0-4J- 
tieularlv that no doubt remains respecting their identifica- 
tion. They resembled those from Lapland, but were a little 
smaller, measuring only IS by inch; the markings less 
and the spots duller. According to Dr. Brewer, no positively 
identified eggs of this bird from America were known to 
exist in collections in 1874; but a nest found at Calais, 
Maine, by Mr. Boardman, was identified with little doubt, 
though the parent was not seen. This was placed in an al- 
der bush in a wet meadow, about four feet from the ground, 
and contained two eggs “not distinguishable from those of 
the European enudeator." It is somewhat a matfgr of sur- 
prise that the investigations conducted by several natu- 
ralists of late years in Alaska have not produced the desired 
specimens, as the bird is very common in that country, 
where it undoubtedly breeds. 
It has fallen within my own experience to find pine gros- 
beaks at home for the summer, and catch a glimpse of their 
bearing during the most interesting period of their lives. 
This happened to me many years ago, when I paid a flying 
visit to Labrador. I saw birds of this kind on several occa- 
sions; once I happened upon a pair which I was sure had a 
nest near by, because they acted so demurely. They were in a 
i little thicket that grew in a sheltered place where the wind 
did not blow strong enough to disconcert the insects in the 
| least, and so, though I plunged in several times, each time I 
beat a quicker retreat, vanquished and disheartened; it was 
simply impossible to search for a nest in that maelstrom of 
mosquitoes. So, after watching the pair at my leisure from 
a vantage ground where the wind blew fresh, I secured them 
both with my gun, and was glad to leave the spot. The 
birds displayed no fear at all, nor did they even seem dis- 
concerted by my staring; very likely, neither of them had 
ever seen a creature of the kind before ; certainly they had 
not learned how “mighty unsartin” a white man is, or they 
w'ould have left before I did. As I watched them the mother 
bird often spoke a single word to her mate in a low, soft, 
reassuring tone, which reminded me of the note of the fox 
sparrow; and again the pair chirrupped comfortably to each 
other, as if they had had their doubts of me, but were entirely 
reassured. It was a pity to kill them, after all this; but 
indeed I needed all the specimens I could get during that 
unlucky cruise, to make any sort of a show for my time 
and money. Nor were these two the only birds of the kind 
that I destroyed the same summer. I found them at various 
points along the coast ; so that the country must be a regu- 
lar summer resort for large numbers, which find in the thick 
patches of fir, pine and juniper a congenial home. 
It was rather late in the season when my slight acquaint- 
ance with these grosbeaks began and ended, so that 1 never 
heard their song. At least I judged they had passed the tune- 
ful season for that year, though they are said to sing during 
nearly the whole summer. Thus Audubon pictures the scene 
of their musical triumphs, and pays a heartfelt tribute to j 
the power to please their strains possess. “The pine gros- j 
beak is a charming songster,’’ he says: “Well do I remem- j 
ber how delighted I felt, while lying on the moss-clad rocks 
of Newfoundland, near St. George’s Bay, I listened to its 
continuous lay, so late as the middle of August, particularly 
about sunset. I was reminded of the pleasure I had form- 
erly enjoyed on the banks of the clear Mohawk, under 
nearly similar circumstances, when lending the attentive 
ear to the mellow notes of another grosbeak. But, reader, 
at Newfoundland I was still farther removed from my 
beloved family; the scenery was thrice wilder and more 
magnificent. The stupendous dark granite rocks, fronting 
to the north, as if bidding defiance to the wintry tempests, 
brought a chillness to my heart, as I thought of the hardships 
endured by those intrepid travellers who, for the advance- 
ment of science, had braved the horrors of a polar winter. 
The glowing tints of the western sky, and the brightening 
stars twinkling over the waters of the great Gulf, rivetted 
me to the spot, and the longer 1 gazed, the more I wished to 
remain ; but darkness was suddenly produced by the ad- 
vance of a mass of damp fog, the bird ceased its song, 
and all around seemed transformed into chaos. Silently I 
groped my way to the beach, and soon reached the Ripley.” 
As a piece of pure “buncombe,” this passage from the 
great author will compare favorably with anything in his 
work; I should not be ashamed of it myself, if I had to 
‘ ‘write up” the song of a bird I had forgotten all about, 
or perhaps never heard. His experience with dry fogs being- 
doubtless extensive, it was well to state that the mist in which 
he groped, after he had unfastened the rivets of color, was 
damp. The same article, however, continues with a contribu- 
tion from his friend Thomas McCulloch, of Pictou, Nova 
Scotia, which I transcribe as giving the best picture I have ; 
found drawn of the pine grosbeak as a captive. 
