THE PINE-FINCHES. 01 
by no means rare, and is to be recognised in flight by the 
white band across the back, which is very conspicuous. 
Its food consists almost entirely of seeds, fruits, and berries, 
but it is very partial to the young buds of fruit-trees, and 
numbers are shot in the spring by gardeners, who resent 
the havoc which the bird works among the buds of the 
currant and gooseberry bushes. 
Nest. — A beautiful structure, on account of the network of 
fine twigs with which it is surrounded, the inside of the nest 
being neatly constructed of fine rootlets. 
Eggs. — Four to six in number. Ground-colour a clear 
blue thickly spotted with red at the larger end, and having 
conspicuous spots and blotches of purplish brown, in most 
cases very distinctly pronounced. Axis, o'75-o’8 inches; 
diam., o'55-o f 6. 
THE PINE-FINCHES. GENUS PINICOLA. 
Pinicola, Vieill., Ois. d' Airier., Sept., p. iv. (1807). 
Type, P. enucleator (Linn.). 
Only one species of the genus Pinicola is known, which 
occurs in the northern parts of the Old and New Worlds. It 
is generally called the Pine “ Grosbeak,” but it is not a Gros- 
beak at all, but a Bullfinch ; in fact, it might very well be 
placed in the genus Pyrrhula, as has often been done. Its 
large size, however, different style of coloration, and somewhat 
differently-shaped bill, render it convenient to separate the 
genus Pinicola from the true Bullfinches. 
THE PINE-FINCH. PINICOLA ENUCLEATOR. 
Loxia enucleator , Linn., S. N., i., p. 299 (1766). 
Pyrrhula enucleator , Macg., Br. B., i., p. 41 1 ( l 8 37 )i Newt - 
ed. Yarr., ii., p- 177 (1877); Saunders, Man., p. 191 
(1889). . . , „ , 
Pinicola enucleator, Dresser, B. Eur., iv., p. 1 1 1, pi. 201 (1874) ; 
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., xii., p. 459 (1888). 
Adult Male. — Above rosy or crimson ; the upper surface 
mottled with darker brown markings before the tips of the 
