244 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part i 



ground with the male still setting on the eggs. It left the nest when 

 about a foot from my head. The three eggs and nest were taken 

 by Mr. Hutchings." 



John Hutchings wrote me that the nest was "similar to that of the 

 black-headed grosbeak, loose saucer-shaped structure." Apart from 

 being the first recorded nest for Utah, the account is of interest because 

 of the unusual behavior of the male in assisting with the incubation of 

 the eggs (provided his identification of the bird was correct) . 



Eggs. — John Swinburne (1888) describes the eggs as "of a clear 

 greenish ground color, blotched with pale brown." R. H. Beck 

 (1896) observed: "On first glancing into the nest I though of Bi- 

 colored Blackbirds' eggs, as the coloration and markings were quite 

 similar though the size was much less. The position of the eggs was 

 unusual but probably accidental. The eggs were in two rows, three 

 in one row while the fourth had a row all to itself, with the small end 

 facing the middle e^g of the other row." 



William George F. Harris writes (MS.): "The eggs laid by this 

 species vary from two to five, with four being the commonest number. 

 They are fairly glossy, and ovate to elongated-ovate in shape. The 

 ground color may be 'court gray,' 'bluish glaucous,' or 'graphalium 

 green,' and they are spotted, blotched, streaked, or clouded with 

 'citrine drab,' 'deep olive,' and 'dark olive.' These markings are 

 somewhat sparsely scattered over the entire surface with a slight 

 concentration toward the large end. On the majority of eggs the 

 spots or blotches are blurred rather than sharply defined, and the 

 ground often is clouded with patches of pale 'citrine drab,' with very 

 fine speckles so pale that they almost fade into the ground, scattered 

 between the larger markings." The measurements of 50 eggs average 

 23.0 by 16.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes 

 measure 25.0 by 17.8, 23.3 by 18.6, and 20.0 by U.6 millimeters. 



Incubation. — The female alone incubates the eggs, with possible 

 rare exceptions such as the questionable Utah nesting described 

 above. That she is a close sitter par excellence has been vouched 

 for by several collectors. No data on the length of the incubation 

 period are available for this race. 



Young. — Major Allan Brooks wrote me in 1939 from British Co- 

 lumbia: "The species nests regularly in the Okanagan region of 

 recent years, in most years in the foothills behind my house. The 

 nestlings are brought down as soon as they leave the nest to the trees 

 in my garden where they are fed each year for about a week. Last 

 summer a female fed four young just in front of my windows for 4 

 days on the aphid contents of the galls on the cottonwoods; in former 

 years on the fruit of the black haw." 



