400 Birds of Colorado 



03, p. 74 ; Oilman 07, p. 157 ; Warren 08, p. 24 ; 09, p. 16 ; Rockwell 

 08, p. 173 ; Henderson 09, p. 238. 



Description. — Adult Male — Top and sides of the head black ; back 

 black streaked with tawny ochre, wings and tail black, the former with 

 white tips to the median and greater coverts and inner secondaries, 

 and a white baud across the bases of the primaries, the latter with 

 large white sub terminal spots on the inner webs of two or three of the 

 outer tail-feathers ; rump, collar round the hind neck and imder-parts 

 cinnamon or tawny, becoming white on the anal region ; patch on the 

 abdomen, under wing-coverts and axillaries lemon-yellow ; iris dark 

 brown, bill dull slate, paler on the lower mandible, legs bluish-grey. 

 Length 7-20 ; wing 4-0 ; tail 3-20 ; cuhnen -70 ; tarsus -90. 



The female is dusky above, mottled with pale cinnamon streaks 

 about the middle of the crown and on the hind-neck ; the white markings 

 on the wings much restricted, those on the tail absent ; a white super- 

 cilium ; below much paler cinnamon than in the male, the sides and 

 flanks with fine streaks of dusky, the centre of the abdomen and 

 axillaries lemon-yellow. A young male is somewhat intermediate 

 between the male and female ; it has a buffy median stripe on the 

 head and a marked supercilium. 



Distribution. — Western North America, breedmg from British 

 Coltimbia to the southern Mexican plateau ; migrant in the northern 

 part of its range, resident throughout the year in the south. 



In Colorado the Black-headed Grosbeak is a common summer resident, 

 arriving late, about the middle of May, and departing about the be- 

 ginning of September. Aiken's earliest date for El Paso co. is May 

 11th. It breeds throughout the plains and the moimtains up to about 

 8,500 feet, at which elevation it was found nesting on the Blue River 

 in Middle Park by Carter (Cooke 97) ; Lowe states that he has found 

 it as high as 10,000 feet in the Wet Mountains, but this is not con- 

 firmed by other observers. Other records are : Boulder co. (Minot), 

 near Denver (Allen), Bergin Park (Trippe), Pueblo (Beckham), Salida, 

 arriving May 9th and breeding (Frey), Fort Garland (Henshaw), Routt 

 and Gunnison cos. (Warren), La Plata co. (Gilman), Mesa co. (Rockwell). 



Habits. — ^A handsome and conspicuous bird, this 

 Grosbeak is generally to be found among deciduous 

 trees and bushes along the courses of streams, where 

 it feeds on buds and soft vegetable matter. It is said 

 to have a predilection for garden peas and to be un- 

 popular in consequence. The male has a superb song, 

 generally given from the top branch of a tree, while 

 Coues likened its call to that of a Gambel Partridge. 



