22 Knight, The Pine Grosbeak in Captivity. [^ 



1 noticed two or three individuals feeding on seeds of the white 

 ash near Orono, Maine. December 25 a flock of about two hun- 

 dred individuals appeared in the yard of a friend in Bangor and 

 began to feed upon the seeds of crab-apples of which a large quantity 

 remained on the leafless trees in his yard. He at once sent word 

 to me, and I was soon on the spot. I determined to catch a pair 

 of the birds and see if they could be induced to breed in captivity. 



A horse hair slip noose was speedily arranged at the end of a 

 bean pole, and with this crude apparatus I essayed to capture the 

 birds, which were very tame. They would sit quietly engaged in 

 feeding, while I slipped the noose over one's head, and hauled it 

 from its perch on the tree. The remainder of the flock did not 

 seem to take any notice of the queer antics of their captured 

 comrade, which uttered loud, harsh cries when handled while the 

 noose was being removed from its neck. In this way about 

 twenty females and young males were captured, but the handsome 

 adult males were more wary and remained near the top of the 

 tree, so that it was impossible to capture any of them. 



After a careful scrutiny of the captives, I selected two likely 

 looking ones which by sheer luck turned out to be a pair. My 

 friend also selected a couple of the birds, and the remainder were 

 set free. My pair of birds were placed in a large cage in our 

 kitchen, where they would become accustomed to seeing persons 

 near them, and they quickly became very tame. The next day 

 after their capture, the male began to sing in a low ventriloquial 

 voice which seemed to come from an entirely opposite direction 

 from where he was. 



In a few days they would eagerly take apple and hemp seed 

 from my hand, and very soon I would allow them to come out of 

 their cage and fly about the room. When I desired to get them 

 into their cage again, a few seeds placed near the door at once 

 enticed them within. 



The male quickly assumed the ascendency, and did not allow 

 the female to partake of any proffered dainties until his own 

 appetite was satisfied. The second week in May he showed 

 indications of pairing, and nesting material was put in the cage. 

 Both birds would carry this around the cage in their beaks, but 

 did not seem to know how to begin to build a nest. May 30, the 



