132 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



On May 9, 1890, Mr. W. F. Colcock brought me an adult male 

 of this beautiful species. It was shot in Saltkehatchie Swamp, 

 near Yeraassee, which is only a few miles from the tide-water. 

 A few days later another male was seen. This is the first record 

 for lower South Carolina, and the capture of the bird was recorded 

 by the writer in the Auk. ^ Mr. Leverett M. Loomis found this 

 species to be a regular spring and autumn migrant in Chester 

 county. 



The Rose-breasted Grosbeak breeds in the higher mountains 

 of North Carolina and northward to the Saskatchewan River. 



226. Guiraca caerulea (Linn.). Blue Grosbeak. 



Fifteen years ago the Blue Grosbeak was comparatively abun- 

 dant within a few miles of Charleston, as well as along the line 

 of the Charleston and Savannah Railway from Ravenel's to Har- 

 dee ville, but it is now so rare a bird that I have not observed 

 one since September 26, 1901, when an adult male in very worn 

 plumage was secured.^ 



My earliest spring arrival is April 18, 1891, and the latest au- 

 tumn record is October 15, 1888. The birds are thus in the State 

 a little more than six months. 



The Blue Grosbeak inhabits open lands which are low and 

 swampy and partially covered with a second growth of bushes 

 and trees. It seems to prefer the rice plantations, where it ob- 

 tains an abundance of food. It frequents the fields of oats in 

 May and June, but as soon as the rice begins to mature in the 

 autumn, members of a family resort to the fields. As the birds 

 were never really abundant, but little if any damage was done 

 to those crops. The song of the male is very fine and somewhat 

 like that of the Orchard Oriole or the Ricebird, but the call note 

 is nasal and resembles the word chink. 



During all the years that I have spent in the woods and fields, 

 but one nest of this bird has come under my observation. It was 

 found in June, 1884, within a few miles of Charleston, and con- 

 tained two young birds and one addled egg. The nest was sit- 

 uated in a low bush and was constructed of weeds, dry leaves, 

 and grass, lined with rootlets, while a large portion of a snake 

 skin was twined around the outside. The eggs are three or four 



1 VII, 1890, 410. 



^ This species was reported near Charleston on May 31, 1907, by Mr. F. M. Weston, 

 Jr.— Ed. 



