SISKIN. 
CARBIJELIS SPINUS. 
Though large numbers of this active species make their appearance in the southern counties of England 
during autumn and winter, the quarters to which they resort in summer throughout the Highlands are 
by no means en .rely deserted. The weather on Christmas Day in 1805 was remarkably mild and warm 
for the time of the year, and a flock of from forty to fifty Siskins, their colours shown off to the fullest 
advantage by the bright sunshine, were noticed busily climbing among the boughs of the alders 
overhanging the river Lyon in the north-west of Perthshire. This was the largest party I ever met with 
in the north in winter, and it is probable that the previous open weather accounted for their protracted 
stay in this usually bleak and inhospitable glen. 
On the approach of spring the flocks that have kept company with Redpolls and other small birds 
about the open commons, groves, and dense hedgerows, where their favourite alder is to he found, gradually 
take their departure from the southern counties of England. Possibly many of our visitors are from the 
north of Europe, though there can be no doubt that, if carefully looked for, this species is far from 
scarce during summer in the large woods of several of the counties of the Northern Highlands. 
In the breeding-season I have repeatedly remarked that Siskins, though °by no means shy and 
unapproachable, become more retiring in their habits ; it is now less easy to watch their actions closely, 
unless the birds be detected in the act of building or feeding the young. When once the nest is 
completed and the labour of incubation commenced, the male, from the many instances that have come under 
my observation, appears during the midday hours to pass the greater part of his time cleaning his 
plumage and spreading himself out to enjoy the heat of the sun on almost the topmost branch of '’some 
lofty Scotch fir. In several of the straths adjacent to the Beauty river in Inverness-shire, and on the pine- 
clad hills that slope down to the Dornoch Firth, I had ample opportunities for watching several pairs. 
If in quest of Siskins during summer, it is possible to keep moving all day through miles of 
forest without noticing a single bird, though the haunts of several pairs be passed. When resting 
quietly or waiting for a view of some other species, I frequently discovered the nest of this bird ; indeed 
it was only by chance that I ever found one. On no single occasion did I meet with Siskins during 
the breeding-season further south than Perthshire; they appear to nest in the greatest numbers in the 
eastern portions of Inverness-shire and Ross-shire. In Balnagown and a few localities on towards the east, 
where these birds were plentiful fifteen or twenty years ago, their numbers have greatly diminished. 
This falling off is attributed by the keepers to the great abundance of squirrels in the district. I can offer 
no opinion on the subject ; it is, however, a fact that the Siskins have gradually disappeared as the 
squirrels increased. 
Though it is probable, owing to the frequency with which the males may be seen in the depths of 
the pine-woods during summer, that Siskins commonly breed on Scotch or other firs, it is solely in the 
