1381.] AMERICAN' AGRICULTURIST. 519 
OF FiVE OF OUR COMMON WINTER BIRDS. 
A GROUP 
Some of our Winter Birds. 
Only those who live in the country can 
appreciate the extent to which the scenery is 
enlivened by winter birds. There are very 
many more birds in spring and summer, but 
they are in pairs, and so busy with nest¬ 
building and other family duties, that we see 
less of them than we do of the winter com¬ 
ers. When those birds which have bred their 
young in the Northern and Middle States go 
off to become the winter birds of our south¬ 
ern friends, others come down from the north 
to cheer us during the winter. The number 
of these birds is larger than is generally sup¬ 
posed. The common Snow Bird and Chick¬ 
adee, by their familiarity, and by coming 
in flocks, attract greater attention, but there 
are many others. The engraving shows five 
species of our winter songsters that are not 
rare in New England and other Northern 
States. Figure 1 is the “Purple Finch,” or 
“ Linnet.” It breeds in Canada and our most 
Northern States during summer, and spends 
the winter in southern New England, where 
its sweet song and gay colors make it a great 
favorite. It is specially social—preferring 
thickly settled localities, where it is usually 
found in flocks. The adult male bird has a 
red head, with dusky streaks on the back, 
which fade to white below. The female and 
young birds are olive-brown, streaked with 
white. They are fond of the blossoms of 
fruit trees, and have done some damage. 
No. 2, the “Pine Linnet,” belongs to Can¬ 
ada, and is a winter visitant to the middle 
Atlantic States, where it is seen from October 
to May. In the pine forests of Maine it some¬ 
times remains the year round. This Linnet 
is a vegetarian in the strictest sense, feeding 
upon the seeds of the large pines, of common 
weeds, grasses, etc. The gullet of this greedy 
bird is very large, and it sometimes puts 
“more grist in the hopper than the gizzard 
can grind at once.” Its color is olive-brown 
above, the whole plumage being yellowish, 
especially the wings and tail. The sexes are 
much alike in outward appearance. 
No. 3, the “Red-Poll Linnet,” is another 
winter friend that dwells in the north during 
the summer season, and comes southward in 
large flocks to remain from November until 
March. This bird roams through groves and 
old stubble grounds in search of seeds, which 
constitutes its sole food during the winter. 
The “ Red-Poll” is very irregular in its visits, 
being the most abundant winter bird some 
seasons, and perhaps the next winter it is not 
to be seen. The call-note is agreeable, and is 
frequently heard when a flock is on the wing. 
Nearly all the plumage is streaked with light 
and dark colors, and there is a crown of crim¬ 
son upon the head. The “Red-Poll” is a 
small bird with a very sharp bill—its wings 
long and tail short. 
No. 4, the “ Shore Lark,” sometimes called 
the “ Horned Lark,” is a winter bird in most 
of the United States east of the Mississippi. 
It breeds abundantly in Labrador and New¬ 
foundland, and migrates southward in Oc¬ 
tober, where it often gathers in large flocks 
in grain fields and waste places. It is of 
a brown color above, tinged with pink. 
There is a large black space on the breast, 
and a concentric mark of black below each 
eye, with a bar of the same color across the 
forehead, which bar is prolonged into a tuft 
or “horn.” The “ Shore Lark” is one of our 
most striking small winter birds. 
No. 5, the “Pine Grosbeak,” resides in 
northern New England, but southward it is 
a winter visitor from November to April. 
The distance these birds go south depends 
upon the severity of the winter—cold “north- 
