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About six miles north of 
Pulmak, and about midnight, I flushed a strange 
looking pair of birds from an “ene” (juniper) 
bush. As they went away I mistook them for 
Green Woodpeckers. I shot one of them as it 
glided away with undulating flight, and my sur- 
prise was great to pick up a 'Pine Grosbeak 
{Pinicola enucleator). Just then Trinus cried out 
that he had found a nest, and on my coming up, 
there was the pretty wickerwork nest with two 
eggs of the Pine Grosbeak. On looking about 
we soon saw the other bird sitting callously quite 
close to us, and she completed the series. The 
occurrence of this species north of the Arctic 
circle had not previously, according to Professor 
Collett (Orn. North. Norway, p. 23), been satis- 
factorily established. The plumage of the Pine 
Grosbeak appears to have always been an unset- 
tled problem so I will merely state that both 
birds, male and female, were of the greyish-green 
type, the male having rather more of the orange 
color than the female. It is clear that, although 
the scarlet dress is considered by some to bo the 
adult plumage, this does not necessarily imply 
that an immature bird cannot breed; for if such 
were the case here was a clear instance of two 
immature Pine Grosbeaks having a nest and eggs. 
The birds were roosting within twenty yards of 
their nest, and when skinning the female I took a 
third egg from her oviduct. I afterwards found 
near Pulmak a male in full scarlet plumage paired 
and nesting with an ash-grey female, and a third 
nest was occupied by two greyish-green birds. 
The nest of the Pine Grosbeak decidedly re- 
sembles that of the Bullfinch, being constructed 
externally of an extremely light network of thin 
Birch twigs firmly interlaced into each other. 
This substructure is overlaid by a lining of fine 
stiff grass, distinctly visible through the network 
of sticks from below. On pulling the lining to 
pieces an odd horsehair could be detected. The 
nest was placed in a small Birch tree, about six 
feet from the ground, and very open. I was 
rather surprised to find the Pine Grosbeak breed- 
ing here, as I thought it was confined to the Pine 
districts. But I found several pairs of this bird 
breeding around Pulmak, where is not a sign of 
anything save stunted Birch and Willow, and 
from their crops I took bircli-catkins. 
' c \5'6- f> ■ /Oj'ltO. 
•-*- Ur™ 
1 . Pinicola enucleator. Pine Grosbeak. — The Pine Grosbeak was 
apparently rare among the Magdalens for Mr. Frazar met with only five 
individuals, four of which were secured. The first pair, taken June 18, 
on Amherst Island, evidently had a nest among some low spruces, for 
both birds showed unmistakable signs of anxiety when the spot was ap- 
proached, and the female proved, on examination, to be incubating. The 
female of the second pair, shot June 29, on Grindstone Island, had laid 
all her eggs but one, which, although in the oviduct and of full size, was 
unfortunately without a shell. Mr. Frazar searched long and carefully 
for both nests but without success. 
Our knowledge respecting the breeding of this Grosbeak, as found in 
America, is so very imperfect that the above data are both interesting and 
valuable. The inference is that the eggs are laid late in the season, a fact 
which the analogy furnished by kindred species would scarcely have 
suggested. 
BuJiN.O.O, 7, Oct, 1882 , p, ■ 
