PINE BULLFINCH. 
337 
been seen or killed in England, one specimen of 
a female, obtained on Harrow-on-the-Hill, being 
in bis own collection. Mr Thompson has not 
recorded its appearance in Ireland. In Europe, it 
is most frequent in the north, and the specimens 
from the New World have always been considered 
idehtical with them, and it is in the northern parts 
of the latter country also that they are chiefly 
found, being met with by Dr Richardson as far 
as the sixtieth degree, and by Mr Audubon in 
Newfoundland, the coasts of Labrador, and Hud- 
son’s Bay. It is from these writers on the orni- 
thology of North America, that we learn any thing 
regarding their habits, and, according to the latter, 
they feed on the buds and seeds of almost all kinds 
of trees. The nest is said to be placed not far from 
the ground, and to be composed of small sticks 
lined with feathers, the eggs white. It is recorded 
also as being a beautiful songster, possessing a 
deep and full tone, and is occasionally kept in 
confinement on this account, becoming soon very 
tame and familiar. 
We do not know the changes of the colours 
assumed during the breeding season, or at diffe- 
rent ages by this species, but it apparently varies 
from different shades of yellowish red to carmine 
red. The plumage is soft and rather loose ; that 
of the adult male in summer is described as 
carmine red, the feathers on the back, scapu- 
lars, and rump, grayish black in the centre. 
Feathers of the wings and tail blackish brown, 
edged with reddish white, which is broader on 
Y 
