OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 257 



and mosses, with an intermingling of willow cat- 

 kins which also form a cozy lining interiorly. The 

 young are produced late in the season and are 

 seldom able to fly before July i. The parents 

 are remarkably devoted to their offspring. Pen- 

 nant mentions a case where the female was so 

 devoted to her duty that she refused to leave her 

 nest and had to be taken off with the hand. When 

 feeding upon the buds of the birch and alder, they 

 are so intent upon their business that they are 

 readily taken by means of a long pole smeared 

 with bird-lime. 



The European eggs are five in number, pale 

 bluish-green and marked with orange-brown, 

 especially about the larger end. They measure .65 

 by .50 of an inch. American species are rounded- 

 oval in shape, and generally dotted with ferrugi- 

 nous upon a light bluish-white back-ground. This 

 color is somewhat difficult to preserve in the col- 

 lection. They measure .65 of an inch in length 

 and .52 in breadth. 



Chrysomitris pinus, Baird. 



The Pine Finch is a very common winter resi- 

 dent in Eastern Pennsylvania. It arrives from 

 the north late in October usually about the 2oth 

 and continues in our midst until the last of April, 

 when it retires whence it came. During the 

 autumnal months it is gregarious and scours the 

 county in quest of food in flocks of twenties and 

 thirties; but, as the season advances and winter 



Q 



