This species, as its name indicates, is an inhabitant of pine woods and makes its home in the vast conifer forests of Northern Europe and Siberia. Over the rest of Europe it is very scarce and is only known from occasional stragglers. In this country about forty different occurrences have been recorded, but it is probable that a large number of them had escaped from captivity.

The general colour of the male is a rich rose red all over, rather greyer on the flanks and belly. Wing coverts brown, each feather having a pinkish white tip. Quills and tail brown, secondaries margined with white. In the female the rose tint is replaced by a dull golden yellow. The young are greyish green and do not assume their full plumage before their second year. Length 8·25 in.; wing 4·25 in.