Notes on the Breeding of the Pine Siskin

492 w•.wR *NDWgsT, Breeding o! thePine Siskin L[Auk Oct.

TABLE 2 Total Range of Average Species records speed speed Median Turkey Vulture ...... 1 34 -- -- Eastern Goshawk ...... 1 38 -- -- Sharp-shinnedHawk ...... 37 16-60 30.0 26 Cooper'sHawk ...... 12 21-55 29.3 26 Eastern Red-tailed Hawk ...... 54 20-40 29.0 28 Northern Red-shouldered Hawk ...... 7 18-34 28.3 31 Broad-winged Hawk ...... 8 20-40 31.7 32 American Golden Eagle ...... 2 28-32 30.0 -- Bald Eagle...... 2 36-44 40.0 -- Marsh Hawk ...... 4 21-38 28.7 -- Osprey...... 16 20-80 41.5 38 Duck Hawk ...... 3 28-32 30.0 30 Pigeon Hawk ...... 1 28 -- -- Eastern Sparrow Hawk ...... 4 22-36 26.2 -- Eastern Crow...... 15 17-35 26.0 27

R•rER•NCES ALLEN, F. H. 1939. Effect of Wind on Flight Speeds. Auk, 56: 291-303. t•ROUN, M. 1939. Fall Migrations of Hawks at I-Iawk Mountain, Pennsylvania,1934-1938. Auk, 56: 429-441. CooK•, M. T. 1937. Flight Speedof Birds. U.S. Dept. Agric., Circ. 428. RAT•N, S. F. 1934. Notes on the Speedof Birds in Flight. Murrelet, 15: 23-24. Hawk Mountain Sanctuary R. D. Orwigsburg,Pennsylvania

NOTES ON THE BREEDING OF THE PINE SISKIN

BY RICHARD LEE WEAVER AND FRANKLIN H. WEST

INTRODUCTION AN unusualoccurrence of PineSiskins (Spinus ibinus pinus) throughout New Englandduring the winter and spring of 1941was followed by the nestingof someof the birdssouth of, or at lowerelevations than, their usualbreeding range. This affordedan opportunityto makea detailedstudy of the breedinghabits of the speciesat Han- over,New Hampshire,where one nestwas observed by fifteenmem- bersof the DartmouthNatural HistoryClub from the time that the nestwas being built until the younghad departedfrom it. Previousrecords of Siskinsbreeding in New England are relatively scarceand detailed observationsmade during the nestingperiod are rare. The general behavior pattern in regard to nestingis fairly well known from casual observationsand by comparisonswith re- Vol.õo'1 WEAVERA•:D W•SX, Breeding of thePine Siskin 493 latedspecies, but manyquestions have remained to be answeredcon- cerningterritory, incubation, fledging, and care of the youngby the adults. This studywill help to answersome of thesequestions and to verify suppositionsmade concerningthe species. Bagg and Eliot (1937) summarizevery well what is known of the relationshipof the Siskinto otherfinches and the characteristicswhich make this bird suchan object of interest in regard to its movements and life history. They say: "The Siskin's closestrelatives are, we suppose,the American Goldfinch, now classedas Spini, too, but it is also very closeto the Crossbills,and to the Redpolls, and its flocking,and feeding, and breeding habits are more like those birds than the Goldfinches. Like both, it prefers to keep in sociableflocks, restlessly bound- ing with wheezylittle chatteringsall over the countryside.Reproduction necessi- ties require lessthan a month and may be satisfiedat almostany season,this pair or that dropping out of the flock-life,wherever they happen to be, but the flock appearsto have a continuousexistence and almost limitless range. This freedom from dietary, seasonal,territorial, or geographicalrestrictions makes the Siskin even more than the Crossbill,who after all must have cones--errantpar excellence; now absent for months at a time, now abundant and tame, now a wild barely pausing transient and anon a sporadicbreederI" Todd (1940) also points out that not all birds breed every year, which probablyexplains their presenceat unexpectedtimes and out of their ordinary breeding range.

