Bird Biographies

								

pairs, but in winter they often collect in southern swamps and thickets,
and flock to feeding-places near the haunts of man when food is
scarce."[12]
They were formerly trapped for cage-birds. They were so highly esteemed
that they were in great demand even in Europe, where they received the
name of the "Virginia Nightingale." But trapping is now nearly
abolished, and the wild, liberty-loving cardinal may roam as he will
with the wife of his heart. Few birds are more ardent, jealous lovers,
more tenderly devoted husbands, or more anxious, solicitous fathers than
these beautiful, sweet-voiced redbirds.[12]

                           THE PINE GROSBEAK

                      Finch Family--Fringillidæ

Length: A little over 9 inches; slightly larger than his cousin, the

    cardinal, and nearly an inch smaller than the robin.
General Appearance: A red bird with brown and white wings, a brown

    tail, and a heavy beak.
Male: A bright raspberry-red, deepest on the head, breast, rump,

    and upper tail-coverts; the rest of the body a slaty gray, lighter

    underneath, with a soft red breast; wings dark brown, edged with

    white, forming two broad wing-bars; tail forked; beak large and

    strong, with a small hook at the end.
Female: Slaty gray, with head, rump, and upper tail-coverts

    olive-yellow where the male's are red; under parts washed with

    yellow: wings and tail brown; wings edged with white; two wing-bars.
Young: Similar to female.
Song: A loud, clear whistle, given while on the wing. In spring, a

    melodious nesting song.
Range: Eastern North America. Breeds in the tree-regions of Canada, in

    the White Mts., and Maine; winters south to Iowa, Indiana,

    Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, (and occasionally to the District

    of Columbia and Kentucky), westward to Manitoba, Minnesota, and

    Kansas.
This brilliant, handsome Pine Grosbeak is comparatively unknown in the
United States, but wherever he appears as a rare visitor, he is hailed
with enthusiasm or excitement because of his beautiful color. He
resembles his cousin, the purple finch, in color and markings, but is
much larger.
Thoreau says, "When some rare northern bird like the pine grosbeak is
seen thus far south in the winter, he does not suggest poverty, but
dazzles us with his beauty. There is in them a warmth akin to the warmth
that melts the icicle. Think of these brilliant, warm-colored, and
richly-warbling birds, birds of paradise, dainty-footed, downy-clad, in
the midst of a New England, a Canadian winter."[13]
The Pine Grosbeak "is of gentle, unobtrusive manner, almost entirely
fearless of man's approach, and always seems to be perfectly contented
with its situation wherever encountered. A whole tree full of these
birds may be seen feeding on the seeds of mountain ash berries, apples,
or the buds of beeches. One may stand within a few feet of them for a