340 NOTES ON THE 



They are said to locate their nests in bushes, and trees, much 

 after the mannei' of Catbirds. The nests consist of small 

 twigs, dry weeds, strips of grapevine bark, leaves, coarse 

 grasses, etc. , lined neatly with fine grass. The eggs four to five, 

 are somewhat variable in coloration from a gray to a clear 

 white, and two broods are raised each season as a rule. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



A flattened crest of feathers on the crown. Bill red, body 

 generally bright vermilion red, darker on the back, rump, and 

 tail. Narrow band around the base of the bill with chin and 

 upper part of the throat black. 



Female of a duller red, and this only on the wings, tail and 

 elongated feathers of the crown. Above with light-olive, 

 tinged with yellowish on the head; beneath brownish-yellow, 

 darkest on the sides, and across the breast. Black about the 

 head only faintly indicated. 



Length, 8.50; wing, 3.75; tail, 4.50. 



Habitat, more southern portion of United States to Missouri. 



HABI4 LIJDOVICIANA (L ). (595) 

 ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 



This beautiful bird, and sweetest of singers, comes to us in 

 the last days of April, or the first week in May. They appear 

 almost simultaneously in every brushy and wooded section of 

 the State, from Iowa to the British possessions. It is so con 

 spicuous that I have had no difficulty in getting observations of 

 its earliest arrivals from all points where I have correspond- 

 ents. Rev. E, Lyman Hood, an oologist and general orni- 

 thologist, reported this bird as early as April 17th. Prof. 

 Herrick on the 25th of the same month. P. Lewis, in Grant, 

 and Dr. Hvoslef of Fillmore, the 29th of April. 



All speak of the appearance of the males some days before 

 the arrival of the females During this interval they are quite 

 reticent, and are employed for the most part in peering about 

 the brushy and timbered margins of ponds, marshes and 

 streams most favorable for their supply of food. When the 

 females arrive "the music opens;" for of all the exhibitions of 

 chivalric fighting for sweet love's sake in the bird kingdom, 

 theirs is at the head. A single instance out of a great many 

 will be enough. While observing the spring birds with one 

 eye and watching game ducks with the other, on the 26th of 

 April, a rather raw, windy day, I heard the familiar voice of 

 this grosbeak, which was instantly duplicated by several others, 



