THE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK 



Finch Family — Fringillidoe 



Length: A little over 8 inches. 



General Appearance: A black and white bird, with a rose- 

 colored breast and heavy, flesh-colored beak. 



Male: Head, throat, and back black; rump and under parts 

 white, except on breast and under wings, which are 

 a beautiful rose-red; wings black, with bars and 

 patches of white; tail black; outer feathers with 

 white tips to their inner webs. The winter plumage 

 is slightly different from the summer plumage. 



Female: A soft grayish-brown, streaked with white, buff, and 

 gray; under parts light buff, faintly streaked with 

 brown; head brown; a buff streak through center of 

 the crown, a white streak over the eye; wings and 

 tail grayish-brown, some of the wing-feathers tipped 

 with white; yellow under wings instead of rose. 



Note: A sharp tsick, tsick. 



Song: A rich, beautiful warble, somewhat like that of the 

 robin and tanager, but more joyous than either. It 

 possesses a purer, more liquid quality. The song 

 is remarkable, also, in that it may be heard at night, 

 and at midday. 



Habitat: Woodlands and thickets, fields and gardens. This 

 grosbeak frequents also the shade trees of large es- 

 tates and suburban streets. 



Nest: Large and loosely constructed, made of twigs, grasses, 

 and root-fibers, and placed from five to twenty feel 

 from the ground. 



Eggs: Pale blue, spotted with brown or purple. The male 

 takes his turn at sitting on the eggs. 



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