Gould commented 'I have many times met with small troops of Siskins during my rambles through the lovely woods of Taplow and Clieveden, particularly in the neighbourhood of the lower road by the Thames-side; frequently have I there seen these little birds picking minute seeds from the ground, and from among the fallen leaves, with the same activity they display when clinging overhead to the catkins of the birch or the favourite alder.'

The illustration shows the female (above) with two males on a branch of alder.

DISTRIBUTION: Breeds Palaearctic from the British Isles to western Siberia, and discontinuously south to the Pyrenees and Japan. Winters south to the north Mediterranean region, south west Asia and southern China. In Britain the population is expanding with the continuing conifer afforestation