[Illustration]
Fringilla Spinus, LINNÆUS; Le Tarin, BUFFON; Der Zeisig,
BECHSTEIN.
This bird is four inches and three quarters in length, of which the tail
measures one and three quarters. The beak, four lines long, becomes
narrower towards the tip, which is very sharp and brown; the rest is
light grey, and in winter white. The shanks, eight lines in height, are
dusky; the top of the head and throat are black; the cheeks, the back of
the neck, and back are green; the latter streaked with a dusky colour;
the rump, breast, under part of the neck, and the line that passes over
the eyes, are greenish yellow.
The throat of the male rarely becomes black till the second year; the
older it becomes the more of yellow and beauty it attains.
The varieties are the black siskin, the white siskin, and the speckled
siskin. I have occasionally killed these birds with a breast entirely
black.
HABITATION.--In its wild state it is found throughout Europe; it is
very common in Germany, where it remains all the year[49], but in
winter it wanders about in search of food, and most frequents the
parts well planted with alders. In the house, whether in a cage or
not, it soon becomes very familiar.
FOOD.--When wild it varies according to the season; in summer it eats
in the woods the seeds of the pine and fir; in autumn, of hops,
thistles, burdock; in winter, of the alder and the buds of trees.
In the house its food is poppy-seed and a little hemp-seed bruised.
If allowed to range, the first universal paste suits it. It is a
complete glutton, and, though so small, eats more than the chaffinch;
it is at the seed drawer from morning till night, constantly eating,
and driving off all its companions. It does not drink less, and
requires abundance of fresh water; yet it bathes but little, only
plunging the beak in the water, and thus scattering it over its
feathers, but it is very assiduous in arranging them; it may be
called a fop, always engaged with finery.
BREEDING.--The siskin rarely builds its nest among the alders, but
generally in the pine forests, placing it at the extremity of the
highest branches, and fixing it there with cobwebs, the threads of
insects and lichens. The outer part is well formed of small twigs,
and the lining is formed of finely divided roots. It has two broods
in the year, each of five or six eggs, of a light grey, strongly
spotted with purplish brown, particularly at the large end. The young
males become finer each year till the fourth.
The mules, produced by the siskin pairing with the canary, partake of
the two species, and are very prettily spotted if the canary is
yellow; but this union is not so easy as that with the green canary,
which appears to bear a nearer relation to the siskin.
DISEASES.--To the other maladies common to the birds of this family we
must add epilepsy, of which these birds often die[50]. They may,
however, be kept from eight to twelve years.
MODE OF TAKING.--With good traps and nets made for this purpose,
several dozen of these birds may be taken at once in the winter. They
also collect in numbers, in the spring, on the decoy bush, and they
are so fearless, that in the villages a person, who has his house
situated near a stream bordered with alders, need only place a siskin
in the window, near a stick covered with bird-lime, and he may catch
as many as he wishes. I have caught some at my window in a cage
strewed with hemp and poppy-seed, by letting the door fall by means
of a string, when the birds had entered, one of the decoy birds in my
room serving to attract them. When the place where they drink at noon
is discovered amongst the alders, numbers may be caught by merely
laying across the stream some branches covered with bird-lime.
ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--Their plumage and song are both attractive,
though with the latter several tones are mingled, that somewhat
resemble the noise made by a stocking-loom. This makes them great
favourites with stocking-weavers. They imitate tolerably the song of
other birds, such as that of the tit, the chaffinch, and the lark;
but they cannot give a musical air. Their carolling is only
interrupted during moulting, and very much tends to excite their
companions to warble in their turn. The loss of their liberty affects
them so little, that they will eat as soon as let out of the hand,
after being caught, and on the second day will allow any one to
approach their cage without alarm. They are soon taught to draw up
little buckets, and many other little manoeuvres that they execute
gaily; there is no difficulty in accustoming them to go and return if
the winter is chosen; the cage should be kept open at the window, and
hemp and poppy-seed scattered at the entrance; they will return there
in general, and bring several companions with them. This plan will
not succeed so well in March, September, and October, the time when
these birds roam through the country in search of food, though I have
seen some tamed in this manner return after a long absence.