ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK 49 



black and white, in striking contrast to the general dullness of his 

 dress. Without much doubt they were individuals who had passed 

 the preceding winter in this garden, or their descendants; but who 

 could tell in what far northern land they had made their nests, or what 

 route they had followed and what districts they had passed over on 

 their long southward journey, or what adventures befell them, or 

 how long they had been on the way? 



"The three grosbeaks promptly began to eat their favorite seeds, 

 those of the euphorbiaceous shrub Stillingia acutifolia. The foliage 

 of this bush is said to be poisonous to cattle, deadly if eaten in quan- 

 tity; but the grosbeaks seemed never to suffer any harm from the seeds. 

 They crushed the thick, three-lob ed pods in their heavy bills to ex- 

 tract the three small seeds, making a noise that I could hear at a good 

 distance. They were also fond of the garden peas, to obtain which 

 they perched beside one of the long fat pods, pecked a hole in its side, 

 and removed the plump green seeds one by one. In eating these 

 peas they were extremely fastidious, deftly biting the germ out from 

 its tender green seed-coat and eating only the former, allowing the 

 empty husk to fall to the ground. Sometimes they sldllfully man- 

 aged to extract the germ from its coat without detaching the seed, 

 leaving the empty seed-coat in the empty pod. In favoring these 

 peas they showed excellent judgment, for never have I tasted sweeter 

 peas than these grown high in the mountams. 



"The Indian gardener set up among the vines a scarecrow consisting 

 of an inverted tin pail with a white rag tied around it for a head, and 

 some old garment draped over a cross-bar for a body; but the birds 

 were wholly indifferent to this palpable deception. With praise- 

 worthy patience, the gardener stretched long strings completely 

 around and diagonally across the pea patch, and tied the long, thick 

 leaves of the yucca to them at intervals of a foot or less, so that 

 dangling by their tips, they might sway in the wind and alarm the 

 thieves; but this device also faOed to serve its purpose. I who had 

 heard the rose-breasted grosbeaks' joyous music in the North thought 

 them worthy of their epicurean fare and did not begrudge them their 

 plunder; but I found it diiRcult to persuade to this point of view my 

 neighbors who had never had an opportunity to hear the birds in 

 song. At times these grosbeaks settled in a flock in the neighboring 

 pasture, and hunted over the ground among the scattered straw. 



"In January 1934 I found rose-breasted grosbeaks fairly numerous 

 among the open woods on the Finca 'Moca,' a great coffee estate 

 lying chiefly between 3,000 and 4,000 feet above sea level at the base 

 of the Volcan Atitlan on the Pacific slope of Guatemala. Many of the 

 males then bore considerable rose on their breasts, but I saw none in 

 full nuptial plumage so early in the year. Each evening a number of 



