longi- 

 tude, and an involuntary one, produced by the winds, which 

 waft the birds to different parts of the country at different 

 times of the year, according to their direction, their intensity, 

 their continuance, and probably whether they be or be not 

 accompanied by falls of snow on the continent. In no in- 

 stance have they been observed so early in the season as our 

 regular autumnal birds, which are known to breed within the 

 arctic circle in the western part of the continent. They are 

 said to make their appearance in flocks in the lower parts of 

 Germany, about the same time of the year at which our 

 grain-eating birds leave the wilds, and flock on the cultivated 

 fields ; but with us they appear considerably later, and some- 

 times not till the summer birds have begun to arrive. Ana- 

 logy would lead to the conclusion that they breed with us, 

 but that, like the haw-finches, they hide themselves in the 



VOL. II. F 



