OF VIRGINIA 219 
than the sunflower; one naturally associates these two 
together. Their bright plumage and sweet song make 
them an attractive bird to have around one’s home. They 
are the latest breeding bird we have, the last of July and 
first week in August finds them nest building for the first 
time. The nest is placed in an upright fork of low bushes, 
or on forks of lower limbs in fruit orchards, seldom 
above twelve feet. Four to five bluish-white eggs are laid. 
Size, .65x.50. The nest is a well-made, closely woven 
affair of plant fiber and down, and when they can get it 
(thistles being scarce in this section), thistle down is 
used profusely. They raise but one brood a season, and 
their food consists chiefly of seeds, such as thistle, sun- 
flower, lettuce and turnip, after it has formed a stalk and 
seed matured. They are particularly fond of the dwarf 
sunflower, while seed from all the native weeds are eaten 
almost entirely during the winter months. They breed 
sparingly all over the State up to 4,000 feet altitude. 
GENUS SPINUS. 
[533]. Spinus pinus (Wilson). Pine Siskin. 
Raner.—North America. Breeds mainly in Canadian 
zone from central Alaska, southern Mackenzie, southern 
Keewatin, and southern Ungava, south through the higher 
mountains of western United States to San Pedro Martir, 
Lower California, and southern New Mexico, and to 
northern Minnesota, northern Michigan, New Brunswick, 
Nova Scotia, and in mountains to North Carolina, and 
casually in the lower Hudson Valley and Massachusetts ; 
occurs in winter over most of the United States south to 
northern Mexico; casual in southern Lower California. 
