PINE-GROSBEAK. 43 



expressed on paper. The song is very melodious, not very loud or long, 

 but flute-like. When I first heard it I took it for the song of some rare 

 Siberian Thrush, and was quite disappointed when I shot the bird to find 

 it only a Pine-Grosbeak. The flight is undulating and powerful. We 

 found several nests which could only have belonged to birds of this species ; 

 but our search for eggs was unsuccessful. The breeding-seasoiTis~said to 

 be the end of May or beginning of June. The nests are generally placed 

 in a spruce-fir tree ten or twelve feet from the ground on a thick branch 

 close to the main stem. The nest is made on the same model as that of 

 the Hawfinch and Bullfinch, but of coarser materials. The outside is a 

 framework of slender fir-twigs ; and the inside, which projects above the 

 outside, is composed of roots, fine grass, and a lichen which grows on the 

 branches of the trees, and might easily be mistaken for hair. The first 

 clearly identified eggs of the Pine-Grosbeak which came to this country 

 were those obtained by John Wolley near Muonioniska in 1855, and seven 

 years later Wheelwright found five nests near Quickiock. The number of 

 eggs varies from three to four; they measure from 1*07 to '97 inch in 

 length and from '74 to '7 in breadth. They may be described as large 

 handsome Bullfinch's eggs. The ground-colour is pale greenish blue, 

 boldly spotted, principally at the larger end, with surface-spots varying 

 from rich brown to almost black, and with underlying spots of greyer 

 brown. Some eggs are also profusely speckled with very small spots, and 

 occasionally a Chaffinch-like streak is seen on the large end. On some 

 eggs the spots are so large and numerous as to be more or less confluent. 



In winter the Pine-Grosbeak is much easier of approach than it is in 

 summer, and it is said that it may even be caught by a snare fastened 

 to the end of a rod. It feeds upon the buds of various forest trees, the 

 seeds of pine and fir cones, and the berries of various shrubs, especially 

 those of the southernwood. 



The adult male Pine-Grosbeak is a very handsome bird; the general 

 colour of the plumage is dull slate-grey, darker and browner on the wings 

 and tail, and paler on the under tail-coverts. The wing-coverts, innermost 

 secondaries, and upper tail-coverts have broad white margins, and every 

 feather, except those of the belly and under tail-coverts, is fringed with 

 rose-red. Bill dark brown ; legs, feet, and claws nearly black ; irides 

 hazel. The rose-red is very brilliant after the autumn moult, but fades 

 during winter to some extent. In spring the colour appears to intensify, 

 although there is no change of feather. 



The changes of plumage of this species have been the subject of much 

 needless controversy. A series of skins of these birds shot during the 

 breeding-season is easily divided into three groups. Most of the feathers 

 are grey, those of the adult males fringed with rose-red, and those of the 

 adult females with golden yellow. Immature females scarcely differ from 



