58 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
seems to represent the going and coining 
of the day; for his sable pinions close 
around the brightness of his vesture, as 
night encompasses the golden hues of 
sunset, while the clear white space en¬ 
folded in these tints, foretells the dawn 
of the morrow .—Eliott Cunes. Such a 
bird we would be glad to see, I am sure. 
We will find him feeding in flocks on 
the ground. They have a clear, musical 
whistle, which will catch your ear at 
once, and you cannot mistake the note 
for that of any other bird. 
PINE GROSBEAK. 
This is a handsome, spirited bird a 
little larger than the Evening Grosbeak. 
The males are a rosy red, but in most 
flocks they are far outnumbered by the 
plain gray females and young birds. 
Their habits resemble those of the Even¬ 
ing Grosbeak, but the Pine Grosbeaks 
are more birds of the tree tops. They 
are very fond of the seeds of the maple 
and box alder, and usually keep in flocks. 
RED CROSSBILL. 
The Crossbills are curious birds. Their 
bills are crossed like a pair of half open 
scissors, and in some odd way these bills 
are exactly suited for prying out the 
seeds from the pine cones. Look for the 
Crossbills in the pines, spruces and firs, 
where you see cones hanging to the 
branches. These birds usually go in 
flocks and you will see them scrambling 
about the evergreen branches like minia¬ 
ture parrots. They utter a sharp, metal¬ 
lic whistle, which is almost startling and 
when you have once learned it, you can 
always tell the crossbills by their note 
alone. The males are a dark, brick red 
and the females are yellow with gray 
wings. The Crossbill is a little larger 
than the English sparrow. 
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS. 
These birds resemble the Red Cross¬ 
bill in habits, but they are quite different 
in color. The males are rose pink with 
a broad white band across the black 
wings. The females and young vary 
greatly. They are mostly gray with a 
varying admixture of light-brownish and 
yellow. Any White-winged Crossbill 
however, can be easily told from the Red 
Crossbill by the white on the wings of 
the former. 
THE REDPOLL. 
These are dainty little creatures that 
gladden a cold winter’s day with their 
pretty color and cheering voices. Their 
note is something like the canaries and 
there is a happy joyous ring to it that 
carries one back to warm spring days 
and nesting time. These little birds are 
gray streaked with brown. The males 
have a rosy coloring to the breast and a 
red patch on the throat and top of head. 
You will find them feeding on seeds in 
weed patches. So quietly and busily do 
they work that you may flush the whole 
flock a few steps ahead before you knew 
that even a single bird was there. They 
usually go in flocks of from ten to twenty- 
five and keep very closely together. 
PINE SISKIN 
These birds are first cousins of the 
goldfinches. Their habits are much the 
same and so are the notes. Their voices 
however are not so sweet, haVing a slight 
rasping quality. Because of this differ¬ 
ence they are easy to tell from the gold¬ 
finches, with which they often go in 
flocks. These birds are grayish in color, 
with the entire body heavily streaked. 
Their bills are cone shaped and sharp 
pointed. 5 ou will find them among 
thistles, or in evergreen trees, and also in 
weeds whose seeds they eat greedily. 
