FKlN(iILLIl).K — THE FLNCilKS. 49*;^ 



toj^ether, in iii.i4ht, as making' a couIuscmI cliirjauu-, with a rattlinur iioiso, and 

 moviuii <»ir witli a siiiiultaiH;uus twitUT. Tliev were atliiu-lt'd to tliu piiu-.-, ]^v 

 the Ciossldlls, and wvie Imsily enii»loyed in collecting the seeds, dropped fiMin 

 the cones as the Crusshills opened tlieni. They at times feil on the Inids of 

 fruit-trees. Thev were always found to be fat, even on tlieir first arrival, 

 and there were no obvious reasons for thoir nn»venient3. 



My. Boanhuan sj)eaks of them as common at Calais by the first of the 

 winter. At Norway, Me., Professor Verrill found them very common in fall, 

 winter, and spring, and most abundant in March and Aj»ril. In Springfield 

 they are, according to ^Ir. Allen, an irregular and occasional visitant, com- 

 ing in very large Hocks one year, and again not secji for several years. In a 

 more recent paper (1870) Mr. Allen states that during the jaeceding fiv(; years 

 these birds have been several times very numerous in Massachusetts, a]»i)ear- 

 iug in quite large Hocks. 



Mr. Audubon met with these birds in La1>rador the last of Julv, and ob- 

 tained specimens of dilferent ages. He thinks their notes more like those 

 of the Siskin of ilurope than of our Goldfinch, uttered l)oth whi'U the Itirds 

 are on the wing and when they have alighted. They were in small parties of 

 seven or eight, evidently mend»ers of the .same family. Tiiey were tame and 

 familiar, and fearlessly returned to the same sp(jt after having been shot 

 at. They were also remarkably affectionate, and he fre(|uently observed them 

 passing seeds one to tlie other in the most loving manner. 



Dr. Cones also observed this bird in Labrador, and described it as ^E. fas- 

 cescrns. He found it abundant along the c(jast, and was struck with its re- 

 sendjlance, in habits, to the Chrt/somifris trisfia. It was remarkably unsus- 

 picious and familiar, and showed no signs of fear even when very closely 

 approached. It fre(|uented, almost exclusively, the scrubby junii)ers that 

 grow everywhere in open places in thick impenetrable patches. He describes 

 its flight as irregular, rising and falling in curves, and seldom protracted to 

 any great distance. While jiassing overhead, it uttered a peculiar rattling 

 chirp. He thinks it has no song. 



Dr. Kirtland informs me that earlv in the winter of 1808 his grandson 

 picked up a wing-broken male licd-Poll, and placed it in his greenhouse. It 

 began at once to feed on crund)s of bread and hay-seed, and rapidly recovered. 

 It soon acquired the habitof leai)ing from shelf to shelf, among the plants, and 

 was finally seen climbing up some stately Pchinjoinv.m shrubs, and suspending 

 itself, ])arrot-like, by its feet from the limbs, capturing aphides. From that 

 time it took no other food, living exclusively on the parasitic insects of the 

 jdants. So active was it in capturing these, that for two months it was not 

 necessary to fumigate the greenhouse to destroy them. From day to day a 

 female Ped-Foll hovered over the buihling, and her calls were responded to 

 bv the invalid. Liter in the season he escajked from his confinement, and 

 was seen to rejoin his faithful mate, which had remained near him all the 

 winter. As in Kuro]»e, this s])ecies in the Arctic regions of America has been 

 found nesting in low trees and bushes, from two to six feet fiom the gnjund. 



