179 



PINE GROSBEAK. 



- Corythtts Enucleator, Linn. 

 PLATE CXCIX.— Male, Female, and Young. 



In Wilson's time, this beautiful bird was rare in Pennsylvania; but since 

 then it has occasionally been seen in considerable numbers, and in the winter 

 of 1836, my young friend J. Trudeau, M. D., procured several in the 

 vicinity of Philadelphia. That season also they were abundant in the 

 States of New York and Massachusetts. Some have been procured near 

 the mouth of the Big Guyandotte on the Ohio; and Mr. Ntjttall has 

 observed it on the lower parts of the Missouri. I have ascertained it to be 

 a constant resident in the State of Maine, and have met with it on* several 

 islands in the Bay of Fundy, as well as in Newfoundland and Labrador. Dr. 

 Richardson mentions it as having been observed by the Expedition in the 

 50th parallel, and as a constant resident at Hudson's Bay. It is indeed the 

 hardiest bird of its tribe yet discovered in North America, where even the 

 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, though found during summer in Newfoundland and 

 Labrador, removes in autumn to countries farther south than the Texas, 

 where as late as the middle of May I saw many in their richest plumage. 



The Pine Grosbeak is a charming songster. Well do I remember how 

 delighted I felt, while lying on the moss-clad rocks of Newfoundland, near 

 St. George's Bay, I listened to its continuous lay, so late as the middle of 

 August, particularly about sunset. I was reminded of the pleasure I had 

 formerly enjoyed on the banks of the clear Mohawk, under nearly similar 

 circumstances, when lending an attentive ear to the mellow notes of another 

 Grosbeak. But, reader, at Newfoundland I was still farther removed from 

 my beloved family; the scenery around was thrice wilder and more magnifi- 

 cent. The stupendous dark granite rocks, fronting the north, as if bidding 

 defiance to the wintry tempests, brought a chillness to my heart, as I thought 

 of the hardships endured by those intrepid travellers who, for the advance- 

 ment of science, had braved the horrors of the polar winter. The glowing 

 tints of the western sky, and the brightening stars twinkling over the waters 

 of the great Gulf, rivetted me to the spot, and the longer I gazed, the more 

 I wished to remain; but darkness was suddenly produced by the advance of 

 a mass of damp fog, the bird ceased its song, and all around seemed trans- 

 formed into chaos. Silently I groped my way to the beach, and soon 

 reached the Ripley. 



