Hawfinches ; Pine Grosbeaks 



833 



as well as its seeds and those of the box elder. They breed in the mountain- 

 ous portions of their range, constructing in low trees or bushes a flat, shallow 

 nest of sticks and rootlets; the eggs are greenish white, spotted and blotched 

 with brown. They are persistent singers, though the song is not of a high 

 order of merit. 



Hawfinches. Most closely related is the Hawfinch (Coccothraustes cocco- 

 thraustes] of Europe as far north as southern Sweden and Norway, whence in a 

 number of forms it ranges east to Japan. In the British Islands it is rather rare 

 and local, though apparently on the increase, and frequents groves, gardens, and 

 orchards. It is an extremely shy, wary bird, keeping mostly to the tops of the 

 trees, and is generally silent except for a sharp, clicking call note. Its food 

 consists largely of hard-shelled seeds or fruits, though the young -are fed on 

 caterpillars. It builds a large, well-made nest in a bush or hedge, and lays 

 from four to six olive or bluish green black-spotted eggs. About seven inches 

 in length, the Hawfinch has the lores, throat, and feathers at the base of the bill 

 black, the crown and cheeks reddish brown, the nape ash-gray, and the back 

 reddish brown, while the wings are black with the great coverts white, and the 

 lower parts light purplish brown or grayish. Hume's Hawfinch (C. humii) of 

 the Himalayas differs in being less brightly colored. 



Pine Grosbeaks. Inhabiting the coniferous forests of the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere are the Pine Grosbeaks (Pinicola), which are very large arboreal Finches 

 with long wings and tail and a very short, 

 broad, thick bill. The plumage of the 

 adult males is a dull rose-pink or madder- 

 pink, changing to ash-gray on scapulars, 

 flanks, abdomen, and under tail-coverts, 

 the females being largely grayish without 

 any red, but changing to bright olive- 

 tawny on the head and lower rump. The 

 typical form (P. enudeator} is a native of 

 northern Europe and Asia, and is not 

 very sharply differentiated from the North 

 American representatives, which, however, 

 have been divided into some four or five geo- 

 graphic races. The best-known American 

 form is the Canadian Pine Grosbeak (P. e. 

 leucura} of northeastern North America, 

 which spends the summer months from 

 northern Maine and New Brunswick north 

 to the limit of coniferous forests, but in 

 winter comes southward somewhat irregu- 

 larly to southern New England and the 

 middle Western States. Comparatively little 

 is known of it in its summer home beyond the fact that it appears to lead a 

 quiet and retired life in the gloomiest recesses of the coniferous forests; but 



3H 



FIG. 229. Canadian Pine Grosbeak, 

 Pinicola enucleator leucura. 



