41)0 NOliTH AMEUrUAX BIRDS. 



liiiusclf boldly on the top of a plant, as if to be more plainly heard by his 

 companions. In early sjirinj;' they feed on the catkins of the alder and 

 hazel. They winter in small Hocks in Vancouver's Island. 



HoIImiH .states that tiiis .species is found irregularly distributed over Green- 

 land, coming always in the tir.st half of Ajiril, a little later than tiie Snow- 

 lUiiiting. It migrates to OreenLmd from America, and is much i-arer in Ice- 

 land. In June it is found nesting near the shore, and, contrary to the usual 

 nature of liirds, is very wihl, tiiough at all times el.se it is very iearless. At 

 this time ll.u male loses its beautiful crimson breast, re.seiid)les tiie female, 

 and is nnich less gorgeous than in winter. It nests in birches, alders, or 

 willows, and lays five bluisii-white eggs, spotted with lear brown. Towards 

 the end of August and in Sei)tendK!r they are .seen in small Hocks about the 

 settlements, the male resuming its red breast, and all, both old and young, 

 being very fearless. In confinement they soon became very tame, and in a 

 few days would perch upon his hand and struggle with each other for the 

 hemp-seed that he iield to them, though there was plenty of food in their 

 cage. They feed on seeds and the tops of lichens. IJy October they all 

 disapi)ear, and are not seen in (heenland in the winter. 



AVilson states tliat, in his day, these birds were \ery common in North- 

 western Xew York, where they appeared always with the tirst deep snow, 

 and were, on that account, called Snow-Rirds. In severe winters tliey were 

 occasionally, though very rarely, seen in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, 

 where they were very fond ot liie seeds of the connnon alder, and hung head 

 downwards while feeding, in tiie manner of our (ioldtinch. They were very 

 unsus]iieious, and permitted a near approach witliout manifesting any signs 

 of alarm. Mr. Ord, in a subseipumt edition of AVilson, states that these 

 bivds rarely visit I'liiladelphia, and that it was many years l>efore he could 

 procure specimens. In the winter of LSI:} - 14 they appeared in a flock of 

 learly a hundred, and were so intent in feeding u|)ou the .«eeds of the Atri- 

 plcv hastata that they could be closely approached. Their call exactly re- 

 sembled that of the (Joldfinch. The.se birds lingered in that neighborhood 

 until about the middle of April. 



Their migration soutiiward in winter is evidently caused more by want of 

 food than by tiie state of the temperature. They remain in high northern 

 regions in the most inclement weather, and often appear among us in seasons 

 not reniarkaljly cold, and remain until late in tlie spring. In LSM.'i, by the 

 7tli of November, the weather still being (piitc; mild, Nuttall states, they ap- 

 peared in Massachusetts in considerable flocks. Tiiey regularly assendded in 

 the birch-trees every morning to feed on the seeds, and were so intent on 

 their emidoyment that it was often ])ossible to a])])roach the .shmder trees on 

 which they were feeding, and strike them off, before they would take wing. 

 They hung on the twigs with great tenacity, and moved ubout in reversed 

 positions, in the manner of the Chickadees. They are described by him as 

 having a (piailing call, similar to that of the Goldfinch, and when crowding 



