OF THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 23 1 



frequented a grove of hemlock, and judging by the amount of 

 debris on the snow underneath they must have been there all 

 winter. They were very lively, keeping up a continual 

 chattering as they swayed to and fro on the slender branches, 

 extracting the seeds from the cones. Occasionally, when 

 cheered by the mild rays of the wintry sun, some of the males 

 would come to the sunny side of the tree and warble out a few 

 of their varied summer notes, but they spent most of the short 

 wintry day in feeding and dressing their plumage, retiring earl}' 

 to the thick shelter of the evergreens. 



At other seasons of the year they frequent the cultivated 

 fields, orchards and gardens, and in the fall, when the}' are seen 

 in greatest numbers, they do good service in consuming the 

 seeds of the thistle and other noxious weeds. They are not in 

 any great haste to begin the duties of housekeeping, and are 

 seen in flocks till towards the end of May. About that time they 

 pair off and are actively engaged in their domestic duties till some 

 time in August, when the males throw off their gaud}' summer 

 dress and join with the females and young in making up the 

 flocks we see roving about the country in their own wild way. 



209. SPINUS PINUS (Wils.). 533. 



Pine Siskin. 



Bill extremely acute ; continuously streaked above with dusky and 

 olivaceous-brown or flaxen ; below with dusky and whitish, the whole 

 plumage in the breeding season more or less suffused with yellowish, 

 particularly bright on the rump ; the bases of the quills and tail feathers 

 extensively sulphury-yellow, and all these feathers more or less edged 

 externally with yellowish. Length, 4f ; wing, 2| ; tail, ij. 



Hab. North America generally, breeding mostly north of the United 

 States and in the Rocky Mountain region ; in winter south to the Gulf States 

 and Mexico. 



Nest, placed high in an evergreen. 



Eggs, pale greenish, speckled with brown. 



The Siskin, or Pine Linnet, is a more northern bird than the 

 Goldfinch, and as a winter visitor in Southern Ontario is some- 

 times present and sometimes absent. Occasionally they appear 



