THE PINE GROSBEAK. 21 



with a short, thick, almost hawk-like bill, and the tail 

 slightly notched. The general color of the old male is 

 bright crimson-red, the feathers, especially on the back, 



THE PINE GROSBEAK. 



showing elegant centers of dusky ash; the lores, the sides 

 of the head and body, and the under tail coverts, ashy; two 

 bands on the wing coverts, white; wings and tail, dusky. 

 Female and young, ashy, variously marked or tinged with 

 greenish yellow or light golden brown on the crown and 

 rump, or even over the back and breast. As the male is no 

 doubt several years in reaching his bright colors of matu- 

 rity, nearly all the individuals visiting us in winter are 

 ashy. To the naturalist and artist the old males are a great 

 desideratum. Scarcely can the southern climes send us a 

 more brilliant migrant than this casual visitor from the 

 north. Immature specimens may arrive in New England 

 and the Middle States, already in the wake of Indian Sum- 

 mer, but only in severe winters are they common. Then 

 the flocks of 10-20 may contain quite a sprinkling of the 



