cock in the early spring will indeed mount to the summit of
a fir, and thence utter his melody, chiefly at sunrise and
sunset, till as the days rapidly lengthen darkness ceases and
his evensong and mattins are blended. In general, however,
he keeps with his mate among the thicker houghs, and there
warbles, unseen without close scrutiny. Nor does he often
indulge in those desultory flights that are so remarkable in
the Crossbills. The adults seem seldom to wander from
their home, and it must he chiefly the young that form the
migratory hands which are said to have appeared in various
parts of Europe. Herr Collett has furnished Mr. Dresser
with a good account of the habits of these northern visitors,
which agrees with that of American observers as to the ease
with which, by one device or another, they may be entrapped.
In the male, as figured, the hill is dark brown, the base
of the lower mandible paler; the irides hazel: the frontal
plumes and the lores dusky black ; the whole of the head,
cheeks, ear-coverts and nape glossy vermilion-red; the
feathers of the back and scapulars greyish-black, with broad
red margins, which become yet broader on those of the rump
and the upper tail-coverts, so as to produce an almost continuous
red surface ; the wing-coverts and wing-quills greyish-
black, the former broadly edged outwardly and tipped
with white, tinged with red, the latter narrowly edged outwardly
with dull white, which is tinged with red on the
proximal part of the primaries and outer secondaries; tail-
quills almost uniform greyish-black, very narrowly edged with
a lighter shade, tinged near the base with red ; the chin,
throat, breast and sides, vermilion-red, but the feathers
grey at the base; the belly, vent and lower tail-coverts, light
grey, the feathers sometimes streaked with dusky and tipped
with white; wings and tail beneath, slate-grey: legs and
toes blackish-brown ; the claws black.
The whole length is eight inches ; from the carpal joint to
the tip of the wing, four inches and a half: the third and
fourth primaries nearly equal and the longest in the wing;
the second shorter than the fifth ; while the first is apparently
wanting : the tail is slightly but decidedly forked.
The adult female a good deal resembles the adult male,
but entirely wants any red colour, that being replaced by a
more or less golden-yellow (tinged in places with green) except
on the back which is of an almost uniform dark slate-grey,
and there is but little trace of yellow on the rump and flanks.
The female killed at Harrow has the bill orange-brown ;
the irides hazel: the head, ear-coverts and nape honey-yellow ;
back and scapulars slate-grey; rump and upper tail-coverts
honey-yellow; both sets of wing-coverts, and all the wing-
quills greyish-black, edged and tipped with white, without
any red tinge ; tail above, uniform greyish-black; all the
lower surface uniform ash-grey: legs, toes and claws, dark
brown.
This bird was considered to have been in the plumage
assumed after the first autumnal moult. The cock of the
same age is very similar, but the yellow of the head, nape
and rump is more or less strongly tinged with red, and the
breast is clouded with yellow.
The nestling also seems to resemble the hen, but the dull
grey has only a slight green tinge, and that chiefly on the
head and rump ; while the wing-feathers are edged and tipped
with grey instead of dull white.
Respecting the sequence of the changes of plumage which
obtains in this species much has been written and much of it
erroneously. Especially mistaken are those who observing
what takes place in caged birds infer that the same is the
rule for birds that are at liberty. Though the cause has not
yet been fully explained, it is certain that some groups of
Fringilliclce never assume their brightest colours in captivity.
Among such are the species of the genus Linota, as the term
is used in this work. Probably also the species last described
and the present certainly is subject to the same disability, as
are the Crossbills, an account of which is to follow. It is perfectly
well known that a cock Pine-Grosbeak, however red he
may be when caught, will in confinement lose his ruddy hues
at the first moult, and, so long as he is a prisoner, never
regain them—-the red being replaced by a more or less bright
tint of yellow or yellowish-green. Further notice of this