_Coccothraustes canadensis_, BRISSON, Orn. III, 1760, 250, pl. xii,
f. 3. “_Corythus canadensis_, BREHM, Vögel Deutschlands” (1831?).
_Pinicola canadensis_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 167.—BAIRD, Birds
N. Am. 1858, 410.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Ac. Sc. I, 1869, 281
(Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 151.—SAMUELS, Birds N. Eng. 283.
_Pinicola americana_ (CAB. MSS.), BP. Consp. 1850, 528. _Loxia
enucleator_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 299.—FORST. Phil. Trans. LXII,
1772, 383.—WILS. Am. Orn. I, 1808, 80, pl. v. _Pyrrhula
enucleator_, AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 414, pl. ccclviii.
_Corythus enucleator_, BONAP. List. 1838.—AUD. Syn. 127.—IB. Birds
Am. III, 1841, 179, pl. cxcix.—BON. & SCHLEGEL, Mon. des Loxiens,
1850, 9, pl. ix, xi, xii.—DEGLAND & GERBE, Orn. Europ. I, 258.
_Pinicola enucleator_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. I, 1851, 167.
[Line drawing: _Pinicola enucleator._
12846]
SP. CHAR. Bill and legs black. _Male._ General color light carmine-red
or rose, not continuous above, however, except on the head; the
feathers showing brownish centres on the back, where, too, the red is
darker. Loral region, base of lower jaw all round, sides (under the
wing), abdomen, and posterior part of the body, with under
tail-coverts, ashy, whitest behind. Wing with two white bands across
the tips of the greater and middle coverts; the outer edges of the
quills also white, broadest on the tertiaries, on secondaries tinged
with red. _Female_ ashy, brownish above, tinged with greenish-yellow
beneath; top of head, rump, and upper tail-coverts brownish
gamboge-yellow. Wings much as in the male. Length about 8.50; wing,
4.50; tail, 4.00. _Young_ like female, but more ashy.
HAB. Arctic America, south to United States in severe winters.
A careful comparison of American with European specimens of the Pine
Grosbeak does not present any tangible point of distinction, and it
appears inexpedient to preserve the name of _canadensis_ for the bird
of the New World. There is considerable difference in the size, the
proportions of the bill, and the color of different specimens, but
none of appreciable geographical value.
[Illustration: _Pinicola enucleator._]
A considerable number of specimens from Kodiak (perhaps to be found in
other localities on the northwest coast) compared with eastern have
conspicuously larger bills, almost equal to _cardinalis_ in this
respect. In No. 54,465 the length from forehead is .80; from nostril,
.50; from gape, .66; gonys, .40; greatest depth, .51. In a Brooklyn
skin (12,846) the same measurements are from forehead, .60; from
nostril, .44; from gape, .60; gonys, .34; greatest depth, .40. A
Saskatchewan skin is intermediate. A European specimen has the bill as
long as that from Kodiak, but less swollen. A Himalayan species (_C.
subhimachalus_) is much smaller, and differently colored.
These Kodiak specimens approach the European bird more nearly in form
of the bill, in which there is a tendency to a more abruptly hooked
upper mandible than in the birds from the eastern portions of British
America. As a general thing, the red tint is brighter in American than
in European birds.
HABITS. The Pine Grosbeak is, to a large extent, a resident of the
portions of North America north of the United States. In the northern
parts of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, as well as in
western America, it is found throughout the year in the dark evergreen
forests. In the winter it is an irregular visitant as far south as
Philadelphia, being in some seasons very abundant, and again for
several winters quite rare.
Mr. Boardman mentions it as abundant, in the winter, about Calais, and
Mr. Verrill gives it as quite common in the vicinity of Norway. It is
found every winter more or less frequently in Eastern Massachusetts,
though Mr. Allen regards it as rare in the vicinity of Springfield. It
is not cited by Dr. Cooper as a bird of Washington Territory, but he
mentions it as not uncommon near the summits of the Sierra Nevada,
latitude 39°, in September. It probably breeds there, as he found two
birds in that region in the young plumage. They were feeding on spruce
seeds when he first saw them, and lingered even after their companions
had been shot, and allowed him to approach within a few feet of them.
Mr. R. Brown (Ibis, 1868) states that during the winter of 1866, while
snow was lying on the ground, two pairs of this species were shot at
Fort Rupert, Vancouver Island.
