The Pine Siskin 



1 \ \ 



IN/ \ . 



v\. 1 / / 



i 





-J 





1/ 7 





-^o 













I X^i /* 





X 



\ / 









NV 



/ # J% f \ 





V 













\ \ 





'';i 



^ \v 



^r 



' nS 



i k 





/ ' /P 



1 v/ 



' // 1 









n!\ 







\ 



UP 



\ w 



ft 

 ■ ,t si 



> (/ / 





* ■ 



y 











r \J /\ 





Taken in Washington 



SIX LITTLE SISKINS 



Photo by the Author 



IT IS rather a sad commentary upon our childish predilection for 

 color, that the Goldfinches of California should be so well known, while 

 the more plainly colored Pine Siskin, who is in every way the ranking 

 major of the Siskin-Goldfinch group, should be known only to the ornitho- 

 logically elect. To be sure, Nature must have intended it so. The 

 plumage of Spinus pinus is a triumph of obscurity. The heavy, streaky 

 pattern, worked out in dusky olive on a buffy brown base, prepares the 

 bird for self-effacement in any environment; while the sulphur-colored 

 water-mark of the outspread wings barely redeems its owner from sheer 

 oblivion. This remark applies, however, only to plumage. In behavior 

 the Siskin is anything but a forgettable bird-person. 



182 



