CALIFORNIA BLUE GROSBEAK 79 



GUIRACA CAERULEA SALICARIA GrinneU 



California Blue Grosbeak 

 Contributed by Wendell Taber 



Habits 



Joseph GrinneU (1911b) described this race as "Similar to Guiraca 

 caerulea lazula, of Arizona and Mexico, in coloration and general size, 

 but bill much smaller and proportionally less tumid, that is, outlines 

 straighter; compared with Guiraca caerulea caerulea of the South 

 Atlantic States, blue color of the male paler throughout, bill smaller, 

 and wing and tail longer." 



GrinneU and Alden H. Miller (1944), consider its life-zone in 

 California to be chiefly Lower Sonoran and state that known breeding 

 stations range in altitude from 178 feet above sea level up to about 

 4,000 feet. MiUer (1951c) states that the species occurs in California, 

 mainly in riparian woodland and fresh-water marshes. 



Nesting. — J. G. Tyler (1913) emphasizes water close at hand 

 as one of the chief requirements of this species during the nesting 

 season. But, he says, "Quite as noticeable is their complete disregard 

 for it after cares are over, when the grosbeaks seek the dryest grain 

 fields and roadside weed patches, where they may often be seen cling- 

 ing to swaying wild oats. This plant, together with the cultivated 

 variety, forms one of their favorite foods during the month that they 

 remain in this vicinity after their nesting season terminates, in late 

 June or the first week in July." He adds that the blue grosbeak is 

 among the last birds to arrive in the spring, and probably the first to 

 depart, early in August. He writes that on the morning of Aug. 8, 

 1911, "I was attracted by a subdued finch-like song hastily executed, 

 as the singer perched just for a moment on a telephone wire * * *. 

 Hardly had the song been finished when the bird flew away toward the 

 south, to be followed in a very few minutes by another that went 

 through precisely the same maneuvers, even to perching on almost 

 the exact section of wire that the other had occupied." The migra- 

 tion continued for 2 more days, aU birds that he could identify being 

 males. He says, "Each one was traveUing alone, but was probably 

 keeping within caUing distance of another." He notes that 7 out of 10 

 nests are buUt in patches of plant which grow along the canals and 

 ditches and "greatly resemble in appearance and manner of growth 

 the Chrysanthemum." The nests are fastened to two or three up- 

 right shoots, varying in height from 6 inches to 5 feet above the ground. 

 One clump of these plants harbors only one pair of grosbeaks, and as 

 there are not enough clumps to go around, some nests are located 

 "in the thick bunches of small wUlow saplings." Nests bear a re- 

 semblance to those of the red-winged blackbird. 