BREEDING RECORDS IN THE NORTHEAST The Pine Siskin is a commonbut somewhatirregular residentin Maine, New Hampshire,and Vermont, breedingusually above 3,000 feet, and is a bird of the Canadian Zone. It is a casual breeder in New England southof thesestates, having a very discontinuousrange (Forbush 1929). Glover M. Allen (1903) saysthat the Siskin is a commonpermanent resident of the Canadianregion, and occursalso throughoutthe lower part of New Hampshireas a fall and winter visitant. He alsopoints out that a few are almostalways to be found in the lowland valleysof the White Mountains. Wright (1911), in writing of the bird life of the Jeffersonregion of New Hampshire, saysthat the distributionof the speciesin the forestsof the Presi- dential Range throughout the summer also indicatesthat it nests sparinglythere. Siskinshave been known to breed sporadicallysouth of New Eng- land, with recordsfrom the Catskills, the Hudson Valley, and the Allegheniesin westernPennsylvania. They have alsobeen known to summeroccasionally in the southernAppalachians which might mean that they breed there. 494 WEavERANDWEST, Breeding o[the Pine Siskin [•

One of the earliestnesting records of the Siskin was made at Cam- bridge,Massachusetts, in May, 1859. It wasreported by Baird,Brewer and Ridgway (1874). J. A. Allen (1870) reported a record made by William Brewsterat Gorham,New Hampshire,in August, 1869. Brewsteralso recorded the bird as nestingat Lake Umbagogin Maine and New Hampshire (Griscom1938).. Brewsterfurther said in his diary that they were often found breeding or wintering and were sometimesentirely absent at one seasonor another. He gave the year of 1873as one when nestingoccurred in great numbersin two definite periods-June-Julyand July-August. Gilman and Edwin B. Frost found two nestswith eggsin the Dartmouth CollegePark at Hanover, New Hampshire,April 17 and 18, 1878, which were reportedby Glover M. Allen (1903). That sameyear C. Hart Merriam (1878) observedlarge flocksand nesting occurrences in northern New York. In May, 1883, at Newton, Massachusetts,a nest, two eggs,and a femalewere collected by Dean W. Park, reportedby Brewster(1906). At the same time, nestingoccurred at Ossining,New York, as was observedby Fisher (1883). J. A. Allen (1887) witnessednesting at Cornwall-on-Hudson,New York, May 3, 1887. Nestingwas observed at Remsen,New York, April 4, 1889,and in EssexCounty, New York, in 1905,reported by Eaton (1914). Faxon and Hoffman saw adults on Mt. Greylock,Massachusetts, on July 16, 1888,which were thought to be nesting(Bagg and Eliot 1937). Since 1900,numerous other recordsof nestinghave been made in New England and nestshave been found as far south as Warren, Pennsylvania.Bagg and Eliot (1937) report nestsor obviously breeding adults at Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1907; Bethel, Vermont, in 1908; Woodstock,Vermont, April 19, 1925,by Richard Marble; Southampton,Massachusetts, April, 1927,by Crossand Woods. The Siskinwas found nestingat Warren, Pennsylvania,in 1912 by R. B. Simpson(1912) who found ten nestsduring April andMay. He found two nestsat Warren again in 1925,the sameyear that George Sutton (1928) located a nest with young at Hull, Potter County,Pennsylvania, and severalold nestsin PymatuningSwamp, near Hartstown,Crawford County, Pennsylvania. OCCURRENCE IN NEW ENGLAND IN 1941 Thousandsof Siskinswere present during the winter and spring of 1941throughout New England. Flocksof 250 to 1,000birds were reported in Massachusettsduring March and a general increasewas notedin New Englandduring April. There wasa generaltendency Vol.6o] W•AWRA•n WESt,Breeding o[ thePine Siskin '95 •945 a to nestshown by small portionsof thesespring flocks, with definite evidenceof nestingnoted at Springfieldand Northampton,Massa- chusetts,and Hanover,New Hampshire. There wasa generalmove- ment northward during May, but individualsremained scattered throughoutNew Englandduring the entire month,with somebirds presentduring the first part of June. Nest building was seen at Springfieldand two juvenileswere observed at Northampton. Thus Siskinsremained south of their normal breeding range throughout the springof 1941and somenested (Bull. New Eng. Bird Life, Jan.- June, 1941). At Hanover, New Hampshire, 429 Siskinswere counted on the 1940 Ghristmas Bird Gount, and flocks of 15 to 20 could be seen throughoutFebruary and early March. By the end of March and the beginningweeks of April, the flocksincreased in size,having 50 to 100birds in them. The peakof abundancewas reached about mid- April. By the end of the month and throughoutearly May, as many as 200 to 800 birds were countedin flocksmoving northward. Many of the birdspresent during March had remaineduntil May; someof them had been marked with colored tail plumes and could be seen throughoutthe period. Nestingoccurred during April and May and someindividuals remained through June and into July, supposedly the breedingbirds and their young.

