ARTICLE XLII. Notice of the Occurrence of the Pine Groshealc 



and Bohemian Chatterer, near Montreal: by 

 w. s. M. d'urban, esq. 



During the severe weather at the beginning of this month I 

 met with a large tlock of Pine Grosbeaks, {Pyrrhula enuncleator. 

 Selby,) and Bohemian Waxwings, or Cliatterers {Bombycilla- 

 ga.rrula. Fleni.) on the Mountain about half a mile beyond the 

 Priest's Farm. They were feeding in company on the berries of 

 the Mountain Ash, and I succeeded in shooting a male and 

 female of the Grosbeaks, but was not so fortunate as to obtain 

 any of the Chatterers. I have, however, seen several specimens, 

 which were shot, lately, near the " back river " by a Canadian, 

 and now in the possession of Mr. Broome, of the Natural History 

 Society. At first they were quite tame, and allowed me to go 

 close to them, but after I had fired at them, they became much 

 more difficult of approach. I found the Grosbeaks for several 

 successive days feeding in the same place, but the Waxwings 

 disappeared after the second day, and I saw no more of them. 

 The red plumage of the Grosbeaks, and the pointed crests and 

 yellow tipped tails of the Chatlerers, rendered it easy to distin- 

 guish the two species from each other, even at a considerable 

 distance. It had a pretty efiect, on a bitter cold day, the 

 Thermometer being some degrees below Zero, to see these beauti_ 

 ful and hardy birds, picking off the bright-red berries, the 

 Grosbeaks clinging back downwards to the branches, like Parrots. 

 It was also peculiarly interesting to an English Ornithologist, to 

 behold two species deemed such rarities at home, feeding in 

 numbers within a few yards of him. The two specimens I shot, 

 when skinned, had a strong odour of Prussic-acid, derived from 

 the pips of the Mountain Ash berries with which their stomachs 

 were crammed, and their throats were full of the pulp and seeds 

 alone, as they dexterously squeeze out the seeds and pulp, 

 rejecting the skins, which are scattered over the snow, in great 

 quantities under the trees where they feed. There was a consid- 

 erable amount of orange-coloured fat on their bodies, showing 

 that they throve on the fare they had found. The last time I 

 saw the Pine Grosbeaks, was on the 20th, when I observed the 

 flock flying about over the place where I first met with them, and 

 I believe they still continue in the neighbourhood. As far as I 



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