BIRDS OF AMERICA 



ish olive, tawny-olive, or russet, the back and anterior 

 under parts, especially chest, sometimes tinged with the 

 same; otherwise like adult males. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Usually in conifers; con- 

 structed with foundation and outside walls of twigs 

 and rootlets enclosing a well woven "inner" nest of 

 finer twigs, grasses, and bark strips. Eccs : 4, pale 

 greenish-blue, spotted and blotched with dark umber- 

 brown and lavender. 



Distribution. — Northeastern North America, breed- 

 ing from Cape P5reton Island, southern Nova Scotia, 

 New Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire, Province of 

 Quebec, etc., north to limit of coniferous forests; south 

 in winter to southern New England, New York, north- 

 ern New Jersey, Pennsylvania, northern parts of Ohio, 

 Indiana, and Illinois. Iowa. etc.. casually to District of 

 Columbia. Kentucky, and Kansas ; west tn eastern 

 Kansas. Minnesota. Manitoba, etc. 



Some cold bright winter morning when first 

 we step out into the frost, we hear a pleasing 

 mellow whistle, and see several birds resembling 

 Robins glide up into the apple tree or the clump 

 of spruces in the front yard. Investigation re- 



imply that the spruces in the northern forests 

 are not bearing the normal crop of cones, and 

 that this is one of the seasons, occurring only 

 about once every half dozen years or so, when 

 there will be a notable influx into the United 



Drawing by R, I 



A bird that lo 



PINE GROSBEAK I ! nat. size) 

 ; the great pine forests of Canada and the United States 



veals that there are about a dozen of them, mov- 

 ing about in rather a sedate and deliberate 

 manner. Several are on the ground, the rest 

 scattered about in the nearby trees, perhaps bit- 

 ing into frozen apples, or at work on the ever- 

 green cones ; in either case trying to get at the 

 seeds encased within. Most of them are dark 

 gray, but one or two look pinkish in the morn- 

 ing sunshine. A rather rare treat is ours, a visit 

 from those nomads of the cold North, the Pine 

 Grosbeaks. 



The sight is of some significance. It may 



States of Canadian winter birds. Probably the 

 Crossbills and Redpolls will also be seen, with 

 the accompanying flight of the fierce Goshawks, 

 which prey ujjon them, also the Northern Shrike, 

 and other northern birds. There is an added in- 

 centive now for winter otitings, which will pay 

 dividends in health and vigor through getting 

 away from poorly ventilated indoors. Somehow 

 there is a peculiar charm about these birds from 

 the northern wilds which make no account of the 

 fierce cold. 



During one such winter some friends of mine 



