Birds and Nature, Vol. 10 No. 4 [November 1901]

Various

Various

Birds and Nature, Vol. 10 No. 4 [November 1901]

AN AUTUMN EVENING

In scattered plumes the floating clouds

Went drifting down the west,

Like barks that in their haven soon

Would moor and be at rest.

The Day sank down, a monarch tired,

Upon Night’s sable breast.

The wind was all but hushed to sleep,

Yet now and then it stirred

A great tree’s top, and whispering,

Awoke a slumbering bird,

Who half aroused, but only chirped

A song of just a word.

And in the west the rosy light

Spread out a thousand arms,

Each with a torch, whose crimson flame

Stretched o’er the peaceful farms,

And o’er the yellow corn, that lay

Unconscious of all harms.

Then changed into a waste of blue

A desert tract of air,

Where no rich clouds, like Indian flowers

Bore blossoms bright and fair;

And over all, a sense of want

And something lost was there.

    – Walter Thornbury.

THE PINE GROSBEAK

(Pinicola enucleator.)

Ere the crossbills leave the pine woods,

Ere the grosbeaks seek the ash seeds.

    – Frank Bolles, “The Log-Cock.”

The name grosbeak, or great beak, is a common name for a number of birds that possess large, thick and strong bills which are adapted to crushing fruits and seeds. Unfortunately this name has been indiscriminately applied to the representatives of several bird families.

The true grosbeaks are related to the goldfinch, the finches, the sparrows, the buntings and the crossbills. In fact they have some of the marked characteristics of the latter birds, as neither develop the fully adult plumage for several years.

The Pine Grosbeak must be sought in the northern regions of the northern hemisphere, where the vast forests of cone bearing trees are found, or among the coniferous trees of the high altitudes of the western mountain regions of the United States. In the latter place they are not abundant. It seems to be at home and contented only in the cold, crisp air of the far north and seldom seeks a more temperate climate except when the winters are unusually severe or there is a scarcity of food in its native haunts. It is a frequent winter visitor to the northern tier of the United States and is quite abundant, at this season, in some portions of New England. Except during the nesting season the Pine Grosbeaks are gregarious and are frequently seen in flocks of fifteen or more individuals. In the winter climate of the northern United States these flocks contain many more immature than adult birds, the younger ones seeming to be less able to withstand the severer cold of more arctic regions. Thus in this district the more brilliant plumage of the fully adult male is rarely seen, and becomes a valuable acquisition to the naturalist, for the younger birds and the females are less showy. Speaking of the beautiful male bird, some one has said, “Scarcely can the southern climes send us a more brilliant migrant than this casual visitor from the north.” There is a slight variation in the plumage coloration and in the shape of the bills of the Pine Grosbeaks of widely separated regions. These variations have led ornithologists to group these birds under geographical races giving each race a varietal name.

Speaking of the Pine Grosbeaks of Siberia Mr. Seebohm says, “Almost all the forest districts are hilly and in the north, as the trees become smaller, they are also more thinly scattered over the ground and the interminable extent of wood is broken by occasional flat, open spaces and open marshes which become gray with flowers as soon as the snow melts. The scenery is much more park-like than further south and these birds are much more plentiful and more easily seen. In the large pine forests they prefer the banks of the rivers or the outskirts of some open place and may often escape detection because of their habit of frequenting the tops of trees. Within the Arctic circle many of the trees are small and on