PINE FINCH. 
275 
The Snow Bird is six inches long, and nine in extent ; the 
head, neck, and upper parts of the breast, body, and wings, 
are of a deep slate colour ; the plumage sometimes skirted 
with brown, which is the colour of the young birds ; the 
lower parts of the breast, the whole belly, and vent, are pure 
white ; the three secondary quill-feathers next the body, are 
edged with brown, the primaries with white ; the tail is dusky 
slate, a little forked, the two exterior feathers wholly white, 
which are flirted out as it flies, and appear then very promi- 
nent ; the bill and legs are of a reddish flesh colour ; the eye, 
bluish black. The female differs from the male, in being 
considerably more brown. In the depth of winter, the slate 
colour of the male becomes more deep, and much purer, the 
brown disappearing nearly altogether. 
PINE FINCH. — FRINGILLA PINUS — Plate XVII. Fig. 1. 
Peale's Museum , No. 6577. 
CARD UELIS PINUS. — Swainson. 
Fringilla pinus, (sub-genus Carduelis,) JRonap. Synop. p. 111. 
This little northern stranger visits us in the month of 
November, and seeks the seeds of the black alder, on the 
borders of swamps, creeks, and rivulets. As the weather 
becomes more severe, and the seeds of the Pinus Canadensis 
are fully ripe, these birds collect in larger flocks, and take up 
their residence, almost exclusively, among these trees. In 
the gardens of Bush Hill, in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, 
a flock of two or three hundred of these birds have regularly 
wintered many years ; where a noble avenue of pine trees, 
and walks covered with fine white gravel, furnish them with 
abundance through the winter. Early in March they dis- 
appear, either to the north, or to the pine woods that cover 
many lesser ranges of the Alleghany. While here, they 
are often so tame as to allow you to walk within a few 
