OF NEW ENGLAND. 233 
(b). The nest, a rather frail structure, is composed of straws, 
leaves, or twigs, and is sometimes lined with hairs. It is often 
built in the shrubbery or trees of cultivated estates, but is 
also to be found in barberry-bushes in pasture-land, or oaks, 
etc., in the woods, especially damp woods. An instance is 
known of its being found in a pine, fifty feet from the ground, 
though usually not placed very high. The eggs, which are 
here laid generally in the first week of June, are three or four, 
and average 1:00 X ‘75 of an inch. They are marked quite 
thickly but coarsely, usually with rather dull reddish or pur- 
plish umber. Their ground-color varies from greenish-blue to 
dull olive-green. They strongly resemble several other eggs. 
(See the Key.) . 
(c). The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak possesses, combined 
in such a degree as few other birds do, gay beauty of plumage, 
and fine powers of song, though the female is plain, incon- 
spicuous, and for the most part silent. He, therefore, absents 
himself from the immediate neighborhood of his nest, except 
when obliged to approach it, or when relieving his mate from 
the fatigue of incubation, as he occasionally does. He is rare 
to the northward of Massachusetts, where he is common in 
many places, though still locally distributed. He reaches 
Boston in the second week of May, and returns to the South 
in September, not being sufficiently hardy to withstand the 
cold accompanying a hard frost. He frequents not only lightly 
timbered or swampy woods, but orchards, groves, and shrub- 
bery on cultivated estates. He feeds chiefly upon berries and 
seeds, and obtains the latter from various trees, such as the 
birches and alders. He also eats buds, often committing 
depredations on our fruit-trees, and he must be considered as 
injurious to agriculture. He frequently plucks blossoms, and, 
dexterously cutting off the petals, etc., lets them fall, while he 
retains the ovary which contains the seeds. He occasionally 
seeks for morsels on the ground, and may be seen rustling 
among the fallen leaves and decayed vegetation. He usually, 
however, remains at some height above the ground, and rarely 
flies near it. He is rather shy and watchful, there being noth- 
ing in his habits to render him noticeable. 
