1 9© 



SCARLET GROSBEAK. 



to Northern China. In winter it is very common throughout the 

 greater portion of the Indian region. It is rather late in returning 

 to its northern breeding-quarters in Europe, and near ^Varsaw it does 

 not arrive until about the middle of May ; but in the drier climate of 

 Siberia it is earlier. 



The nest, which is rather deep, and is slenderly constructed of dry 

 grass-stalks with a lining of horsehair, is placed in the fork of a small 

 bush, generally in the neighbourhood of water. The eggs, 4-6 in 

 number, are of a deeper greenish-blue than those of the Bullfinch, 

 sparsely marked with reddish-brown and almost black spots : average 

 measurements 75 by "57 in. The food consists of seeds, grain and 

 berries, and Col. E. A. Butler says that the bird is partial to the 

 watery nectar in the flower of the Indian coral-tree, while Jerdon 

 observed it eating bamboo-seeds ; but the young are probably fed on 

 insects. The song, generally uttered from the top of a bush or low 

 tree, is a loud clear whistle, tu-7vhit, fii-tn-i, several times repeated 

 in rapid succession, whence the Hindoo name 'Tuti.' 



The adult male has the top of the head glossy carmine-red ; 

 mantle warm brown with a reddish tinge ; quills and tail dark brown, 

 with paler buffish margins ; rump and upper tail-coverts carmine-red ; 

 chin and throat rich rose-red ; breast rose-pink, fading to brownish 

 on the flanks ; bill yellowish-brown ; legs reddish-brown. Length 

 575 in.; wing 3"25 in. The female has no red tints, the general 

 colour of the upper parts being dull striated olive-brown, but the wing- 

 coverts and inner secondaries are much more conspicuously edged 

 with dirty white than in the male ; the lower parts are dull white 

 with a buftish tinge on the throat and breast, and numerous hair- 

 brown streaks from the latter to the flanks ; a brown stripe descends 

 from either corner of the lower mandible. The young are at 

 first rather greyer in tint than the female, but cock birds soon 

 begin to show a distinctly yellowish tinge on the ear-coverts, rump, 

 and outer margins of the wing- and tail-feathers. It seems probable 

 that the rosy hue is not assumed until after the second moult. 



This species has been separated by some modern authors from 

 Pyrrhiila, under the generic name Carpodaais of Kaup ; but the dis- 

 tinctions are very fine, consisting mainly in the shape of the bill 

 and in the smaller amount of covering to the nostrils. 