NESTING As a result of this large influx of birds throughoutthe spring,a few birds were found to be nestingat Hanover and numerousothers were suspectedof nesting. This verifiesGlover M. Allen's statement (1903)in regardto their distributionand abundancein New Hamp- shire. He says:"After a winter in which they have beenplenty, stray birdsseem to dropout asthe main flight recedednorthward and these maysometimes breed at lowerelevations." It wasalso true that nesting followedperiods of large concentrationsthroughout the winter and spring at Cambridge,Massachusetts, in 1859; Lake Umbagog, Maine, in 1878; northern New York, in 1878; Ossining,New York, in 188g;and at Warren, Pennsylvania,in 1912. Nestingat Hanover has undoubtedlyoccurred between 1878 and 1941 unobserved,as an old nest was discoveredin the CollegePark in 1941 that was being dismantledby one of the Siskinswhich was buildinga newnest nearby. Three nests,containing eggs, wcrc found in April, 1941,and anotherone wasfound being visitedby a pair of birds but situated in such a position that examination was impossible.It probablynever was used, for the activitydid not con- 496 WEAVERAND WEST, Breeding of the PineSiskin [AukL Oct. tinue long enoughfor a normal nesting. All of the nestswere situated in the Dartmouth CollegePark in closeproximity to eachother and near the sitesof the nestsfound thereby the Frostsin 1878. The first nest found was the only one to be completed;the other two with eggswere destroyed,presumably by red squirrels. Dr. and Mrs. FredericP. Lord of Hanoverwere responsiblefor the discoveryof the first nest, finding it in their yard, which is situated on the western sideof the Park. In the springof 1943Dr. and Mrs. Lord discovered another pair of Siskinsnesting in their yard. The nestwas completed March 31, but was situated so that close observation of the nest con- tents was impossible. All nestingactivity ceasedabruptly April 22, without the causeof desertionbeing determined.

METHODS OF STUDY Upon the discoveryof nestbuilding by Dr. and Mrs. Lord, a party oœfifteen observersoœ the Dartmouth Natural History Club begana programof observationwhich lasteduntil the young left the nest. Dr. and Mrs. Lord, Richard Weaver,Louise Forsyth, Wesley Lanyon, and Sally and SusanNeidlinger of Hanover, and the following stu- dents oœDartmouth Collegeassisted with the observations:A. Flag Southerland,Franklin H. West,Raymond Wattles, John Earle, Robert Blair, Edward Porter, Gilbert Anthony, Robert Thorne, and Robert Hamill. Observationscovered as few as three and as many as ten hours each day for thirty-sevendays. At first, observations were made from a chair at a distance of fifteen yardsby the useoœ binoculars, so that nestbuilding and egglaying wouldnot be interrupted. After the eggswere laid, a blind eighteen feet high was constructedten feet from the nest and the observations were continuedfrom there. The eggsand young were never handled for measurementsor descriptions,nor were the adults banded--in fact, nothing was done which might interrupt the nesting as we were very anxiousto checkthe incubationperiod and the time spent in the nest by the young after hatching. All observationsof nest contentswere made with a mirror on a long pole.

NEST BUILDING AND F,GG LAYING The first signsof nestingwere observedon April 8 and 9 when two birds were seen continuouslyin each other's companymaking at- tempts to dismantlean old oriole'snest, followed by repeated trips to a Norway Sprucenearby. The nest was found April 9, having the outer ring formed and a thin layer acrossthe bottom. Some Vol.6o] WEAV•AND WEST, Breeding of thePine Siskin 497 1943 .I stripsof cloth placedunder the tree on April 8 had been utilized in the nest construction. Three dayswere requiredto completethe outer layersand bottom of the nest. On the fourth day, lining materialswere added. Several attemptsto break off small dead twigs from the nest branch were observed. After the fifth day, materials were added to the nest sporadicallyuntil the eggswere laid. On the seventhday, the female began making trips to the nest without materials and sitting on it for short periods. This procedurecontinued with the trips to the nestbecoming more frequent and the time spenton the nest increasing to as much as fifty minutesbefore the tenth day, April 18, when the first of the two eggswas laid. The secondegg was laid the following day. The female did all of the work of building the nest. The male accompaniedher on mostof the trips to and from the nest during the building and was very attentive to her during the entire period prior to the laying of the eggs. This was also observedby Fisher (1883),J. A. Allen (1887),and Simpson(1912). Fisheralso observed the male followingthe female about, "but the male usuallystopped on nearbyperches to singand to await the return of the femalewith nestingmaterials." The male, from perchesnear the nest,often sang a very melodioussong wlxich had somewhatthe quality of that of a Canary, Goldfinch, or Purple Finch. This rather pretty song is in contrastto the statementby Roberts (1936) that the only songis a squeakyperformance, and it bearsout his assumptionthat "it seems possiblehis greatervocal powers are not discovered."

