374 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



violet tint; anal region and under tail coverts, bluish-white; scapu'ars, inner tertials, 

 and middle of back, with an olive-brown tinge ; the wing coverts, scapulars, and inner 

 tertials, with large oval spots of blue-black on the outer webs, mostly concealed, except 

 on the latter; primaries blackish, with a border of pale-bluish tinged internally with 

 red; middle tail feathers brown; the rest pale-blue on the outer web, white inter- 

 nally; each with a patch of reddish-brown at the base of the inner web, followed by 

 another of black ; sides and back of neck richly glossed with metallic golden-violet; 

 tibia bluish-violet; bill black; feet yellow. 



The female is smaller; much duller in color; more olivaceous above; beneath, 

 pale-blue instead of red, except a tinge on the neck; the jugulum tinged with 

 olive; the throat whitish. 



The blue of the side of the head extends to the throat and chin ; the upper part 

 of the back and lesser coverts are of a darker blue than the head and rump; the 

 inner primaries are more broadly margined with light-blue, which tapers off to 

 the end; the axillars and under surface of the wing are light-blue; the longest 

 scapulars have the black on both webs; there is no blue on the outer web of the first 

 tail feather, which is white, and the inferior surface of the tail generally is white. 



In some specimens the entire head all round is blue. 



The immature male varies in having most of the feathers of the head and body 

 margined with whitish. 



Length of male, seventeen inches; wing, eight and fifty one-hundredths inches: 

 tail, eight and forty one-hundredths inches. 



THIS bird has become of late years rather scarce in 

 New England ; so much so, that, in localities where it 

 was formerly abundant, it is now seen only occasionally in 

 small flocks of a dozen or fifteen. It is a resident of these 

 States through a greater part of the year ; only absenting 

 itself in the most severe portion of winter, when its food is 

 usually covered with snow. It depends principally upon 

 acorns and beechnuts for subsistence, and is most abundant 

 in localities where these niits are found. It also frequents 

 grain-fields, where it gleans among the stubble and weeds ; 

 and, when berries are in season, it feeds plentifully upon 

 them, and it is at that time when the greater number are 

 seen in New England. 



Early in May, the birds, although associating still in com- 

 munities, as in sections where tbey are more abundant, 

 separate into pairs, and build tlieir nest. This is placed in 

 a forked branch of a tree, usually in a swamp or thick 

 wood. It is constructed of twigs and leaves, which are 

 loosely arranged into a frail structure hardly strong enough 



