PINE GROSBEAK. 417 
mer familiarity entirely disappeared. During the day he never rested 
a moment, but continued to run from one side of the window to the 
other, seeking a way of escape, and frequently during the night, when 
the moonlight would fall upon the window, I was awakened by him 
dashing against the glass. The desire of liberty seemed at last to ab- 
sorb every other feeling, and during four days I could not detect the 
least diminution in the quantity of his food, while at the same time he 
filled the house with a piteous wailing cry, which no person could hear 
without feeling for the poor captive. Unable to resist his appeals, I 
gave him his release ; but when this was attained he seemed very care- 
less of availing himself of it. Having perched upon the top of a tree 
in front of the house, he arranged his feathers, and looked about him 
for a short time. He then alighted by the door, and I was at last ob- 
liged to drive him away, lest some accident should befall him. 
“ These birds are subject to a curious disease, which I have never 
seen in any other. Irregularly shaped whitish masses are formed upon 
the legs and feet. To the eye these lumps appear not unlike pieces of 
lime ; but when broken, the interior presents a congeries of minute 
cells, as regularly and beautifully formed as those of a honey-comb. 
Sometimes, though rarely, I have seen the whole of the legs and feet 
covered with this substance, and when the crust was broken, the bone 
was bare, and the sinews seemed almost altogether to have lost the 
power of moving the feet. An acquaintance of mine kept one of these 
birds during the summer months. It became quite tame, but at last 
it lost the power of its legs and died. By this person I was informed 
that his Grosbeak usually sang during a thunder-storm, or when rain 
was falling on the house.” 
While in the State of Maine, I observed that these birds, when tra- 
velling, fly in silence, and at a considerable height above the trees. 
They alight on the topmost branches, so that it is difficult to obtain 
them, unless one has a remarkably good gun. But, on waiting a few 
minutes, you see the flock, usually composed of seven or eight indivi- 
duals, descend from branch to branch, and betake themselves to the 
ground, where they pick up gravel, hop towards the nearest pool or 
streamlet, and bathe by dipping their heads and scattering the water 
over them, until they are quite wet ; after which they fly to the branches 
of low bushes, shake themselves with so much vigour as to produce a 
smart rustling sound, and arrange their plumage. They then search 
for food among the boughs of the taller trees. 
VOL. IV. pd 
