468 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



tufts grayish ; other upper parts gra3ish ; under parts white, barred with wavy 

 vermicular lines of black. Immature plumage : similar in general to adults 

 but scapulars, rump and upper tail coverts with dusky undulations ; the sec- 

 ondaries, greater wing coverts and middle tail feathers rusty tipped ; under 

 parts barred with wavy undulations of gra)ash brown. Wing 4.50 ; tail 4.20 ; 

 tarsus 1.02. Bill strong and hooked, the upper mandible curved downward. 



Geog. Dist.— Northern North America, breeding in the far north, always (?) 

 north of the United States ; in winter migrating south to the northern tier 

 of states and to Virginia, Kentucky, Kansas, Colorado, Arizona and northern 

 California. 



County Records. — Androscoggin ; fairly common winter resident, (John- 

 son). Aroostook; winter resident, (Knight). Cumberland ; common winter 

 migrant, (Mead). Franklin; rare winter resident, (Swain). Hancock; win- 

 ter resident, not common, (Knight). Kennebec ; rare, (Gardiner Branch). 

 Knox; winter, (Rackliff). Oxford; fairly common migrant, (Johnson). 

 Penobscot; quite common in late fall, winter and early spring, (Knight). 

 Piscataquis; (Homer). Sagadahoc; common in winter, (Spinney). Somer- 

 set; not common winter visitor, (Morrell). Waldo; seen in winter, (Newell). 

 Washington; common fall and winter, (Boardman). York; rare migrant, 

 (Adams). 



Like the bold Norse robber barons of old, these birds come 

 down from their northern wilds to prey on southern wealth. 

 The earliest I have seen one of these birds is October fifteenth 

 and the latest April tenth, but they usually appear slightly 

 later and leave earlier than these dates. As winter residents 

 they occur generally throughout the State, never really com- 

 mon, but still regular and frequently seen along the highways 

 and in the trees of the city streets and gardens. 



They come into the city of Bangor every winter and make 

 it their special business to attend to the English Sparrows. It 

 is a very common sight to see one of these large grayish birds 

 hopping downward from limb to limb of a tree, until finally it 

 pounces on an "Englisher" which has been noisily squawking 

 on the ground, or in a tree, or on the roof of some building. 

 Grasping the Sparrow in its claws, it flies heavily away, while 

 violent prolonged squealings of the victim draw the attention 

 of the bystanders to the tragedy. Generally the local news- 

 papers print the excited and garbled story of some bystander 

 who knows it all and the innocent Pine Grosbeaks are in most 



