﻿BIEDS. 
  

  

  99 
  

  

  Genus 
  PINICOLA, 
  Vieillot. 
  

   [Pinicola 
  enucleator, 
  Linn. 
  Pine-Grosbeak. 
  

  

  " 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  them 
  flying 
  above 
  the 
  great 
  pine 
  forests 
  of 
  

   Invercauld, 
  in 
  Aberdeenshire 
  ; 
  and 
  I 
  imagine 
  they 
  breed 
  there, 
  

   for 
  I 
  saw 
  them 
  on 
  the 
  5th 
  of 
  August." 
  (Pennant's 
  British 
  

   Zoology, 
  1812, 
  vol. 
  i., 
  p. 
  423.) 
  " 
  I 
  and 
  my 
  son 
  saw 
  a 
  bird 
  

   at 
  Corrymulzie 
  which 
  attracted 
  our 
  notice 
  by 
  the 
  red 
  

   colour 
  of 
  its 
  breast, 
  and 
  which, 
  I 
  think, 
  was 
  this 
  species." 
  

   (MacGillivray.) 
  Has 
  been 
  seen 
  " 
  once 
  or 
  twice 
  at 
  a 
  distance 
  

   by 
  myself 
  near 
  the 
  Bridge 
  of 
  Dee." 
  (Crombie, 
  Braemar, 
  

   1861, 
  p. 
  74,) 
  

  

  If 
  the 
  above 
  notes 
  are 
  sufficient 
  to 
  establish 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  

   the 
  Grosbeak 
  being 
  an 
  inhabitant 
  of 
  " 
  Dee," 
  the 
  bird 
  must 
  

   be 
  of 
  rare 
  occurrence. 
  I 
  have 
  never 
  seen 
  a 
  specimen, 
  and, 
  

   as 
  Crombie 
  says, 
  "it 
  has 
  never 
  apparently 
  been 
  killed 
  in 
  

   the 
  district," 
  it 
  would 
  seem 
  wise 
  to 
  suspend 
  a 
  decision 
  until 
  

   such 
  time 
  as 
  a 
  local 
  example 
  falls 
  into 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  someone 
  

   capable 
  of 
  setting 
  the 
  matter 
  at 
  rest.] 
  

  

  Genus 
  LOXIA, 
  Linn. 
  

   Loxia 
  curvirostra, 
  Linn. 
  Crossbill. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  vast 
  numbers 
  in 
  some 
  seasons, 
  while 
  

   others 
  may 
  pass 
  without 
  one 
  Crossbill 
  being 
  observed. 
  The 
  

   chief 
  time 
  of 
  their 
  appearance 
  in 
  " 
  Dee 
  " 
  is 
  autumn, 
  at 
  which 
  

   season 
  large 
  flocks 
  scour 
  the 
  pine 
  woods. 
  In 
  the 
  early 
  spring 
  

   of 
  1865, 
  a 
  number 
  were 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  woods 
  beside 
  the 
  Loch 
  

   of 
  Skene 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Robert 
  Cameron, 
  then 
  teaching 
  in 
  the 
  parish 
  

   school 
  there 
  ; 
  eventually 
  he 
  found 
  two 
  busily 
  building 
  a 
  nest. 
  

   Of 
  this 
  he 
  acquainted 
  me, 
  and 
  I 
  took 
  the 
  earliest 
  oppor- 
  

   tunity 
  of 
  going 
  to 
  see 
  it. 
  The 
  nest 
  was 
  placed 
  in 
  the 
  fork 
  

   of 
  a 
  fir 
  sapling, 
  about 
  twelve 
  feet 
  from 
  the 
  ground 
  ; 
  it 
  was 
  

   composed 
  of 
  fir 
  twigs, 
  but 
  incomplete 
  at 
  that 
  time. 
  Some 
  

   days 
  later 
  two 
  eggs 
  were 
  deposited 
  in 
  the 
  nest, 
  but 
  immediately 
  

   after 
  a 
  snowstorm 
  came 
  on 
  and 
  the 
  birds 
  left 
  the 
  eggs 
  and 
  

   the 
  locality. 
  Mr. 
  Cameron 
  secured 
  the 
  eggs, 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  

   he 
  kindly 
  gave 
  to 
  me. 
  In 
  1866, 
  a 
  nest 
  and 
  eggs 
  were 
  found 
  

   by 
  Mr. 
  Wilson 
  at 
  Methlick. 
  

  

  On 
  June 
  11th, 
  1867, 
  a 
  Crossbill 
  was 
  shot 
  from 
  among 
  a 
  

  

  