The Pine-Grosbeak {Piηicola enucleator) is, with the exception of the Hawfinch just mentioned, the best known species to which the name is applied. It inhabits the conifer-zone of both the Old and the New Worlds, seeking, in Europe and probably elsewhere, a lower latitude as winter approaches—often journeying in large flocks; and stragglers have occasionally reached the British Islands, though the records of not more than half a dozen such occurrences can be wholly trusted (Yarrell, Dr. Birds, ed. 4, iι pp. 177- 179). In structure and some of its habits much resembling a Bullfinch (see Finch, vol. ix. p. 192), but much exceeding that bird in size, it has the plumage of a Crossbill (vol. vi. p. 614), and appears to undergo exactly the same changes as do the members of the restricted genus Loxia,— the young being of a dull greenish-grey streaked with brownish-black, the adult hens tinged with golden-green, and the cocks glowing with crimson-red on nearly all the body-feathers, this last colour being replaced after moulting in confinement by bright yellow. Nests of this species were found in 1821 by Zetterstedt near Juckasjärwi in Swedish Lapland, but little was really known with certainty concerning its nidification until 1855, when the late Mr Wolley, after two years’ ineffectual search, succeeded in obtaining in the not very distant district of Muonioniska well-authenticated specimens with the eggs, both of which are like exaggerated Bullfinches’. The food of this species seems to consist of the seeds and buds of many sorts of trees, though the staple may very possibly be those of some kind of pine. The cock has a clear and pleasing song, which makes him in many countries a favourite cage-bird; and the notes of the hen may even be deemed to qualify her as a musician of no small merit.

Allied to the Pine-Grosbeak are a number of species of smaller size, but its equals in beauty of plumage. These have been referred to several genera, such as Carpodacus, Propasser, Bycanetes, Uragus, and others; but possibly Carpodacus is sufficient to contain all. Most of them are natives of the Old World, and chiefly of its eastern division, but several inhabit the western portion of North America, and one, C. githagineus (of which there seem to be at least two local races), is an especial native of the deserts, or their borders, of Arabia and North Africa, extending even to some of the Canary Islands—a singular modification in the habitat of a form which one would be apt to associate exclusively with forest trees, and especially conifers.

The Virginian Grosbeak, or Virginian Nightingale of many writers, Cardinalis virginianus, next claims notice here, though doubts may be entertained as to the family to which it really belongs. No less remarkable for its bright carmine attire, and the additional embellishment of an elongated crest of the same colour, than for its fine song, it has been an object of attraction almost ever since the settlement of its native country by Europeans. All American ornithologists speak of its easy capture and its ready adaptation to confinement, which for nearly three centuries have helped to make it a popular cage-bird on both sides of the Atlantic. The vocal powers possessed by the cock are to some extent shared by the hen, though she is denied the vivid hues of her partner, and her plumage, with exception of the wings and tail, which are of a dull red, is light olive above and brownish-yellow beneath. This species inhabits the eastern parts of the United States southward of 40 β N. lai., and also occurs in the Bermudas. It is represented in the south-west of North America by other forms that by some writers are deemed species, and in the northern parts of South America by the C. phoeniceus, which would really seem entitled to distinction. Another kindred bird, placed from its short and broad bill in a different genus, and known as Pyrrlιuloxia sinuata or the Texan Cardinal, is found on the southern borders of the United States and in Mexico; while among North American “Grosbeaks” must also be named the birds belonging to the genera Guirαcα and Hedymeles — the former especially exemplified by the beautiful blue G. caerulea, and the latter by the brilliant rose-breasted II. ludovicianus, which last extends its range into Canada.

The species of the Old World which, though commonly called “Grosbeaks,” certainly belong to the family Ploceidoe, may be in this work more conveniently treated under the title of Weaver-birds {q.ν.). (a. n.)