Length to end of tail 18 1/2 inches, to end of wings 11 3/8; extent of wings 22 1/2; wing from flexure 8; tail 10 1/2; bill along the ridge 1 4 1/2/12; tarsus 1 10 1/2/12; first toe 8/12, its claw 10/12; middle toe 1 2/12, its claw 6/12.
Adult Female. Plate CCCLVII.
The Female is similar to the male, and little inferior in size.
Five American specimens compared with several European, present no appearances indicative of a specific difference. Some individuals of both countries are larger than others, and the tail differs much in length, according to age or the growth of the feathers. The largest specimen in my possession, presented to me by Dr Richardson, and marked as shot by Mr Drummond, measures as follows:—Length to end of tail 20 1/2 inches; bill along the ridge 1 7/12; tail 11 3/4; wing from flexure 8 9/12; tarsus 2; middle toe 1 1/12, its claw 7 1/2/12. In this individual the feathers on the fore neck are white for more than half their length from the base. In the other specimens this white part is fainter or light grey, and of less extent.
PINE GROSBEAK.
Pyrrhula Enucleator, Temm.
PLATE CCCLVIII. Male and Female.
In Wilson’s time, this beautiful bird was rare in Pennsylvania; but since then it has occasionally been seen in considerable numbers, and in the winter of 1836 my young friend J. Trudeau, M. D. procured several in the vicinity of Philadelphia. That season also they were abundant in the States of New York and Massachusetts. Some have been procured near the mouth of the Big Guyandotte on the Ohio; and Mr Nuttall has observed it on the lower parts of the Missouri. I have ascertained it to be a constant resident in the State of Maine, and have met with it on several islands in the Bay of Fundy, as well as in Newfoundland and Labrador. Dr Richardson mentions it as having been observed by the Expedition in the 50th parallel, and as a constant resident at Hudson’s Bay. It is indeed the hardiest bird of its tribe yet discovered in North America, where even the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, though found during summer in Newfoundland and Labrador, removes in autumn to countries farther south than the Texas, where as late as the middle of May I saw many in their richest plumage.
The Pine Grosbeak is a charming songster. Well do I remember how delighted I felt, while lying on the moss-clad rocks of Newfoundland, near St George’s Bay, I listened to its continuous lay, so late as the middle of August, particularly about sunset. I was reminded of the pleasure I had formerly enjoyed on the banks of the clear Mohawk, under nearly similar circumstances, when lending an attentive ear to the mellow notes of another Grosbeak. But, Reader, at Newfoundland I was still farther removed from my beloved family; the scenery around was thrice wilder and more magnificent. The stupendous dark granite rocks, fronting the north, as if bidding defiance to the wintry tempests, brought a chillness to my heart, as I thought of the hardships endured by those intrepid travellers who, for the advancement of science, had braved the horrors of the polar winter. The glowing tints of the western sky, and the brightening stars twinkling over the waters of the great Gulf, rivetted me to the spot, and the longer I gazed, the more I wished to remain; but darkness was suddenly produced by the advance of a mass of damp fog, the bird ceased its song, and all around seemed transformed into chaos. Silently I groped my way to the beach, and soon reached the Ripley.
The young gentlemen of my party, accompanied by my son John Woodhouse, and a Newfoundland Indian, had gone into the interior in search of Rein Deer, but returned the following afternoon, having found the flies and musquitoes intolerable. My son brought a number of Pine Grosbeaks, of different sexes, young and adult, but all the latter in moult, and patched with dark red, ash, black and white. It was curious to see how covered with sores the legs of the old birds of both sexes were. These sores or excrescences are, I believe, produced by the resinous matter of the fir-trees on which they obtain their food. Some specimens had the hinder part of the tarsi more than double the usual size, the excrescences could not be removed by the hand, and I was surprised that the birds had not found means of ridding themselves of such an inconvenience. One of the figures in my plate represents the form of these sores.
I was assured that during mild winters, the Pine Grosbeak is found in the forests of Newfoundland in considerable numbers, and that some remain during the most severe cold. A lady who had resided there many years, and who was fond of birds, assured me that she had kept several males in cages; that they soon became familiar, would sing during the night, and fed on all sorts of fruits and berries during the summer, and on seeds of various kinds in winter; that they were fond of bathing, but liable to cramps; and that they died of sores produced around their eyes and the base of the upper mandible. I have observed the same to happen to the Cardinal and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.