54 PINE GROSBEAK. 
four miles south from Philadelphia, which proved to be a female. In 
this part of the state of Pennsylvania, they are rare birds, and’ seldom 
seen. As they do not, to my knowledge, breed in any part of this 
state, I am unable, from personal observation, to speak of their man- 
ners or musical talents. Mr. Pennant says, they sing on their first 
arrival in the country round Hudson’s Bay, but soon become silent ; 
make their nest on trees, at a small height from the ground, with 
sticks, and line it with feathers. The female lays four white eggs, 
which are hatched in June. Forster observes, that they visit Hudson’s 
Bay only in May, on their way to the north; and are not observed to 
return in the autumn; and that their food consists of birchwillow 
buds, and others of fhe same nature.* 
The Pine Grosbeak measures nine inches in length, and fourteen 
-inches in extent; the head, neck, breast, and rump, are of a rich 
crimson, palest on the breast; the feathers on the middle of the back 
are centred with arrow-shaped spots of black, and skirted with crim- 
son, which gives the plumage a considerable flush of red there ; those 
on the shoulders are of a deep slate color, partially skirted with red, 
and light ash. The greater wing-coverts and next superior row are 
broadly tipped with white, and slightly tinged with reddish; wings 
and tail, black, edged with light brown; tail, considerably forked ; 
lower part of the belly, ash color; vent-feathers, skirted with whxe, 
and streaked with black; legs, glossy black; bill, a brownish horn 
color, very thick, short, and hooked at the point; the upper mandible 
overhanging the lower considerably, approaching in its form to that 
of the Parrot; base of the bill, covered with recumbent hairs of a 
dark brown color. The whole plumage, near the roots, as in most 
other birds, is of a deep bluish ash color. The female was half an 
inch shorter, and answered nearly to the above description; only, 
those parts that in the male were crimson, were in her of a dirty 
yellowish color. The female, according to Forster, referred to above 
has those parts which in the male are red, more of an orange tint; 
and he censures Edwards for having represented the female of too 
bright a red. It is possible, that my specimen of the female might 
have been a bird of the first season, not come to its full colors. Those 
figured by Mr. Edwards + were both brought from Hudson's Bay, and 
appear to be the same with the one now before us, though his coloring 
of the female differs materially from his description. 
If this, as Mr. Pennant asserts, be the same species with that of 
the eastern continent, it would seem to inhabit almost the whole 
extent of the arctic regions. It is found in the north of Scotland, 
where Pennant suspects it breeds. It inhabits Europe as far north as 
Drontheim ; is common in all the pine forests of Asia, in Siberia, 
and the north of Russia; is taken in autumn about Petersburg, and 
brought to market in great numbers. It returns to Lapland in spring; 
is found in Newfoundland, and on the western coast of North 
America. 
Were I to reason from analogy, I would say, that, from the great 
resemblance of this bird to the Purple Finch, (Fringila purpurea,) it 
does not attain its full plumage until the second summer; and is 
* Philosoprical Trunsacti ms, \xii. 402. + Epw. iii, 124. | PENwanr. 
