416 PINE GROSBEAK. 
the nearest tree, where, standing as erect as little Hawks, they 
gazed upon me as if I were an object quite new, and of whose nature 
they were ignorant. They are easily caught under snow-shoes put up 
with a figure of four, around the wood-cutters camps, in the State of 
Maine, and are said to afford good eating. Their food consists of the 
buds and seeds of almost all sorts of trees. Occasionally also they 
seize a passing insect. I once knew one of these sweet songsters, 
which, in the evening, as soon as the lamp was lighted in the room 
where its cage was hung, would instantly tune its voice anew. 
My kind friend Tuomas M‘Cuttocu of Pictou in Nova Scotia, has 
sent me the following notice, which.I trust will prove as interesting to 
you as it has been to me. ‘ Last winter the snow was exceedingly 
deep, and the storms so frequent and violent that many birds must 
have perished in consequence of the scarcity of food. ‘The Pine Gros- 
beaks being driven from the woods, collected about the barns in great 
numbers, and even in the streets of Pictou they frequently alighted in 
search of food. A pair of these birds which had been recently taken 
were brought me by a friend, but they were in such a poor emaciated 
condition, that I almost despaired of being able to preserve them alive. 
Being anxious, however, to note for you the changes of their plumage, 
I determined to make the attempt; but notwithstanding all my care, 
they died a few days after they came into my possession. Shortly af- ‘ 
ter, I received a male in splendid plumage, but so emaciated that he 
seemed little else than a mass of feathers. By more cautious feeding, 
however, he soon regained his flesh, and became so tame as to eat from 
my hand without the least appearance of fear. To reconcile him gra- 
dually to confinement, he was permitted to fly about my bedroom, and 
upon rising in the morning, the first thing I did was to give him a small 
quantity of seed. But three mornings in succession I happened to lie 
rather later than usual, and each morning I was aroused by the bird 
fluttering upon my shoulder, and calling for his usual allowance. The 
third morning, | allowed him to flutter about me some time before 
shewing any symptom of being awake, but he no sooner observed that 
his object was effected than he retired to the window and waited pa- 
tiently until I arose. As the spring approached, he used to whistle 
occasionally in the morning, and his notes, like those of his relative the — 
Rose-breasted Grosbeak, were exceedingly rich and full. About the 
time, however, when the species began to remove to the north, his for- — 
