FINCHES 



east to tlu' Dakotas and Nebraska. South 

 in winter to southern Mexico. 



When tlie b hick-headed grosbeaks first 

 arrive in the spring they keep well to the tops 

 of the tall firs along the crests of the hills 

 where they may be heard singing, but are 

 hard to see because of their habit of conceal- 

 ing themselves in the dense foliage. The 

 females usually appear a couple of weeks 

 later when the birds soon mate and scatter 

 out over the valleys and hillsides to nest. 

 Then they may be found in the mixed timber 

 along woods roads and in brushy canyons, or 

 in thick woods along streams. 



The black-headed grosbeak eats wild fruits 

 and berries of all kinds and is particularly 

 fond of dogwood berries in the fall. They 

 also consume great quantities of potato bugs 

 and other injurious insects, as well as tender 

 fruit and leaf buds of forest trees. 



Its black head and conspicuous white wing 

 bars, which show as white patches when it is 

 flying, together with its rapid wing beat and 

 straight-away flight will help to identify the 

 species at a distance. 



Its nest is a frail affair made mostly of 

 twigs and rootlets so loosely woven together 

 as to allow the eggs to be seen from under- 

 neath, and is placed indifferently in bushes 

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