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flocks are found in Bohemia. Mr. Seidensacher informed me that it arrives in Styria in October 
and November in flocks, and remains over winter. Some also breed on the Bacher, but none near 
Cilli. It is found throughout the Austrian dominions, chiefly during passage or in winter; but 
Count Casimir Wodzicki states that it is resident in the Carpathians, and breeds there as high as 
the conifer-woods extend, rearing two broods in the year. It is recorded from Turkey, where it 
occurs during passage and in winter; and is found in considerable numbers in Southern Russia. 
Von Nordmann states that it visits the gardens in the steppes in large numbers, but he does not 
believe that it breeds anywhere in the neighbourhood of Odessa. The majority leave in November, 
and reappear in February. 
Dr. Kriiper says that it is found during winter in Asia Minor, and numbers are caught 
every season near Smyrna. It was not met with by Canon Tristram in Palestine; nor do I 
find it recorded from North-east Africa; it is stated to be of rare and accidental occurrence in 
Algeria during severe winters; and Mr. C. F. Tyrwhitt-Drake records it from Tangier and 
Eastern Morocco; but neither M. Favier nor Colonel Irby has met with it on the south side 
of the Straits of Gibraltar. Dr. Carl Bolle states (J. f. O. 1857, p. 317) that it is a rare visitant 
to the Canaries; and Messrs. Webb and Berthelot record it from Teneriffe; but Mr. Godman did 
not meet with it there. 
To the eastward it is found as far as Japan. Mr. Blanford informs me that it has not been 
observed in Persia, elsewhere than in the forest region south of the Caspian. It does not occur 
in India, but was met with in Siberia by Von Middendorff and Radde. ‘The former says that an 
adult male was shot at Udskoj-Ostrog on the 4th May; and Dr. Radde met with it in flocks in 
August in the Bureja Mountains. Mr. Swinhoe says that it is found in China, occurring at 
Pekin in autumn, and in winter down to Foochow; he also met with it in Chefoo in May. 
Captain Blakiston obtained it in Japan; and Mr. Whitely writes (Ibis, 1867, p. 201) as follows :— 
““Two specimens obtained—one in December 1864, the other in November 1865. Common in 
the plantations and woods near Hakodadi. It is a favourite cage-bird among the Japanese.” 
The Siskin is essentially a forest-loving bird, inhabiting during the summer season conifer- 
woods, especially those in hilly localities; and its abundance or otherwise in a locality appears to 
be regulated chiefly by the supply of conifer-seeds, on which it chiefly feeds. In the autumn it 
leaves the conifer-woods and wanders about in the lowlands from then until the spring. During 
the winter it is found in groves, in the fields, especially where groundsel and other seeds are 
abundant, gardens, &c. &c., and is often found in large flocks. It is essentially companionable, 
and even during the breeding-season is seldom found in single pairs. Nor is it a shy bird, and 
will usually let one approach tolerably close to it. During the spring it is easily caught, 
especially when a decoy bird is used in a cage-trap; and I used often to catch them when in 
Finland with a bow-net and a small cage with a call-bird. It is active and restless, always on 
the move in search of food, and usually frequents the upper branches of the trees, but seldom 
coming down to the ground. The call-note is a loud deedel or deediee or dee, and its usual note 
trettel tetter tettel. The song consists of a succession of twittering notes, rather prolonged 
towards the close, and is aptly rendered by Naumann by the syllables dididlidlideiddah. When 
singing, the male rises from the summit of a tree, circles about in the air, and drops again onto 
the tree; and it also utters its song when sitting on a spray at the top of a tree. 
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