558 



NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



Dec. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE BIBDS OP NEW ENGLAND— No. 24. 



GOLDFINCHES — CROSSBILLS — REDPOLLS. 



Yellow Bird— Pine Finch— Red Crossbill— White-winged Cross- 

 bill-Lesser Redpoll— Mealy Redpoll. 



Prof. Baird describes eight species of American 

 Goldfinches, (genus Chrysomitris,) of which two 

 only are common to New England, the Yellow 

 Bird and Pine Finch. 



The Yellow Bird, or American Goldfinch, 

 {Clirijsomitris iristis, Bonap.,) is a well-known, 

 common and resident species, generally distribut- 

 ed over North America. In the winter they roam 

 about the country in flocks, sometimes of several 

 hundreds, in their humble attire of plain flaxen 

 color, subsisting entirely upon seeds, of which 

 they seem to find an abundance, apparently im- 

 mindful of the severity of the winter. On the re- 

 turn of warm weather they resume their bright 

 livery of gold and black, and pass the summer in 

 constant gaiety, ranging the fields at will in small 

 parties, or are engaged in rearing their young. So 

 strong is their gregarious and wandering disposi- 

 tion that considerable parties are seen in mid- 

 summer, the males tuning their lively songs to- 

 gether, and often seem striving to excel each oth- 

 er in the delivery of their varied, cheerful and 

 highly agreeable warble. 



They delay the duties of incubation till late in 

 the season, breeding mostly in July and August, 

 when the newly ripened seeds of the various plants 

 on which they feed are matured. The nest is 

 commonly placed in the fork of a tall bush, apple- 

 tree, or forest sapling, and is built of bark and 

 rootlets, and lined with down from thistles, dan- 

 delions and willow catkins. The eggs are pure 

 white, usually four. In winter and spring their 

 rovings seem to be directed by the abundance or 

 scarcity of food, rather than by climatic influences. 



The length of this bird is five inches ; alar ex- 

 tent, eight. In summer the male is bright, lemon 

 yellow, fading into white on the rump, with the 

 forehead, wings and tail black ; the female is palci-. 

 In September the yellow changes to brown olive, 

 and through the winter the sexes resemble each 

 other. 



The Pike Finch, {Chrysomitris pinns, Bo- 

 nap.,) spending the summer much farther to the 

 northward, is seen here only in winter, and its 

 migrations being governed by the supply of food, 

 it proves but an irregular and uncertain visitant, 

 at times being seen in considerable flocks, and 

 again not seen for severr.l seasons. I have taken 

 tiiem at Springfield in November, and in almost 

 every winter month ; they also often winter in 

 Pennsylvania, and have been seen in tlio Caroli- 

 nas. While here they subsist almost wholly on the 

 seeds of evergreens, as the larch, spruce and hem- 

 lock, and of alders and birches, and are quite un- 

 suspicious. In their call-notes and in their man- 

 ner of flight, they greatly resemble the preceding 

 species. 



Audubon met with them on the coast of Labra- 

 dor, toward the end of July, accomj^anied by their 

 young broods, but in no case was he able to find a 

 nest, though they doubtless sjjent the summer in 

 that vicinity. He observes that they are always 

 abundant in winter in the State of Maine. Its 

 habitat extends across the continent, from the At- 

 lantic to the Pacific. 



The length of this species is four inches, breadth 

 eight. Upper parts dark olive brown, streaked 

 with black ; beneath, whitish, streaked with dus- 

 ky ; concealed bases of the tail feathers and quills 

 sulphur yellow. 



The Red Crossbill, {Curvivostra Americana, 

 Wilson,) is another of those transient visitors 

 from the north, chiefly seen here in the v.inter, 

 but is not unknown at other seasons. It is sup- 

 posed to inhabit the northern parts of the conti- 

 nent generally, migrating southward in winter ; 

 but it is not mentioned in the Fauna Boreali- 

 Americana as a bird of the fur-countries. It is 

 known to spend the whole year among the moun- 

 tains of Pennsylvania. Some ^vinte^s it is quite 

 abundant in this State, as in the winter of 1859- 

 60, which was so remarkable for the appearance of 

 many rare northern birds, when large flocks of 

 them inhabited tlie pine woodsf or several months, 

 and were even quite common as late in the sum- 

 mer as June. A few remained till September, but 

 since that time have been rare. In the spring 

 months they often visited the orchards, for the 

 seeds of decayed apples, of which they were very 

 fond ; but generally the cones of the pitch pine 

 were their chief dependence for food, the seeds of 

 which they extracted with great dexterity. This 

 species is generally regarded as a regular winter 

 resident in all those extensive pine forests lying 

 north of latitude 40° ; Audubon says he found 

 them more abundant in Maine, and in the British 

 Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, 

 than elsewhere ; and in Maine was assured of its 

 nesting on the pine trees in the middle of winter, 

 while the ground was snow-covered ; and we have 

 accounts of a closely allied species breeding at the 

 same season in Europe. 



During the months of Februaiy and March, 

 1860, the males were full of song, often chasing 

 each other through the wood, and for several 

 weeks I looked in vain for iiests, though from ap- 

 pearances I strongly suspected them to be nesting. 

 At this time the males had a very agreeable, low, 

 warbling song. The flight of this species is strong, 

 swift and undulating, and while on the wing a 

 constant chattering is kept up, wdiich often pro- 

 duces an agreeable eft'ect where the flock is some- 

 what numerous. Their common call-note is a 

 quickly repeated chip, chip, chip, chip, but while 

 feeding they are quite silent, or only utter a fee- 

 ble whittitish, scarcely audible beyond a few paces. 



The Red Crossbill is seven inches in length, and 

 ten in alar exent. Color of the old male, dull light 

 red, wings and tail black ; female, greenish olive 

 tinged with yellow on the rump and head. Says 

 Baird, "The immature and young birds exhibit all 

 imaginable combinations of the colors of the male 

 and female." I have found the males, while here, 

 a])parently much more common than the females. 

 When confined in wire cages they use their bill 

 and feet in climbing, much like parrots. But to 

 give a particular account of the peculiar habits, 

 and ways of feeding, of these interesting birds, 

 Avould require mucli space. 



The WiirrF.-wiNGKi) Crossbill, {Curvirostra 

 leucoptcra, Wilson.) like the preceding species, is 

 a general inhabitant of the northern j)arts of 

 America, migrating southward in winter, and said 

 to be more commonly seen here than tliat species. 

 Like them, they are gregarious, and sometimes 

 appear here in immense, half-famished flocks in 



