SISKIN. 93 



The Siskin breeds in tlie pine-woods o£ Northern and Central Europe, 

 in Norway ranging as far north as lat. 67°, in Russia as far as Arch- 

 angel, and in the Urals up to about lat. 58°. It also breeds in some 

 of the mountainous districts of Southern Europe, as, for instance, near 

 Florence and in the Caucasus. Its winter range is much more extensive ; 

 and at this season it is also found in the Spanish peninsula, the plains 

 of Austria, Turkey, Greece, Asia Minor, and South Russia. It is also a 

 rare winter visitor to North-west Africa, and occasionally strays as far as 

 the Canaries and Teneriffe. East of the Ural Mountains the Siskin has 

 not been found until we reach the shores of the Pacific, where it breeds 

 in the Lower Amoor and Japan, passes through North China on migration, 

 and winters in South China as far as Foochow. Whether this is a case 

 of discontinuous area of distribution is very difficult to -say; for possibly 

 the bird may have been overlooked in the intervening country, although 

 it is scarcely probable, that Dybowsky during his long residence near 

 Lake Baikal could have missed it. Nor has the Siskin ever been 

 met with in India, being there apparently replaced by F. spinoides, a 

 species confined to the Himalayas, and easily distinguished from our bird 

 by its dark greenish-brown back and much stouter bill. Another allied 

 species, the Citril Finch, F. citrinella (erroneously included in the British 

 list), inhabits the mountain-ranges of Southern Europe, but is easily 

 distinguished by the absence of the black head and the streaks on the 

 underparts. In North America several allied species are found ; but they 

 all differ, either in not having the black head or in not having any streaks 

 on the back and underparts. 



Of the numerous Finches which are annually caught in the south of 

 England, in the neighbourhood of London and on the Brighton downs, 

 the Siskin is by no means the least interesting ; and most bird-catchers 

 find it worth their while to have one or two decoy-birds of this species. 

 It is very common during migration in Mr. Swaysland's garden near 

 Brighton, which is exceptionally well situated for the observation of birds. 

 My son has frequently caught a score or more of these birds in Mr. Sways- 

 land's clap-net before breakfast. He has frequently seen them flying up 

 wind in small flocks. Several of the birds were nearly always attracted by 

 the " brace-bird " and the " call-bird ;" some flew up at once into the net, 

 whilst others alighted flrst in the elder-bushes and dry sticks placed there for 

 the purpose. They were very tame and continually answered to the call-bird, 

 and were generally caught without difiiculty. At other times I have seen 

 them in the fir trees to the south of his garden in early spring, their short 

 twittering song attracting attention at once. In many of their actions 

 they much resemble a Tit or a Willow- Wren, seldom being still for a 

 moment, and putting themselves into all kinds of positions. 



At their breeding-haunts, which are principally pine-woods, their song 



