134 VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF LAKELAND 



unfinished nest. Perhaps they were tired of flying restlessly to 

 and fro in the adjoining park since the hours of early morning. 

 At all events they were now so still, that you would hardly 

 have thought that they could be so near ; only their little heads 

 kept moving to and fro, as they exchanged glances of mutual 

 endearment. A pretty picture they made, in this quiescent 

 mood ! When they turned away, all that was visible was the 

 cinnamon back, jetty crown, and wings of gold set in ebony. 

 Then, as they fidgeted, you could distinguish the crimson 

 zones and white breasts clouded with cinnamon. Meantime 

 the third pair alighted on the bare ground, and proceeded to 

 trip over the garden mould, searching for chickweed and 

 groundsel. There was another nest in the garden beside the 

 Hall. Four or five pairs were nesting in the vicinity. E. Raine 

 says that he saw a single pair of Goldfinches all through the 

 winter of 1890-1, feeding on ' horse-knops,' but that the other 

 pairs appeared in the month of March. The Goldfinch does not 

 remove the fceces of the young from the outside of her nest, as 

 some birds do : hence the need of a new nest for the second 

 brood. The nest that was unlined on June 1 9 would probably 

 be completed by June 21. A day or two would probably lapse 

 before the bird began to lay. Granting that the female Gold- 

 finch began to sit on June 28, the young would presumably hatch 

 about July 10, and fly about the 24th of July, which is just the 

 time when most of the second broods of Goldfinches do leave 

 their nests ; at least in my experience, which is pretty extensive, 

 but mainly continental. 



SISKIN. 



Chrysomitris spinus (L. ). 



The earliest reference to the presence of the Siskin in West- 

 morland is apparently identical with Bolton's well-known but 

 improbable story of Siskins nesting in Westmorland in juniper 

 bushes. It appears to be at all times a rare visitant to the 

 Westmorland and Furness portions of Lakeland. Thirty years 

 ago Dr. Gough included this species among the species of the 

 Kendal district, but only as an occasional winter visitant. Mr. 



