FBINGILLIB^ : FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPABROWS, ETC. 



343 



62. 



large white spaces on inner webs, and sometimes tipped with white. Adult $ 9 differ in the 

 shade of yeUow and degree of its i:>bscuration. (Specimens from Southern Rocky Mts. said 

 to have less turgid bill and narrower yellow frontlet.) A bird of distinguished appearance, 

 whose very name suggests the far-away land of the dipping sun, and the tuneful romance 

 which the wild bird throws around the fading light of day ; clothed in strildng color-contrasts 

 of black, white, and gold, he seems to represent the allegory of diurnal transuiutation ; for his 

 sable pinions close around the brightness of his vesture, as night encompasses the golden hues 

 of sunset, while the clear white space enfolded in these tints foretells the dawn of the mon'ow. 

 Western U. S. and somewhat northward ; E. in region of great lakes to N. Y. and Canada 

 and probably New England ; irregularly migratory ; common. Nest and eggs unknown. 

 PINI'COLA. (Lat. pinus, a pine ; coh, I cultivate.) Pine Bullfinches. Bill short, 

 stout, about as high as broad, sides convex in all directions, culmen convex throughout, tip 

 hooked ; commissure gently curved throughout, without decided angulation ; gonys relatively 

 long, rami of under mandible short, former nearly straight, latter coming together in a very 

 broad gentle curve ; commissural edge inflected. Nostrils small, round, basal, concealed by 

 the ruff of antrorse plumules ; nasal fossae short and broad. Wiugs of moderate length, tipped 

 by 2d-4tli quills, 1st and 5th a little .shorter ; 3d-5th with outer webs incised ; no peculiarity 

 of inner quills. Tail httle shorter than wings, emarginate, its short coverts scarcely or not 

 reaching half-way to end. Feet small ; tarsus not longer than middle toe without claw, 7-scu- 

 tellate in front, laminiplantar behind, but the outer of these plates commonly subdivided into 'A 

 or 4 below ! Lateral toes short, their claws scarcely surpassing base of middle one, outer 

 rather longer than inner ; hind toe less in length than inner lateral ; its claw shorter, though 



Sexes 



/ I '(. I 



stouter and more curved than the middle. 

 unlike ; ^ red, 9 gray. One species. 

 190. P- enuclea'tor. (Lat. enucleator, one who shells 

 out. Fig. 207.) Pine Grosbeak. Adult $ 

 Light carmine or rosy-red, feathers of back with 

 dusky centres ; lower belly and under tail-coverts 

 gray, and, in general, the red continuous only in 

 highly plumaged specimens. Nasal tufts and lores 

 blackish. Wings blackish ; primaries with naiTow 

 white or rosy edging, iuner secondaries more broadlj 

 edged with white, ends of greater and middle coverts 

 white or rosy, forming conspicuous wing-bars 

 Tail like wings, with narrow edgings like those 

 of primaries. Bill blackish, with or without palei 

 base below; feet blackish. Length about 8.50, 

 wing 4.50 or more ; tail 4.00. 9 : Ashy-gray, 

 paler below; feathers of the back with darker cen- 

 tres, those of head, rump, and fore parts generally paid del. Nichols sc.) 

 skirted with a saffi-on or yellowish color, very variable in extent and tint, from dull gamboge- 

 yellow to olive-orange, or rusty-orange, or even reddish ; in some specimens crown and rump 

 quite bricky-red. Throat sometimes abruj)tly paler than surrounding parts. Rather smaller 

 than $. Young $ resembles 9. Northern portions of both hemispheres; in America, in 

 summer, Alaska, British America and N. border of U. S., the Rocky Mts. to Colorado, and 

 Sierra Nevada to California ; in winter, range extended sometimes to Maryland, Ohio, Illinois 

 and Kansas. Inhabits chiefly coniferous woods, in flocks when not breeding, feeding upon 

 the fruit of such trees. A fine musician, of amiable disposition and gentle manners, often 

 caged. Nest composed of a basement of twigs and rootlets, within which is a more compact 

 fabric of finer materials ; eggs usually 4, pale greenish-blue, spotted and blotched with dark 

 brown surface-markings and Ulac sheU-.spots ; 1.05 X 0.74. 



Gi bbeik reluced (Shei 



