118 CANARIES AND CAGE-BIRDS. 



The voice is exceedingly flute-like and expressive, and not as loud as the Rose- 

 breast's. The song is very varied and pleasing, on account of the soft and clear 

 notes. During the clear summer nights, in its native haunts, he sings throughout 

 the night in such a charming manner that one is compelled to stop and hear the 

 song through again to make sure it is not the utterance of that master singer the 

 English Nightingale on an escapade. On account of these night-serenades, the bird 

 is called, in his native lands, " The Watchman." The Pine Grosbeak, in addi- 

 tion to his splendid voice, has many other good qualities. Owing to his gentle, 

 confiding temperament, he may be easily tamed if properly treated. He becomes in 

 a few days accustomed to confinement, taking food readily from the hand, and will 

 allow himself to be stroked, and carried around the room, all the time piping his 

 happiness and content. Owing to the ignorance of bird-keepers, the Pine Grosbeak 

 when caged is always kept in a warm room. This surely proves fatal ; for, when so 

 kept, he will waste away, and die in a very short time. If shut up in too warm 

 a place, they will climb uneasily around the cage, and open their beaks, and pant, 

 showing how unbearable the heat is to them. It is therefore better to keep them in 

 an uuwarmed room, or hung outside the house. In confinement the plumage loses 

 its brilliancy, and after the first few months' confinement the bright carmine changes 

 to a yellow. In a wild state the Pine Grosbeak subsists on the seeds of the fir-tree. 



When caged, they should have the same seeds as the Rose-breast. If kept in a 

 cold room, they will live for some three or four years, and sing throughout the 

 entire year. 



The Pine Grosbeak is often met throughout the New-England States, where 

 he has received the name of Evening Grosbeak. 



THE BLUE GROSBEAK. 



Unlike the Pine Grosbeak, this bird is an inhabitant of the warmer regions of 

 the globe, but like him, and, in fact, all the members of the Grosbeak family, 

 seeks retired haunts. He is rarely seen in the northern parts of the United States. 

 Owing to his timidity he is not easily caught. As a cage-bird the Blue Grosbeak 

 is not a success : he has no song whatever, the only note being a single call-note. 

 He has very beautiful plumage, which is kept with the neatness of the Java 

 Sparrow's. The Blue Grosbeak is six inches long; the whole upper parts are 

 a rich purplish blue, more dull on the back, where it is mixed with dusky streaks ; 

 the wings are black, tipped with brown and blue ; the breast is a beautiful dark blue, 

 and the face black ; the tail is forked and black. 



The female is of a dark drab color tinged with blue throughout. The young 

 male birds do not attain the full color until the second spring moulting. In confine- 

 ment the Blue Grosbeak should receive the same care and treatment as the Rose- 

 breast. Being used to a warm climate, care should be taken not to expose him to 

 the cold which the Pine Grosbeak needs and is capable of enduring. 



There are some twenty other varieties of the Grosbeak family, which inhabit the 

 various parts of the globe ; and all of them may be distinguished by the peculiar 

 conical formation of the beak. 