Wilson met with occasional specimens of these birds in the vicinity of
Philadelphia, generally in immature plumage, and kept one several
months, to note any change in its plumage. In the summer it lost all
its red colors and became of a greenish-yellow. In May and June, its
song, though not so loud as that of some birds, was extremely clear,
mellow, and sweet. This song it warbled out for the whole morning, and
also imitated the notes of a Cardinal, that hung near it. It became
exceedingly tame and familiar, and when in want of food or water,
uttered a continual melancholy and anxious note.
In the winter of 1835, and for several following seasons, these birds
were exceedingly abundant in the vicinity of Boston. They appeared
early in December, and remained until quite late in March, feeding
chiefly on the berries of the red cedar. They were so unsuspecting and
familiar that it was often possible to capture them alive in
butterfly-nets, and to knock them down with poles. Large numbers were
destroyed and brought to market, and many were taken alive and caged.
They were tame, but unhappy in confinement, uttering mournful cries as
the warm weather approached. In the winter of 1869-70 they again made
their appearance in extraordinary numbers, in a few localities on the
sea-coast of Massachusetts, where they did considerable damage to the
fruit-buds of the apple and pear.
Sir John Richardson states that this bird was not observed by his
expedition higher than the 60th parallel. It lives, for the most part,
a very retired life, in the deepest recesses of the pine forests,
where it passes the entire year, having been found by Mr. Drage, near
York Fort, on the 25th of January, 1747. Richardson adds that it
builds its nest on the lower branches of trees, and feeds chiefly on
the seeds of the white spruce.
Dr. Coues speaks of it as not at all rare along the coast of Labrador,
where he obtained several specimens. It was confined entirely to the
thick woods and patches of scrubby juniper. A female remained
unconcernedly on a twig after he had shot her mate, uttering
continually a low soft _shep_, like that of the Fox-colored Sparrow.
Another note was a prolonged whirring chirrup, uttered in a rather low
tone, apparently a note of recognition.
A lady resident in Newfoundland informed Mr. Audubon that she had kept
several of these Grosbeaks in confinement, that they soon became very
familiar, would sing during the night, feeding, during the summer, on
all kinds of fruit and berries, and in the winter on different seeds.
Mr. Audubon also often observed that, when firing at one of their
number, the others, instead of flying away, would move towards him,
often to within a few feet, and remain on the lower branches of the
trees, gazing at him in curiosity, entirely unmingled with any sense
of their own danger. Mr. Audubon quotes from Mr. McCulloch, of Pictou,
an interesting account of the habits of one of these birds, kept in
confinement. The winter had been very severe, the storms violent, and,
in consequence of the depth of snow, many birds had perished from
hunger and cold. The Grosbeaks, driven from the woods, sought food
around the barns and outhouses, and crowded the streets of Pictou. One
of these, taken in a starving condition, soon became so tame as to
feed from his hand, lived at large in his chamber, and would awaken him
early in the morning to receive his allowance of seed. As spring
approached, he began to whistle in the morning, and his notes were
exceedingly rich and full. As the time came when his mates were moving
north, his familiarity entirely disappeared, and he sought constantly,
by day and by night, to escape by dashing against the window-panes,
and during the day filled the house with his piteous wailing cries,
refusing his food, so that in pity he was let out. But no sooner was
he thus released than he seemed indifferent to the privilege, and kept
about the door so persistently that he had at last to be driven away,
lest some accident should befall him.
The Pine Grosbeaks were found by Bischoff at Sitka and at Kodiak, and
are said by Mr. Dall to be extremely common near Nulato, and wherever
there are trees throughout the Yukon Territory. They frequent groves
of willow and poplar, near open places, and especially the water-side
in winter, and in summer seek more retired places for breeding. Their
crops, when opened, were always found to contain the hearts of the
buds of poplars, with the external coverings carefully rejected, and
were never found to include anything else. Mr. Dall noticed no song,
only a twitter and a long chirp. He found them excellent as an article
of food. European eggs of this bird, taken by Mr. Wolley in Finland in
1858, are of an oblong-oval shape, and have a light slate-colored
ground with a marked tinge of greenish, broadly marked and plashed
with faint, subdued cloudy patches of brownish-purple, and sparingly
spotted, chiefly at the larger end, with blackish-brown and dark
purple. They measure 1.02 inches in length by .70 in breadth.
No positively identified eggs of the American Pine Grosbeak are as yet
known in collections, but Mr. Boardman has found a nest, near Calais,
about which there can be little doubt, although the parent was not
seen. This was placed in an alder-bush in a wet meadow, and was about
four feet from the ground. It was composed entirely of coarse green
mosses. The eggs were two, and were not distinguishable from those of
the European _enucleator_.