10 FRINGILLID.E. 



birds are said to be hatched in June. The male has an 

 agreeable song, will sometimes sing at night, and in confine- 

 ment is said to remain in song nearly the whole of the year. 



The Pine Grosbeak is more abundant in the northern parts 

 of Europe and America than elsewhere, and is found in 

 Sweden, Norway, Lapland, Russia, Siberia, and sparingly 

 in the north of Germany, but more frequently now than 

 formerly. According to M. Vieillot, it is a very rare bird in 

 France, sometimes seen, and then only in winter, in those 

 parts bordering on Germany or Switzerland, where there are 

 abundance of Pine Forests ; but this bird has been seen as 

 far south as Provence and Genoa. 



North America appears to be the country in which the 

 habits of the Pine Grosbeak have been more attentively ob- 

 served, and to the recent describers of the birds of that ex- 

 tended region I must refer for particulars. Mr. Audubon 

 has observed them in Newfoundland, on the coast of La- 

 brador, and at Hudson's Bay. In the winter of 1836 these 

 birds were observed as far south as the vicinity of Philadel- 

 phia ; and that season also they were abundant in the States 

 of New York and Massachusets. Dr. Richardson saw them 

 as far north as the 60th parallel. Mr. Audubon, in his ex- 

 tended and valuable Ornithological Biography, says, " The 

 flight of the Pine Grosbeak is undulating and smooth, per- 

 formed in a direct line when it is migrating, at a consider- 

 able height above the forests, and in groups of from five to 

 ten individuals. They alight frequently during the day, 

 on such trees as are opening their buds or blossoms. At 

 such times they are extremely gentle, and easily approached. 

 They are exceedingly fond of bathing, and whether on the 

 ground or on branches, move by short leaps. I have been 

 much surprised to see, on my having fired, those that were 

 untouched fly directly towards me until within a few feet, 

 and then slide oflf, and alight on the lower branches of the 



