LAND BIRDS. 535 



which are somewhat wet and swampy where there is much young growth. 

 The nest, which is usually built late in May, is a somewhat shallow and rather 

 fragile structure, made of the slenderest of twigs, rootlets and other fibrous 

 materials, usually with the bottom so thin and open that the eggs can be 

 seen through it. It is placed ordinarily in a bush or sapUng from five to 

 ten feet from the ground, and often so ill-concealed as to be readily seen 

 from a distance. Occasionally nests are built at much greater heights, 

 in one instance at least forty feet up. The eggs are three to five, greenish 

 or bluish, spotted with brown, and average .95 by .67 inches. In the south 

 the bird is said to rear two broods, but we have little evidence that this is 

 the case in Michigan, although nests with eggs are sometimes found as 

 late as mid-July. It is a somewhat remarkable fact, well attested l)y 

 numerous observers, that the male bird not only incubates, but frequently 

 utters his full song while sitting on the eggs. 



The bird is a beautiful singer, its rich sweet warble somewhat resembling 

 that of the Robin, but softer, fuller and much more varied. Usually he 

 remains perched while singing, l)ut occasionally one may be heard warbling 

 as he flies from tree to tree, and two males often burst into full song 

 while chasing each other. 



The food is varied, and combines factors favorable and unfavorable to 

 the agriculturist. On first arrival it eats buds very freely and shows 

 a decided preference for the buds and blossoms of fruit trees. One 

 will sit singing for half an hour in a cherry tree, gorging himself with cherry 

 blossoms in the pauses between the songs. Later in the summer he feasts 

 on green peas and helps himself to cherries and strawberries occasionally, 

 but not to excess. On the other hand we have no bird which shows such 

 evident fondness for the potato-bug, and the Rose-breasted Grosbeak has 

 been seen repeatedly carrying potato-bug larva to its young, and later 

 escorting the whole family to the field and encouraging them to gather 

 this food for themselves. It also eats other leaf-feeding beetles, and even 

 shows a decided relish for these Chrysomelids which so many birds carefully 

 avoid. 



On the whole, considering the bird's beauty, his music, and insect-eating, 

 we have few species which can make stronger claim for universal protection. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult male in spring: Entire head, neck, and back as far as the rump, deef) black; chest, 

 middle line of breast, axillars and under wing-coverts, bright rose-red; rest of under parts 

 pure white, sometimes with a few blackish streaks on sides and flanks; rump pure white 

 (in high plumage sometimes tinted with pink); wings mainly black, with two white wing- 

 bars and a large white bar or patch across the middle of the ])rimaries; tail black, the three 

 or four outer pairs of feathers largely white on inner webs; bill white or pinkish; iris brown. 

 Adult female in spring: Entirely different; upper parts brownish or bufTy gray, streaked 

 with blackish, the crown often with a distinct median stripe of gray; a whitish stripe from 

 nostril over eye to nape, bordered below by the brown ear-coverts and a dark stripe behind 

 them; chin and belly whitish; chest and sides more or less buffy, rarely tinged with salmon 

 across the chest, always narrowly spotted or streaked witli brown; under wing-coverts 

 lemon yellow to orange; wings and tail grayish brown, tiie tail with little or no white; 

 tlie wings with two white bars but with little white on tiie primaries; bill grayish brown. 

 The adult male in late suminer loses all the black body jilumage and retains only a fraction 

 of the color on the breast and under wing-coverts, where it is salmon rather than rose. 

 The deep black and piu-e white of wings and tail arc preserved, however, but the general 

 appearance is that of the adult female or young male. The young male in autumn is nearly 

 like the adult male except that the wings and tail are brown like those of the female, and 

 there is always a rosy or salmon wash on the breast and under tail-co\erts. Afgood colored 



