THE PINE GROSBEAK. 



(Pinicola enucleator.) 



Ere the crossbills leave the pine woods, 

 Ere the grosbeaks seek the ash seeds. 



— Frank Bolles, "The Log-Cock. 



The name grosbeak, or great beak, is a 

 common name for a number of birds that 

 possess large, thick and strong bills which 

 are adapted to crushing fruits and seeds. 

 Unfortunately this name has been indis- 

 criminately applied to the representatives 

 of several bird families. 



The true grosbeaks are related to the 

 goldfinch, the finches, the sparrows, the 

 buntings and the crossbills. In fact they 

 have some of the marked characteristics 

 of the latter birds, as neither develop the 

 fully adult plumage for several years. 



The Pine Grosbeak must be sought in 

 the northern regions of the northern hem- 

 isphere, where the vast forests of cone 

 bearing trees are found, or among the 

 coniferous trees of the high altitudes of 

 the western mountain regions of the Unit- 

 ed States. In the latter place they are 

 not abundant. It seems to be at home 

 and contented only in the cold, crisp air 

 of the far north and seldom seeks a more 

 temperate climate except when the win- 

 ters are unusually severe or there is a 

 scarcity of food in its native haunts. It 

 is a frequent winter visitor to the north- 

 ern tier of the United States and is quite 

 abundant, at this season, in some portions 

 of New England. Except during the 

 nesting season the Pine Grosbeaks are 

 gregarious and are frequently seen in 

 flocks of fifteen or more individuals. In 

 the winter cimate of the northern United 

 States these flocks contain many more 

 immature than adult birds, the younger 

 ones seeming to be less able to withstand 

 the severer cold of more arctic regions,- 

 Thus in this district the more brilliant 

 plumage of the fully adult male is rare- 

 ly seen, and becomes a valuable aquisi- 

 tion to the naturalist, for the younger 

 birds and the females are less showy. 

 Speaking of the beautiful male bird, some 



one has said, "Scarcely can the southern 

 cHmes send us a more brilliant migrant 

 than this casual visitor from the north." 

 There is a slight variation in the plum- 

 age coloration and in the shape of the 

 bills of the Pine Grosbeaks of widely 

 separated regions. These variations have 

 led ornithologists to group these birds 

 under geographical races giving each 

 race a varietal name. 



Speaking of the Pine Grosbeaks of 

 Siberia Mr. Seebohm says, "Almost all 

 the forest districts are hilly and in the 

 north, as the trees become smaller, they 

 are also more thinly scattered over the 

 ground and the interminable extent of 

 wood is broken by occasional flat, open 

 spaces and open marshes which become 

 gray with flowers as soon as the snow 

 melts. The scenery is much more park- 

 like than further south and these birds 

 are much more plentiful and more easily 

 seen. In the large pine forests they pre- 

 fer the banks of the rivers or the out- 

 skirts of some open place and may often 

 escape detection because of their habit of 

 frequenting the tops of trees. Within 

 the Arctic circle many of the trees are 

 small and on the hilly ground they are 

 scattered in small clumps. In places like 

 these the Pine Grosbeaks may often be 

 seen perched conspicuously on the top 

 of a spruce fir, twenty or thirty feet from 

 the ground but looking so^ much like the 

 last spike of the tree as frequently to 

 escape notice." 



The Pine Grosbeak is a retiring bird 

 and would seem to be somewhat shy as 

 it does not frequent the roadside or in- 

 habited places except when forced to do 

 so by the lack of food. This, however, 

 is not the case, for in the forests where 

 it makes its home it is not difficult to 

 approach it. It will frequently alight 



