THE PINE GROSBEAK IN CAPTIVITY. 
AUk, XIII, Jan. , 1896, p j>. V - ZH 
BY O. W. KNIGHT. 
The winter of 1892-93 will be long remembered by Maine 
ornithologists on account of the great number of Pine Grosbeaks 
(Pinicola enucleator) which visited this State. November 16, 1892, 
I noticed two or three individuals feeding on seeds of the white 
ash near Orono, Maine. December 25 a flock of about two hun- 
dred individuals appeared in the yard of a friend in Bangor and 
began to feed upon the seeds of crab-apples of which a large quantity 
remained on the leafless trees in his yard. He at once sent word 
to me, and I was soon on the spot. I determined to catch a pair 
of the birds and see if they could be induced to breed in captivity. 
A horse hair slip noose was speedily arranged at the end of a 
bean pole, and with this crude apparatus. I essayed to capture the 
birds, which were vei'y tame. They would sit quietly engaged in 
feeding, while I slipped the noose over one’s head, and hauled it 
from its perch on the tree. The remainder of the flock did not 
seem to take any notice of the queer antics of their captured 
comrade, which uttered loud, harsh cries when handled while the 
noose was being removed from its neck. In this way about 
twenty females and young males were captured, but the handsome 
adult males were more wary and remained near the top of the 
tree, so that it was impossible to capture any of them. 
After a careful scrutiny of the captives, I selected two likely 
looking ones which by sheer luck turned out to be a pair. My 
friend also selected a couple of the birds, and the remainder were 
set free. My pair of birds were placed in a large cage in our 
kitchen, where they would become accustomed to seeing persons 
near them, and they quickly became very tame. The next day 
after their capture, the male began to sing in a low ventriloquial 
voice which seemed to come from an entirely opposite direction 
from where he was. 
In a few days they would eagerly take apple and hemp seed 
from my hand, and very soon I would allow them to come out of 
their cage and fly about the room. When I desired to get them 
into their cage again, a few seeds placed near the door at once 
enticed them within. 
The male quickly assumed the ascendency, and did not allow 
the female to partake of any proffered dainties until his own 
appetite was satisfied. The second week in May he showed 
indications of pairing, and nesting material was put in the cage. 
Both birds would carry this around the cage in their beaks, but 
did not seem to know how to begin to build a nest. May 30, the 