POSITION AND CHARACTER OF THE NESTS All four nestsfound in 1941 at Hanover were in Norway spruces as was one of those found in 1878. The other one found in 1878 was in a smallpine. The four nestsfound in 1941were in treessixty to eightyfeet tall, while thosefound in 1878were in small treesfive to sevenfeet tall, even though there were somesizable conifers in the park at that time. The four 1941nests were in similarsituations, being on branchesextending well out from the trunksof the trees where the diameters of the branches were less than one inch. The nestswere placedimmediately under the shelterof a smallerbranch overhangingthem, so that theyreceived protection from snowand ice. All four nestswere situated more than fifteen feet above the ground; three were below twenty feet and the fourth one was at about thirty-five feet. The nestfound by Marble in April, 1925,at Woodstock,Vermont, 49g W•wR ,•NI•WEst, Breeding o! the PineSiskin I.I'Auk oct. was destroyedby a severeice storm soon after incubation began. Swenk (1929) reportsa nest found in March in Nebraskawhich had been built and then filled with snowbefore the eggswere laid. The female returned two days later after the snow had melted and laid her eggs,but the nest subsequentlyfell to the ground, either as a result of the snow or faulty nest construction. Of the ten nestsfound in 1912 by Simpson(1912), three were in white pines,three in hemlocks,one in a yellow pine, and three in spruces. These ten nestsvaried in elevation from six to thirty-five feet and averaged17.4 feet, and mostof them were placednear the endsof the branches.Sutton's (1928) nests were in hemlocks;Fisher's (1883)in a red cedar;and J. A. Allen's (1887)was in a Norwayspruce. The outer structureswere composedof coniferoustwigs, strips ot cloth, string, and shreddedbark, while the inner linings contained fine rootlets,twigs, moss, and somewool obtainedfrom a sheepyard nearby. The nestswere very compact,having walls one and one-half inchesthick. They measuredfour inchesacross and one and one-half incheshigh on the outside,and the nest cavitiesaveraged two inches acrossand one and one-quarterinches deep. These measurements correspondclosely with those given by J. A. Allen (1887) and Fisher (1883). The nest describedby J. A. Allen wasvery similar in construction to those found in 1941, having string, thread, tape, and rootlets as a base,with a cup-shapedstructure of coarseand fine rootletsand soft vegetablefibre, lined with black horsehair. Fisher describedthe outer part of the nesthe found as containingfine twigsfrom Norway spruce,loosely placed togetherwith a few rootlets,and with pieces of stringinterwoven. He alsosaid the lining wasvery compact,made up of hemp-likematerial, horsehair, bits of thread,feathers, rootlets, and like substances.All of thesedescriptions adhere closelyto that given originallyby Baird, Brewer,and Ridgway (1874) of the nest found in 1859. This nest also contained some wool, as in the nests found in 1941 at Hanover. Swenk (1929) portraysthe nest of the Siskinin two excellentphotographs, showing top and side views.

60PULATION Two attemptedcopulations were witnessed. Near the site of the second nest, a male was observed to mount a female as she sat on a branchfluttering her wingsand tail in a beggingposture. At the site of the third nest, a female flew from one branch to another with a male in pursuit. She also was fluttering her wings and uttering soft calls. In one instance,the male hoveredover her in a 'sparrow- va.l!•4S •l J w•v• ANI)W•s'r, Breeding o! thePine Siskin 499 hawk' fashion as she crouched on the branch. Before contact, she left the branchand flew into the air, seeminglytowed him, asRobira do when mating, and then flew off, the male again in pursuit.

