PINE GEOSBEAK 231 



of early springtime," says Mr. Bicknell ; " little 

 swarms of gnats hover in the balmy air ; from 

 the twilight meadows comes the welcome, half- 

 doubtful piping of the first hylas no other 

 sound. Then perhaps from some dusky thicket 

 a bird's song ! An emotional outburst rising 

 full-toned and clear, and passing all too quickly 

 to a closing cadence, which seems to linger in 

 the silent air. ... It breaks forth as if inspired 

 from pure joy in the awakened season, though 

 with some vague undertone, scarcely of sadness, 

 rather of some lower tone of joy." 



Pine Grosbeak : Pinicola enucleator. 

 (See Fig. 117, p. 193.) 



Adult male, slaty gray washed with dull rose-red. Adult fe- 

 male, slaty gray slightly washed with yellowish. Young, like 

 the female. Length, about 9 inches. 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. Northern portions of the north- 

 ern hemisphere, breeding in North America from the moun- 

 tains of New England, Colorado, and California north to the 

 limit of trees, migrating in winter irregularly to the northern 

 United States. 



One of the rare pleasures of a winter among 

 the snow-fields of the north is the visit of a flock 

 of Pine Grosbeaks. The handsome, rosy-coated 

 birds are not common visitors, and the sight of a 

 red flock of them clustering around the cones of 

 an evergreen is a picture to brighten many a dull 

 day. They wander about the country in winter, 

 and when a flock suddenly appears in a neighbor- 



