Conspicuously Red of any Shade 
gifts; but if our bright-colored birds have become shockingly 
few under existing conditions, would any at all remain were the 
females prominent, like the males, as they brood upon the nest ? 
Both tanagers construct a rather disorderly-looking nest of fibres 
and sticks, through which daylight can be seen where it rests 
securely upon the horizontal branch of some oak or pine tree; 
but as soon as three or four bluish-green eggs have been laid 
in the cradle, off goes the father, wearing his tell-tale coat, to 
a distant tree. There he sings his sweetest carol to the patient, 
brooding mate, returning to her side only long enough to feed 
her with the insects and berries that form their food. 
_ Happily for the young birds’ fate, they are clothed at first in 
motley, dull colors, with here and there only a bright touch of 
scarlet, yellow, and olive to prove their claim to the parent whose 
gorgeous plumage must be their admiration. But after the moult- 
ing season it would be a wise tanager that knew its own father. 
His scarlet feathers are now replaced by an autumn coat of olive 
and yellow not unlike his mate’s. 
Pine Grosbeak 
(Pinicola enucleator ) Finch family 
Called also: PINE BULLFINCH 
Length—Variously recorded from 6.5 to 11 inches. Specimen 
measured 8.5 inches. About one-fifth smaller than the robin. 
Male—General color strawberry-red, with some slate-gray fleck- 
ings about head, under wings, and on legs. Tail brown; 
wings brown, marked with black and white and slate. A 
band-shaped series of markings between the shoulders. 
Underneath paler red, merging into grayish green. Heavy, 
conspicuous bill. 
Female—Ash-brown. Head and hind neck yellowish brown, 
each feather having central dusky streak. Cheeks and 
throat yellowish. Beneath ash-gray, tinged with brownish 
yellow: under tail. 
Range—British American provinces and northern United States. 
Migrations—Irregular winter visitors; length of visits as uncer- 
tain as their coming. 
As inseparable as bees from flowers, so are these beautiful 
winter visitors from the evergreen woods, where their red 
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