T•ixom• B•n•vio• During the two or three daysjust prior to egglaying, both adults beganto protecta small area i•ediately su•ounding the nest,about t•ee to six feet in diameter, from Chickadees, a Cowbkd, and o•er Siskim. The female would leave the nest to chaseany bird vent•- ing that ne•. During nest building the male had been quite attentive to the female and never left the nestingarea for very long peri•s, and he did not seemto be very dosely associatedwith any of the other Siskins or flocks which fed ne• the nest •ee. After the eggswere laid, he would leave the •ea for short periods,which became longer as incubationpro•essed. He frequentlyreturned in companywith one of severalother Siskins. The female would chase thesebirds, as would the male,if they cametoo doseto the nest. On severaloccasions, he flew off with thesebirds after feeding her on the nest. Other birds would enter the generMnesting area and feed with one or both of the mated bkds, unmolested. One of the mostunusual occu•ences of the en•e studyhappened just prior to egglaying. The firstnest was situated about sixty y•ds from the secondnest, and both pairs soonleaned the positionof the other nest. They began making raids on ea• other'snest, the pair from nest number one being •e more ag•essive,visiting nest number two repeatedly. The female would sit on the nest a few minutesand the male would sing from a perch in the •ee, then both birdswould return to their own nest. They often madequick •ips from their own nestto numbertwo and backagain. This continued until the eggswere laid in nest number one. Pair number two was neverobserved to attackpair numberone, but wheneverpair number two approa•ed nestnumber one, as they did on occasion,they were immediatelydriven off. Nest numberone was t•ee daysahead of numbertwo, probablyexplaining the dominanceof pair numberone.

•NCUBATION The firs• egg was laid in ncs• number one on April 18 and •hc secondand final one on •hc 19•h. Bo•h cg• wcrc laid bc•orcnine o'clockin the morning. Incubationbegan upon •hc laying of •hc first egg and •hc young hatched•hir•ccn daysla•cr, one day ap•. Roberts (19•6) reported •hc incubationperiod as 1•-I4 dayswi•h Evansas •he authority. The danger•rom freezingof •hc cg• would 500 WEAVERAND WEST, Breeding of the PineSiskin L['Auk Oct. appear to be lessenedwith incubationbeginning upon the laying of the eggs. Nest number one had two eggs,while each of the other two nests found in 1941 had three eggs. Two to four eggsare commonlylaid, with threeas the usualcomplement. Simpson(1912) found five nests with three eggseach and one with two eggsin 1912 and two nests with three eggseach in 1925. Fisher (1883) reportedfour eggsin the nest at Ossining,as did J. A. Allen (1887) for the nest at Cornwall-on-Hudson.The nestfound at Cambridgein 1859had four eggs,but that found by Park in 1883 at Newton had but two eggs. One of the nestsfound at Hanover in 1878 had four eggsand the other had three. During incubation,the female stayedvery closeto the nest. The longestobserved period that the femalewas off the nestfor the entire period of incubationwas eight minutes. She was fed by the male 'duringincubation, and this permitted long uninterruptedperiods on the nest;in fact, he beganfeeding her on the nest the day beforethe first eggwas laid and in one instancewas observed to feed her while shewas off the nest before the eggswere laid. Feeding followed a definite pattern. The female would utter a low, twittering call whereuponthe male would appear,at timesfrom quite a distance,and feed her. Possiblyhe had called first and she was answeringhim, but his call, if given first, was never heard. As he approachedthe nest tree he would give a speecall. Frequently, the female would leave the nest after being fed but would return in a few minutes. It was thought that she went for water, although this was not definitelyestablished. She alwayswent in the samedi- rection, which was toward the two most available water supplies. The female alwaysfluttered her wings excitedly and made little noiseswhile being fed. The male would regurgitate large lumps of stickyyellow food and push them down her throat. Later he was observed to offer her small seeds and buds, one at a time. The feeding processreminded one of a youngCowbird begging and receiv- ing food from a host. The male fed the femaleapproximately once every hour, increasingthe number of feedingsslightly in the early morning and in the late afternoon. The adults of the flockswere seen to eat large quantities of hemlock seedsfrom the ground and elm buds from the trees. The female turned the eggsfrequently, increasing this activity as the time approachedfor them to hatch. It was thoughtthat at times she used only her feet in turning them. The nest was heavily in- Vol.6o'] WEAWRAND WESX, Breeding of thePine Sisl•in 501 1945 .• restedwith lice and she spentmuch time in pickingthem from it and from herself. HATCHING Justprior to hatching,the femalestood up on the edgeof the nest and lookedat the eggsa great many times. Hatching occurredearly in the morning,before 7:30 A.M., or possiblyduring the night. There wasno si• of the eggshell in the nest,but later a smallpiece was found under the tree. Feeding of the young began very soon after hatching,possibly within the ho•.

