36 BIRDS OF 1’. IC. ISLAND.

'l‘he I’urple I’inch, or liinnet (Ca/podatm‘ pur— pm’gm‘) is here also sometimes in winter, but he is always one of our gayest summer field-birds. He is not larger than a Sparrow, but his brilliant red color, his yiyacity of manner, and the beauty,

variety and gaiety of his song make him one of

our most attractive birds. In April his rich, joyous rhapsody is heard from the naked wood- lands. In May he mounts into the sky on hovering wing, like the Lark, singing as he soars. In June he is bounding over the fields, with a quick, clear call-note, gathering hair and grass for his nest in the thick spruce tree. And then, while his mate quietly attends to the family duties, he is away on the tall fir top with the summer breeze and the blue sky about him, pour— intor out such strains of joyous melody that the summer breeze and the sky seem only made to hear them on their bosom.

’l‘he Crosgbills are wayward wanderers which come in large flocks some falls, and again are unseen for years. The “Write-winged (Loxz'zz Quayle/‘11) is a rich, red-plumctl bird with blackish wings and tail, the former with two

conspicuous white cross-bars. They have the