“Last winter the snow was exceedingly deep, and the 
storms so frequent and violent that many birds must have 
perished in consequence of the scarcity of food. The pine 
grosbeaks being driven from the woods, collected about the 
barns in great numbers, and even in the streets of Pictou 
they frequently alighted in search of food. A pair of these 
birds, which had been recently taken, were brought me by a 
friend, but they were in such a poor emaciated condition, 
that I almost despaired of being able to preserve them alive. 
Being anxious, however, to note for you the chanaes of their 
plumage, I determined to make the attempt, but notwith- 
standing all my care, they died a few days after they came 
iDto my possession. Shortly after, I received a male in 
splendid plumage, but so emaciated that he seemed little else 
than a mass of feathers. By more cautious feeding, however, 
he soon regained his flesh, and became so tame as to eat from 
my hand without the least appearance of fear. To reconcile 
him gradually to confinement, he was permitted to fly about 
my bedroom, and upon rising in the morning the first thing 
I did was to give him a small quantity of seed ; but three 
mornings in succession I happened to lie rather later than 
usual, and each morning I was aroused by the bird flutter- 
ing upon rry shoulder and calling for his usual allowance. 
The third morning I allowed him to flutter about me for 
some time before showing any symptom of being awake, 
but he no sooner observed that his object was effected than 
he returned to the window and waited patiently till I arose. 
As the spring approached he used to whistle occasionally in 
the morning, and his notes, like those of his relative, the 
rose-breasted grosbeak, were exceedingly rich and full. 
About the time, however, when the species began to remove 
to the north, his former familiarity entirely disappeared. 
During the day he never rested a moment, but continued to 
run from one side of the window to the other seeking a way 
of escape, and frequently during the night, when the moon- 
light would fall upon the window, I was awakened by him 
dashing against the glass. The desire of liberty seemed at 
last to absorb every other feeling, and during four days I 
could not detect the least diminution in the quantity of his 
food, while at the same time he filled the house with a piti- 
ous, wailing cry which no person could hear without feel- 
ing for the poor captive. Unable to resist his appeals I gave j 
him his release, but when this was attained he seemed very ; 
careless of availing himself of it. Having perched upon the 
top of a tree in front of the house he arranged his feathers 
and looked about him for a short time. He then alighted 
by the door, and I was at last obliged to drive him away, 
lest some accident should befall him.” 
Various writers speak of a curious disease to which pme 
grosbeaks are subject, supposed by some to be occasioned 
by continual perching on the resinous boughs of coniferous 
trees. It consists in hard irregular excrescences which form 
upon the tarsi and toes. Mr. McCulloch adds to the account 
already quoted, the following observations on this score: 
“Irregularly shaped whitish masses are formed upon the legs 
and feet; to the eye these lumps appear not unlike pieces of 
lime ; but when broken, the interior presents a congeries of 
minute cells, as regularly and beautifully formed as those of 
a honeycomb. Sometimes, though rarely, I have seen the 
whole of the legs and feet covered with this substance, and 
when the crust was broken, the bone was bare, and the 
sinews seemed almost altogether to have lost the power of 
moving the feet. An acquaintance of mine kept one of these 
birds during the summer months. It became quite tame, but 
at last it lost the power of its legs and died.” A lady who 
seems to have had some experience with caged pine grosbeaks 
also informed Audubon that they were liable to cramps, and 
died of sores about the eyes and base of the upper mandible. 
Several males she had in confinement were fond of bathing 
used to sing during the night, fed on all sorts of berries and 
other fruits in summer, and on seeds of various kind in 
winter. In a state of nature, this food seems to be much 
more varied than some have supposed consisting of buds 
fruits and seeds of almost any kind.. They also take gravel 
into the gizzard to facilitate the trituration of the harder 
substances they eat, and often descend to the ground to Pick 
it up They move either on theground orin trees, by hopping 
with both - feet together, in the usual passerine fashion. 
Under all ordinary circumstances, even when not breeding 
their tameness is a remarkable trait; they scarcely seem 
think of danger from anv source, and sometimes even fly 
its face. They are less decidedly gregarious than many others 
of the Loxians ; still, many pairs may resort to the same tract 
to breed and during their winter wanderings they are usually 
observed in each other’s company, often also associating 
with crossbills, redpoll linnets and other boreal Fn^Umes 
These beautiful grosbeaks, as may be surmised from what 
has preceded are distributed in summer throughout the 
wooded districts of British, and what used to be Russian 
America, where they lead quiet and secluded lives m the 
recesses of unbounded coniferous forests. Prom such 
favored penetralia, where they are scarcely molested during 
the period of the season of reproduction, many ot the, birds 
are inclined to move southward in the fall, while others are 
content to endure the rigors of a boreal winter as far north 
at least as Hudson Bay. The extent of their wanderings m 
the United States becomes a matter of the same interest that k 
