i66 The Ottawa Naturalist. [December 



causes them to have little fear of him when they come south, and 

 one may approach quite closely to examine them. 



Their food in winter consists of almost any of the persistent 

 fruits. A favorite food is the seeds of the mountain ash, which 

 they pick from the trees and even from the ground where they 

 have been blown by heavy winds. This winged fruit they dissect 

 taking only the meat. Apples left upon the trees are also eaten. 

 At times the pulp is cast away and only the seeds eaten, and again 

 their crops have been found to contain the pulp. They also feed 

 upon the fruit of the sumach. Their never failing diet is the tips of 

 twigs of the fir trees. These tips are bitten off, and to reach them 

 the birds at times hang nearly upside down, as the lithe limbs bend 

 with the weight of the birds. When this food has been eaten the 

 bill is coated with balsam. Elm buds also are eaten after they 

 begin to swell in spring. 



The flight of the pine grosbeak is slightly undulating, and 

 when on the wing they often emit a soft loud whistle, by imitating 

 which they may be induced to alight near by. Some ornithologists 

 claim that this species nests far north, and so early in the spring 

 that the eggs are laid before the snow has gone. This may be 

 true, but it is also true that they breed in New Brunswick in the 

 month of July. 

 Purple Finch Carpodactis pur pu reus. 



This species is in appearance a small edition of the pine gros- 

 beak. The males much resemble each other in color, but the 

 females and young males of the purple finch lack the yellowish 

 breast and rump of the grosbeak. This species stayed throughout 

 the winter of 1902-3. They were often heard to sing, but the song 

 lacked the energy that is given it during the nuptial season. The 

 song of the young male is not so rich as that of the adult male, and 

 consists of a few short notes in place of the long, flowing song of 

 adult. The males do not attain the purple plumage until the 

 second year. Their food in spring is buds of various trees, the 

 favourite being those of the poplar and the bals imy buds of the 

 fir ; later, insects are added to the bill of fare. An adult male was 

 observed in October eating the woolly aphis which infests alder 

 bushes. Although arriving from the south early in spring the 

 nesting season is deferred until after the middle of June. 