•ROODING AND REARING •E YOUNG During the first daysafter hatching,the female fed the young frequently about everyten to fifteen minutes,but near the end of the period,feedin• were spacedabout an hour apart. The youngwere fed by regurgitation. The male continued to feed the female on the nestduring the first part of the fledgingperiod and she,in turn, fed the young. He now in,eased his trips to the nestwith food to two everyhour, and to t•ee or even four toward evening. Sheoften left the nestafter being fed and beforefee•ng the young. The m•e continued to feed her solelyonly until the seventhand eighth days; then he began to give food directly to the young ones. After the tenth day, the male wasnot observedto feed the femaleand shebegan to forage for herself and for the young. The youngwere neverleft unprotectedfor longer than elevenmin- utes. The usual interval that the female was away from the nest during the first week after hatching was three minutes. Before the female began to help with the feedingof the young, she kept the nestve• dean by eating all of the excrement,but after shebegan to help with the feeding,the outer part of the nest becamefouled, be- cause neither of the adults removed the material. Before the female began to leave the nest for any length of time, themale 'would return in companywith otherbirds, feed her and leave with them. When both birds began to feed the young, it be- camevery •cult to tell the sexesapart. From their actions,how- ever,it wasbelieved that the male neversat on the nestor paid much attention to it, other than bringing food to the female or to the young. Once, when he appearedand found her absent,he uttered a call and she appearedvery promptly. The youngdeveloped their first signsof fear about the sixth day after hatching. During the last four days that the young were in the nest, they became ve• active and the female spent very little 502 Wg•,VERANDWEST, Breeding of the Pine Siskin time brooding them. The young would take turns exercisingand stretchingtheir wings or walking about the rim of the nest. They scrambledover each other when an adult would appear with food and often would fall over the side,grasping the outer structureand pulling themselvesback again. The day before they left, one was observedto hop out of the nest,go a foot or more towardthe trunk of the tree, and then return to the nest, settling down in it. The adults seemedto approachthe nest rather deliberatelyduring the last two days,seemingly coaxing the youngto suchdaring feats. Both of the young left the nest on May 15, fifteen days after the first had hatched. The older one showed a definite dominance over the second. The secondone probablyleft the nesta halœday earlier than was to be expected;it hoppedout when an observerexamined the nest too closely,thinking that both of the young had left. One of the birds was found in the nest tree an hour or so after they had left the nest, being fed by one of the adults. The birds were ob- servedin the vicinity of the nest during the next severalweeks and Siskinswere about Dr. and Mrs. Lords' feedingshelves and bird baths during all of June and part of July. The youngwere easilydis- tinguishedfrom the adults,having buffy backsand being not nearly so dark. CO•aPA•aSON W•TH THE There is such a similarity in the data collectedfor the Siskin in this study and that collectedby LawrenceH. Walkinshaw (1939) for the Goldfinch, that the statementmade in the introduction by Bagg and Eliot must be modified slightly. Although many of the habits of the Siskinmay be similar to thoseof the Redpollsand Crossbills, the breedinghabits alone would justify the placementof the Siskin and the Goldfinch in the same genus. These similaritiesseem significant: (1) The femalesof both species did all of the work of building the nest, and were accompaniedby the males as they searchedfor nest materials; (2) nest building required five daysin both species;(3) incubationwas performed by the femalesand it required thirteen days in both cases;the males fed the femaleson the nest during incubation; (4) the femalesbrooded the young; the males fed the femalesby regurgitation,and they, in turn, fed the young until the latter part of the fledgingperiod; the youngwere fed by regurgitation;(5) the youngleft the nestin fifteen days;(6) the rim of the nestbecame fouled at the end of the nesting period after the femalesbegan to help feed the young. vol.•.$ •o"[ J WEAVZ•AND W•T, Breedingo] thePine Siskin 503

