522 



riNE GROSBEAK. 



where they remained until late April. On June 13tli I shot a i^peeimen that was filled 

 with canker worms, but their usual food is seeds, either of coniferous ti'ees or of grass and 

 weeds. 



GENUS XXVIII. PINICOLA. THE PINE GROSBEAKS. 



Gen. Ch. Bill, short, thick, nearly as deep at base as long, with the upper mandible considerably 

 curved. Wings pointed. Tail, quite long (about three-fourths as long as the wing), quite deeply forked. 

 Plumage, quite thick. We have a single species within our limits. 



PINICOLA ENUCLEATOR. 

 Pine Grosbeak. 



Sp. Ch. Size, large. Form, robust. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Color. Adult Male 



Rosy red throughout with feathers of the 



back showing darker centers. Abdomen and under-tail coverts, gray, 

 crossed by two bands of white, and the tertiaries and some secondaries 

 are white edged. Female. Gray, throughout, slightly tinged with 

 grayish yellow on top of head, rump, and back, and more faintly 

 across breast. Throat, whitish. Wings and tail, as in the male. 

 Young males are like the females, but show traces of red on the 

 head and rump, and specimens are found in all stages between 

 this immature dress and the adult plumage. Young females are pale 

 yellow on head and rump with faint tingings elsewhere. Iris, bill 

 and feet, brown, in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Wings and tail, blackish, the former 



piitiiii"ji 





Fk;. 58. Young Male Pine Gos- 

 beak in winter. 



Known at once by the peculiar form, large size and white bands 

 on wings. Individuals in the fully adult plumage of the male are 

 rare. Occurs in summer throughout the northern portion of the 



northern hemisphere, migrating south in the eastern sections into the United States, rarely as far as 

 Kentucky. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Length, 8.75 to 9.00; stretch, 13.70 to 14.00 ; wing, 4.50 to 4.G0; tail, 3.80 to 4.00; bill, .55 to .60; 

 tarsus, .75 to .85. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed in trees, composed of fine rootlets. They are flat in form. Eggs, oval in form, greenish 

 drab in color, spotted and blotched with pale, purplish brown, and dark purple. Dimensions, .70 by 1.02 

 to .75 by 1.08. 



HABITS. 



The Pine Grosbeak is another of the northern-breeding birds which visit us here in 

 Massachusetts at rather irregular times. Thus, although possibly a few may come to us 

 every winter, we do not always have them so abundant some seasons as others. The 

 note of this fine Grosbeak in winter is loud and clear, and even startling, when heard 

 near at hand. Their song is a rather low, continuous warble given by the birds in early 

 spring. 



