66 THE CROSS-BILL AND THE LITTLE WARBLER. 
liant crimson; but, if he is kept in captivity, 
he loses his beauty, and his coat changes to a 
brownish yellow. 
Another very hardy bird, called the pine 
grosbeak, visits the forest in the summer, 
and will sometimes stay very late into the 
winter. He is as gaily dressed as the cross- 
bill, for his plumage is of a bright carmine 
tinged with vermillion. The two parts of 
his bill do not cross each other ; but the 
upper half projects at the edges and overlaps 
the other. He, too, feeds upon the seeds in 
the fir cone ; and when he has insinuated his 
bill, he uses his tongue to draw them out 
with. 
One very stormy winter, when the snow 
was deep upon the ground, and many birds 
perished with hunger, the pine grosbeaks were 
driven from the forests, and collected about 
the houses, and in the streets of the towns, 
in search, of food. A gentleman picked up 
a poor little bird, so thin as to be nothing 
but a bundle of feathers. He fed it, and took 
such care of it that it soon recovered, and grew 
so tame as to eat out of his hand. It used to 
fly about in his bedroom ; and if he was not 
