•298 BIRDS or ILUNOIR. 



Nor is the Hose-breasted Grosbeak purely au onmmeutal bird. 

 On the other hand he is one of the most useful that we have as a 

 destroyer of noxious insects. In many parts of the Mississippi 

 Valley he is know-n as the "Potato-bug Bird," from the fact that he 

 is particularly fond of that most disastrous pest of the farmer. 



Genxjs GUIRACA Sw.intsoN. 



Guiraen Swainbon, ZooI. Jour. 111. Nov. 1S27,3M. Type. I.oxia C(rrulea LiNN. 



"Gen. Chak. Bill ver>- InrKf. nearly as hlith ns lonif: tlio eulmen ftllKhtly curved 

 with It rutlii-r Hluirp rldKe: the eonimlssure conspicuously nneuliiteil Jurtt below the nos- 

 tril, the poHterii.r lei: of the iinKle nearly as lone as the anterior, both nearly straight. 

 Lower jaw <leeper than the upper, and extendlnc much behind the forehead; the width 

 (rreator than the lencth of the (tonys, considerably wider than the upper Jaw. A promi- 

 nent knob In the root of the mouth. Tarsi shorter than the middle toe: the outer toe a 

 little loncer, reaehlnc not quite to the base of the middle claw; hind toe rather longer 

 than to this base. Wines long, reachlnc to the middle of the tall; the secondaries and 

 tertials nearly equal; the second quill longest; the Urst less than the fourth. Tall very 

 nearly even, shorter than the wings." (Biat. N. Am. B.) 



Guiraca cserulea (Linn.) 



BLUE OBOSBEAK. 



loxia e(rnilen LiNS. S. N. ed. 10. i, 1758,175; ed. 12. i.l7(i6. a>6.-WlL9. Xm. Orn. ill. 1811. 7», 

 pi. 24. fig. 6. 

 Ouiraca ca'nilea SWAINS. 1827.-Baikd,B. N. Am. 1858. 499; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859. No. 382. 

 — B. B. & R. Hist. N. Am. B. 11. 1874. 77. pi. 29. Ogs. 4.5.— RiDOW. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881. 

 No. 246.-C0UEa, 2d Check List. 1882, No' 291. 

 Frhtgilla rwnilea "III." Light. Preis-Verz. 1823.22.— AUD. Synop. 1839.132. 

 (foniapliia caTiilea SCL. 1856.-COUE9, Key, 1872. 149; Cheek Ll.st, 1874. No. 195; B. N. W. 



1874. 169. 

 Hab. Southern United States, from .\tluntic to Pnidllc (very local, and Irregularly dis- 

 tributed); north to Kansas, Illinois. Pennsylvania, and Connecticut (occasionally) or even 

 to Maine and Canada laccidentally). 



"Sp. Cbab. Brilliant blue; darker across the middle of the back. Space around base 

 of bill and lores, with tail-feathers, black. Two bauds on the wing across the tips of the 

 midiile and secondary coverts, with outer edges of tertiaries, reddish brown, or perhaps 

 chestnut. Feathers on the posterior portion of the under surface tipped narrowly with 

 grayish white. Length. 7.25; wing, 3.50; tail. 2.80. 



"Female yellowish brown above, brownish yellow beneath; darkest across the breast. 

 Wlng-eoverts and tertials broadly edged with brownish yellow. Sometimes a faint 

 trace of blue on the talL The young resembles the female. 



"Males from the Pacific coast region (California, Colima, etc.) 

 have tails considerably longer than eastern specimens, while those 

 from California are of a much lighter and less purplish blue, the 

 difference being much the same as between Sialia sialls and S. 

 azurea. 



