The Black-headed Grosbeak 



165 



in dress and song. I loved to watch the male that lived in the clump of maples. 

 He used to perch at the very top of a fir sapling near the nest, to stretch his 

 wings and preen his tail, as if he knew his clothes were made for show. Early 

 in the morning he showed the quality of his singing; later in the day it often 

 lacked finish. The tones sounded hard to get out, as if he were practising, — - 

 just running over the notes of an air that hung dim in his memory. But it 

 was pleasing to lu-ar his practice. The atmosphere was too lazy for perfect 

 execution. 



Getting 



Acquainted 



FEMALE BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK AND YOUNG 

 Photographed by H. T. Bohlman 



We had a good chance to study and [)hotograph a pair 

 of Black-headed Grosbeaks that nested near my home. We 

 were soon on such intimate terms with both birds that we could 

 watch them at close range. Nature has given the Grosbeak a large and power- 

 ful bill, to crack seeds and hard kernels. It seemed to me this would be an 

 inconvenience when it came to feeding children. If it was, the parents did 

 not show it. The mother would cock her head to one side, so that her baby 

 could easily grasp the morsel, and it was all so quickly done that only the 

 camera's eye could catch the way she did it. She shpped her bill clear into 

 the youngster's mouth, and he took the bite as hurriedly as if he were afraid 

 the mother would change her mind and give it to the next baby. 



The parents fed their nestlings a diet of both fruit and insects. Once I 

 saw the father distribute a whole mouthful of green measuring-worms. The 



