S I S K I N .
CARDVEL1S Sl'INUS.
THOUGH large numbers of Ibis aetive species make tlicir 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 entirely deserted. The weather on Christmas Day in 18(15 was remarkably mild and warm
for the time or the year, and a Hock 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 (he 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 be 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 he 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.
I n the breeding-sea so u I have repeatedly remarked that Siskins, though by no means shy and
unapproachable, become more retiring in their habits; it is wow less easy to watch their actions closely,
unless the birds be detected in the act of building or feeding the young. When oneo 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 Beauly river in Inverness-shire, and on the pineclad
hills that slope don n to the Dornoch Firth. I bad ample opportunities ['or watching scleral 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 tiie haunts of several pairs bo 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 1 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 1 nverncss-shire and Boss-shire. In Balnagowa and a few localities on towards the cast,
where these birds were plentiful fifteen or twenty years ago, their numbers have greatly diminished.
This falling off is attributed by tin- 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 piuc-woods during summer, that Siskins commonly breed on Scotch or other firs, it is solely in tho