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    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911)",
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    "chunk_id": "1911:grosart:9c719e7a1f86",
    "title": "GROSART",
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    "verified_text": "grosart, alexander balloch (1827-1899), scottish divine and literary editor, the son of a building contractor, was born at stirling on the 18th of june 1827. he was educated at edinburgh university, and in 1856 became a presbyterian minister at kinross. in 1865 he went to liverpool, and three years later to blackburn. he resigned from the ministry in 1892, and died at dublin on the 16th of march 1899. dr grosart is chiefly remembered for his exertions in reprinting much rare elizabethan literature, a work which he undertook in the first instance from his strong interest in puritan theology. among the first writers whose works he edited were the puritan divines, richard sibbes, thomas brooks and herbert palmer. editions of michael bruce's _poems_ (1865) and richard gilpin's _demonologia sacra_ (1867) followed. in 1868 he brought out a bibliography of the writings of richard baxter, and from that year until 1876 he was occupied in reproducing for private subscribers the \"fuller worthies library,\" a series of thirty-nine volumes which included the works of thomas fuller, sir john davies, fulke greville, henry vaughan, andrew marvell, george herbert, richard crashaw, john donne and sir philip sidney. the last four volumes of the series were devoted to the works of many little known and otherwise inaccessible authors. his _occasional issues of unique and very rare books_ (1875-1881) is of the utmost interest to the book-lover. it included among other things the _annalia dubrensia_ of robert dover. in 1876 still another series, known as the \"chertsey worthies library,\" was begun. it included editions of the works of nicholas breton, francis quarles, dr joseph beaumont, abraham cowley, henry more and john davies of hereford. grosart was untiring in his enthusiasm and energy for this kind of work. the two last-named series were being produced simultaneously until 1881, and no sooner had they been completed than grosart began the \"huth library,\" so called from the bibliophile henry huth, who possessed the originals of many of the reprints. it included the works of robert greene, thomas nash, gabriel harvey, and the prose tracts of thomas dekker. he also edited the complete works of edmund spenser and samuel daniel. from the townley hall collection he reprinted several mss. and edited sir john eliot's works, sir richard boyle's _lismore papers_, and various publications for the chetham society, the camden society and the roxburghe club. dr grosart's faults of style and occasional inaccuracy do not seriously detract from the immense value of his work. he was unwearied in searching for rare books, and he brought to light much interesting literature, formerly almost inaccessible. grosbeak (fr. _grosbec_), a name very indefinitely applied to many birds belonging to the families _fringillidae_ and _ploceidae_ of modern ornithologists, and perhaps to some members of the _emberizidae_ and _tanagridae_, but always to birds distinguished by the great size of their bill. taken alone it is commonly a synonym of hawfinch (q.v.), but a prefix is usually added to indicate the species, as pine-grosbeak, cardinal-grosbeak and the like. by early writers the word was generally given as an equivalent of the linnaean _loxia_, but that genus has been found to include many forms not now placed in the same family. the pine-grosbeak (_pinicola enucleator_) 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; stragglers have occasionally reached the british islands (yarrell, _br. birds_, ed. 4, ii. 177-179). in structure and some of its habits much resembling a bullfinch, but much exceeding that bird in size, it has the plumage of a crossbill and appears to undergo 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 johana wilhelm zetterstedt near juckasjarwi in swedish lapland, but little was known concerning its nidification until 1855, when john wolley, after two years' ineffectual search, succeeded in obtaining near the finnish village muonioniska, on the swedish frontier, 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. allied to the pine-grosbeak are a number of species of smaller size, but its equals in beauty of plumage.[1] they 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 cardinal grosbeak, or virginian nightingale, _cardinalis virginianus_, claims notice here, though doubts may be entertained as to the family to which it really belongs. it is no less remarkable for its bright carmine attire, and an elongated crest of the same colour, than for its fine song. its ready adaptation to confinement has made it a popular cage-bird on both sides of the atlantic. the hen is not so good a songster as the cock bird. 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 deg. n. lat., 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 _pyrrhuloxia 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 _guiraca_ and _hedymeles_--the former especially exemplified by the beautiful blue _g. caerulea_, and the latter by the brilliant rose-breasted _h. ludovicianus_, which last extends its range into canada. the species of the old world which, though commonly called \"grosbeaks,\" certainly belong to the family _ploceidae_, are treated under weaver-bird. (a. n.) footnote: [1] many of them are described and illustrated in the _monographie des loxiens_ of prince c. l. bonaparte and professor schlegel (1850), though it excludes many birds which an english writer would call \"grosbeaks.\"",
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