20 
The JYaturalists’ Companion. 
The Pine Grosbeak. 
(PINICOLA ENUCLEATOR). 
BY F. C. LUSK, HOLLEY, N. Y. 
The Pine Grosbeak, one of the largest 
of the family of finches, is a resident ol 
the northern latitudes, only making us 
winter visitations as the severity of the 
season urge. They usually appear in 
small flocks, though instances are on 
record where flocks have been so large 
as to appear almost phenomenal. Dur¬ 
ing the winter and spring of 1884, as 
late as April loth, they were veiy plen¬ 
tiful, probably owing to the severity of the 
season in the moie northern sedfions. 
The apparent fearlessness of this bird is 
one of its most notable characteristics ; 
they evince no fear of man, and may be 
so closely approached as to render their 
capture easy, even with snares or nets. 
The song of this bird is generally a low, 
plaintive warble, audable but a short dis¬ 
tance, although they sometimes sing in 
a louder note, resembling somewhat 
that of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. 
Both the male and female sing, the form¬ 
er much louder and more melodious 
than the later. During flight, they make 
a whistling sound, said to be produced 
by their wings. The Pine Grosbeak is 
a robust, thick-set and rather clumsy 
looking bird of about eight and one-half 
inches in length ; they vary somewhat in 
size, however. The plumage of the 
adult male is of a rich carmine red, fad¬ 
ing into white on the abdomen, and 
streaked with blackish-brown on the 
back. The wings and tail are dusky, 
with white margins, the former having 
two white cioss-bars. The bill and feet 
are black. The female is of an ashy-gray 
above, blending into a paler hue below, 
and marked with brownish-yellow on 
the head and rump. The bill is very 
stout, and convex in all its outlines; the 
tip of the upper mandible overhanging 
that of the lower. The tail is about 
four inches in length ; bill, one-half 
inch ; and tarus ninety one-hundredths 
of an inch. Comparatively little is 
known of the nesting habits of this bird. 
The eggs aie of a pale bluish-gray color, 
thickly spotted at the larger end with 
reddish-brown, and elsewhere sj^aringly 
sprinkled with the. .same color and a few 
spots of a darker hue. They average 
about .95 by .65 in size. 
Surface Finds. 
BY W. M. BEAUCHAMP, D. D., BALDWINS- 
VILLE, N. Y. 
The young archaeologist is likely to 
content himself with what he finds on 
the surface, and yet wishes to know 
what his relics are. Generally his best 
field for work will be by some stream or 
river, or near a lake shore, but there are 
forts and village sites in New York at a 
sight from these. If he is north of the 
great limestone ledge, in which occurs 
the carboniferous limestone, the smal¬ 
lest flint chip will indicate Indian an¬ 
tiquities ; south of that formation this 
would be no indication at all. The 
burnt soil, fragments of soapstone, brown 
earthen ware, and the rifts in rivers, will 
often help him in chosing his ground. 
Arrow and spear points he will readily 
recognize, but that which he might ne- 
gledt as broken may prove to be a fine 
knife or scraper. The rarest arrow I 
have, I had passed by as broken, but 
turned back to make sure of it. Many 
curious scrapers are thus overlooked, 
being often made from the bases of 
