INTRODUCTION TO SOME SPECIES 39 



cheerful, wild and free, has the swing of all outdoors, 

 and is not pitched to a minor key. It gives you 

 the impression that a bird which sings so blithe- 

 some a strain must surely be happy in his domestic 

 relations. 



Among the Rockies the black-headed grosbeak is 

 much in evidence, and so is his cheerful, good-tempered 

 song, which is an exact counterpart of the song of the 

 rose-breasted grosbeak, his eastern kinsman. Neither the 

 rose-breast nor the cardinal is to be found in Colorado, 

 but they are replaced by the black-headed and blue 

 grosbeaks, the former dwelling among the lower moun- 

 tains, the latter occurring along the streams of the plains. 

 Master black-head and his mate are partial to the scrub 

 oaks for nesting sites. I found one nest with four callow 

 bantlings in it, but, much to my grief and anger, at 

 my next call it had been robbed of its precious trea- 

 sures. A few days later, not far from the same place, 

 a female was building a nest, and I am disposed to 

 believe that she was the mother whose children had 

 been kidnapped. 



Instead of the scarlet and summer tanagers, the 

 Rocky Mountain region is honored with that beautiful 

 feathered gentleman, the Louisiana tanager, most of 

 whose plumage is rich, glossy yellow, relieved by black 

 on the wings, back, and tail ; while his most conspicuous 

 decoration is the scarlet or crimson tinting of his head 



