Notice of the Appearance of the Pine Grosbeak, Pyrrhula 

 Enucleator, in the Environs of New-York. By James F. 

 Ward. 



Read December 19, 1836. 



The Pine Grosbeak has been long known as an inhabitant 

 of the extreme northern regions of both continents. Wilson 

 records two solitary instances of their appearance in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Philadelphia, but it seems to have been very 

 rarely observed within the limits of the United States. 



Mr. J. Bell and myself have met with this beautiful bird in 

 abundance during the present season, (from October 1836 to 

 March 1837,) not only at Weehawkcn, opposite to this city, 

 but at Tappan, twenty miles farther north, and also on the south 

 side of Long Island, many individuals having been exposed for 

 sale in our markets, and they seem, in fact, to have spread 

 themselves over the whole region, more particularly where the 

 Red Cedar, Juniperus Virginiana, is to be found. We have 

 never before met with them, though actively employed in col- 

 lecting for ten years past, nor have we heard of their being seen 

 here since more than twenty years ago, when, as we are in- 

 formed by Mr. E. Guillaudet, he procured in the market the 

 pair now preserved in the American Museum in this city. We 

 can only account for their unusual appearance by the early cold 

 weather, and the prevalence of northerly winds during several 

 weeks past. 



They appear to feed entirely on the hard kernel of the cedar 

 berries, not, like other birds, swallowing the whole fruit. When 

 feeding they are remarkably tame, so that we have frequently 

 approached, at that time, within four feet of them. They are 

 generally met with in small parties of from four to fifteen in 



