THE BIRD BOOK 



Blue Grosbeak 



Bluish white 



597- Blue Grosbeak. Guiraca coerulea. 



Range. — Southeastern Unit- 

 ed States, breeding from the 

 Gulf north to Pennsylvania 

 and Illinois, and casually to L 

 New England. 



Smaller than the last two 

 species and deep blue, with 

 wings and tail blackish, and 

 the lesser coverts and tips of 

 greater, chestnut. It is a fairly common spe- 

 cies in the southerly parts of its range, nest- 

 ing most frequently in low bushes or vines 

 in thickets; the nest is made of rootlets, weed 

 stalks and grasses and sometimes leaves. The 

 three or four eggs are bluish white, unmarked. 

 Size .85 x .65. Data. — Chatham Co., Ga., June 

 10, 1898. 3 eggs. Nest of roots, leaves and 

 snake skin, lined with fine rootlets, 3 feet from 

 the ground in a small oak bush. 



597a. Western Blue Grosbeak. Guiraca ccerulea lazula. 



Range. — Western United States north to Kansas, Colorado and northern Cal- 

 ifornia. 



Slightly larger than the last and lighter blue; nests the same and egg not dis- 

 tinctive. 



598. Indigo Bunting. Passerina cyanea. 



Range. — United States, east of the Plains, breeding north to Manitoba and 



Nova Scotia ; winters south of the United States. 

 This handsome species is rich indigo on the 



head and neck, shading into blue or greenish 



blue on the upper and under parts. They are 



very abundant in some localities along road- 

 sides, in thickets and open woods, where their 

 song is frequently head, it be- 

 ing a very sweet refrain re- 

 sembling, somewhat, certatin 

 passages from that of the 

 Goldfinch. They nest at low 

 elevations in thickets or 

 vines, building their home of 

 grass and weeds, lined with 



fine grass or hair, it being quite a substantial 



structure. The eggs, which are laid in June 



or July, are pale bluish white. Size .75 x .52. 



Pale bluish white 



599. Lazuli Bunting. Passerina amcena. 



Range. — Western United States, breeding 

 from Mexico to northern United States and the 

 interior of British Columbia; east to Kansas. 



This handsome bird is of the size of cyanea, 

 but is azure blue above and on the throat, the 



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Indigo Bunting 



