and equally so to those who are seekiiig it, he is not at all shy, but will sit placidly 

 and allow his admirers to approach within a few feet to exhaust themselves oi 

 their ohs and ahs, and "isn't he a beauty!" 



A few springs ago, we were leading a score of bird hunters through a city 

 park. We had been charmed with warblers ; the oriole and tanager had given 

 us the opportunity of deciding which is the most brilliantly colored bird in 

 Wisconsin ; the catbird and thrasher had given us samples of their wonderful 

 songs, and yet the company was not quite contented and pushed into a thicket. 

 Soon a hush was whispered along the line ; the company tip-toed into the thicket 

 scarcely venturing to breathe. Every one got a good, satisfying, soul-filling view 

 at close range. We passed on deeper into the copse, to come upon even greater 

 fortune — two males and a female were discovered not more than ten feet over 

 our heads. The whole score gathered under the tree and filled the eyes to satis- 

 faction or nearly so, rather, for one of the party asked if the wings weren't lined 

 with the rose-red. For 'answer we proposed making the birds take wing and 

 asked the friends to watch. The cover of a lunch box was tossed gently into 

 the tree, but not a wing was spread. Then we hurled the box after the lid with 

 somewhat greater force, and to this day not one of the party is any wiser for 

 the experiment. The birds departed in so much less than the twinkling of an eye 

 that seeing color was out of the question. 



'Sir. Bradford Torrey once found a nest in a clump of witch-hazel bushes 

 al)Out eight or nine feet from the ground with the female upon it and the male 

 singing near by. He says: 'T took hold of the main stem just below her, and 

 drew her toward me, but she would not rise. I had no heart to annoy her. so I 

 called her a good, brave bird and left her in peace. Her mate, all this while. 

 ke])t on singing; and to judge by his behavior, I might have been some honored 

 guest to be welcomed with music. The simple-hearted — not to say simple-minded 

 — fearlessness of this bird is really astonishing. 



liut fearlessness and beauty are only two of the grosbeak's attractions. 

 Ilinl writers agree in placing him among a very select few of our songsters. 

 .Mr. Dulcher calls it "a glory of song." Mr. Bowdish says. "His song has a charm 

 that is rivalled only by the melody of a very few of our feathered vocalists." 

 Mr. C. C. Abbott says, "My fancy is that this Rose-breasted Grosbeak is our 

 finest singer;" while Mr. Torrey pays this graceful tribute. "It was singing to 

 bo remembered, like Sembrich's 'Casta Diva' or Xilsson's T know that my Re- 

 deemer liveth.' " The male adds to our good oi)inion of him l)v sharing in the 

 ciire of the eggs and even singing whilr doing so, and. tinalK-. appeals to the 

 fainitr by making a specialty of tlie potato bug on his 1)ill of fare. 



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