2



in the male, and orange-golden in the female ; the remaining

feathers above and below, with the exception of those of the

belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts, more or less broadly

bordered in the male with vinous-rose, and in the female with

golden ; another peculiarity, which seems to be frequently

overlooked by describers, is that in the male the feathers of the

mantle and back are marked just behind their rosy fringes by

ill-defined blackish V-shaped characters ; the wing-coverts and

inner secondaries are broadly bordered with white, the tips of

the lesser coverts in the male slightly tinted with rose : the wings

and tail, apart from the borders already noted, smoky blackish

with very narrow pale edges, rosy on the primaries ; beak,

blackish-brown ; feet, nearly black ; iris of eye, hazel. Imma¬

ture males, and males which have been kept in cages, resemble

the females, but the golden of the head and rump is less orange

in immature birds.


Scientific ornithologists have introduced this species into

the British list on the ground that five * examples have been

obtained, within a period extending over something like twenty-

three years, at sea-ports or within easy reach of the sea. When

it is remembered that the Pine Grosbeak is a common cage-bird

in Canada ; and sufficiently pleasing, when in full colour, to be

attractive to sailors; although less likely to satisfy them when

{owing to close confinement) the glory has departed from the

plumage; the only wonder is that at least fifty have not fallen to

that impulse said to be natural to true-born Britons in fine

weather—“ Lovely day! Let’s go and kill something.”


The nest of the Pine Grosbeak is usually placed on a

thick branch of spruce-fir, or birch, close to the main stem and at

a distance of from ten to twelve feet from the ground ; it is some¬

what like a large edition of that of the Bullfinch, the outer frame¬

work consisting of slender twigs of fir and the inside of fine

grass-bents, roots, and hair-lichen. The eggs number from

three to four, of a pale turquoise blue colour, with deep purplish-

brown or blackish spots, and greyer brown shell-spots ; they

vary much in the same manner as eggs of the Bullfinch.


During the winter months this species is gregarious in its

habits, and is so tame that it is easily caught or shot, but in the

summer the flocks break up for breeding purposes and the birds

are then somewhat more shy, though never so much so as our

Bullfinch.



* Formerly the number recorded was twenty-five; this was subse¬

quently reduced to five; and (after further investigation) Mr. Howard

Saunders is only disposed to admit one; which is also open to doubt.



