296 NOTES ON THE 
ors the most noticable objects above the russet of autumn, or 
the snowy whiteness of winter. Often some prominent tree 
in the very heart of the city becomes the temporary place of 
their appearence and when many eyes are turned upon them, 
they may drop down as suddenly as if some hawk was hover- 
ing over them into a thicket of raspberry or currant bushes, 
just over the fence nearest the observers. They are not shy, 
being often approached very closely by the inquisitive looker-on 
if he have no dog at his heels. 
There seems to be a most reasonable presumption that they 
breed to some extent within our borders, yet not as early as is 
claimed for other sections of the United States in much the 
same latitude. Rev. J. H. Langille of Buffalo New York in 
his charming book, Our Birds in Their Haunts, says: ‘It is 
well demonstrated that in this country these birds breed in 
winter, or early spring.” 
- He quotes Andubon’s opinion to the same effect based on 
the assurance of ‘‘many persons in the State of Maine” who 
followed lumbering in the pine regions of that State. Itisa 
familiar bird to Minnesota lumbermen too, who are largely 
from Maine, who although noticing it so frequently have never 
mentioned either eggs or young. The flocks met with during 
winter are made up principally of the young of the year, with 
just a presumptive representation of paternal adults. Mr. 
Wm. Howling, a local taxidermist of great experience, tells 
me that the full plumaged adult males are only met with com- 
paratively rarely in his business. Now, the flocks have ap- 
peared here as early as the tenth of September, with appar- 
ently no old males at all. They remain until late in April 
with no indications of breeding, although in the light of all 
observations, I am inclined to believe the great body of those 
which have spent the winter months in this locality leave 
about the first of that month, and may at once enter upon in- 
cubation in their proximate nesting places which I presume 
to be the pineries somewhat to the north and east. Mr. Wash- 
burn, who has been employed to collect birds and notes in the 
interest of this report in the Red river valley (and a most 
scrupulous observer) says ‘‘on July 27th, at Herman, Minn., 
I observed a flock of these birds feeding on the ‘‘galled” 
beans of some young poplars in the village. The galls were 
quite large, and the birds were eagerly biting them open with 
their peculiar bills to obtain the minute insects within. It has 
a strong, loud note, resembling somewhat those of the Ameri- 
can Goldfinch,” 