SUMMARY 1. Siskinsare sporadicbreeders in mostof New England. There have been frequentrecords of nestingbut relativelyfew observations on the habits during nesting. 2. Nesting of Siskinsat Hanover, New Hampshire,followed a seasonin whichtheir populationwas high, asis usuallythe casewhere nestingoccurs out of the ordinary breedingrange. Four nests,three with eggs,were discovered. Only one nestwas successful. 3. The femalebuilt the nestand wasaccompanied by the male on her tripsto andfrom the nestduring the fivedays of nestconstruction. 4. Incubation required thirteen days. It was done solely by the femaleand wasbegun upon the laying of the first egg. 5. The male suppliedfood to the femaleon the nestduring incubation and for eight days after the young hatched. The female re- ceivedthe food and fed the youngby regurgitationduring the early part of the fledgingperiod. Both adults fed the young during the last days in the nest. 6. The territoryof the pair of Siskinsunder observation was limited to a small area about the nest with a diameter of three to six feet. 7. The young left the nest on the fifteenth day after hatching, twenty-eightdays after incubationbegan. 8. There is a great similarity betweenthe breeding habits of the Pine Siskin and the American Goldfinch.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ALL•, O•OV•;R M. 1903. A List of the Birds of New Hampshire. Proe. Manchester Inst. Arts and Se., 4: 136-137. ALLI•IV, J. A. 1870. Notes on Some of the Rarer Birds of Massachusetts. Amer. Nat., 2: 582-583. 1887. The Pine Finch (Spinus pinus) Breeding at Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York. Auk, 4: 28•-286. BAGG,AAROI• CLARK, AI•D t•LIOT, SAiVIUI•LATKIlVS, JR. 1937. Birds of the ConnecticutValley in Massachusetts:726-729. (The Hamp- shire Book Co., Northampton, Mass.) BAIRD, S. F., B•V•R, T. M., AND RIDGWAY, R. 1874. A History of North American Birds. Land Birds, I: 480-482. BREwsTeR, WILLIAM 1905. Birds of the Cambridge Region, Massachusetts. Mere. Nutt. Orn. Club, 4: 262-254. FxS•R, A. K. 1883. Nesting of Chrysomitris pinus at Sing Sing, N.Y. Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 8: 180-181. EATOI•, ELOI• HOWARD 1914. Birds of New York. N.Y. State Mus., Mere., 12: 278-280. 504 BRAY,Birds of SouthamptonIsland, etc. L[Auk Oct.

17ORBUSH,EDWARD Hov• 1929. Birds of Massachusettsand Other New England States, 3: 29-32. (Mass. State Dept. of Agriculture.) •RISCOM, LUDLOW 1938. The Birds of Lake Umbagog Region of Maine (compiled from diaries and journalsof William Brewster). Bull. Mus. Comp. Zo51.,66: 534-536. MERRIAM, C. HART 1878. Breeding of the Pine Linnet in Northern New York. Forest and Stream, I0: 463. 1%TEWENGLAND MUSEUM OF !XTATURALHISTORY 1941. Bulletin of New England Bird Life, Jam-June. ROBERTS,THolVlAS S. 1936. Birds of Minnesota, 2: 364-367. (Univ. of Minn. Press.) SUTTON, GI•ORGE m. 1928. Birds of Pymatuning Swamp and Conneaut Lake, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Ann. Cam. Mus., 18:19-239 (½f.p. 174). Sv,•N•r, MYRON H. 1929. The Pine Siskin in Nebraska. Wils. Bull., 41: 77-92. TODD, W. E. CLYDE 1940. The Birds of Western Pennsylvania: 614-617. (Univ. of Pitts. Press., Pittsburgh, Penna.) WALKINSHAW, LAWRENCEH. 1939. Life History Studies of the Eastern Goldfinch. Jack Pine Warbler, 17: 19-20. WaXGHT, HORACE W. 191I. The Birds of the JeffersonRegion, in the White Mountains of New Hamp- shire. Manchester Inst. Arts &Sci., 5 (I): 64. Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF SOUTHAMPTON ISLAND, BAFFIN ISLAND AND MELVILLE PENINSULA

BY REYNOLD BRAY (WITHCOMMENTS BY T. H. MANNING) REYNOLDBRAY was drownedon September14, 1938, when on his fourth visit to Arctic regions. His obituary was written for 'The Auk' by McAtee (Auk, 57: 139-140, 1940). The presentsummary of the resultsof Bray's ornithologicalwork while a member of the British Canadian Arctic Expedition betweenMay, 1936, and Sep- tember, 1937,was originally intended for his own use in further work he had plannedfor the sameregions rather than for publication;but sincenone of it has previouslybeen published,it is here presented in full and unchangedexcept for minor editorial corrections.