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830 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
The habits of this bird are pretty well known. It is a 
very fine songster, and is hardly excelled by any of our 
other species; its notes being uttered, not only through the 
day, but also during the night, as I have heard on several 
occasions. The song is difficult of description: it is a 
sweet warble, with various emphatic passages, and some- 
times a plaintive strain, exceedingly tender and affecting. 
The Grosbeak feeds upon the seeds of the birches and 
alders, which it obtains very expertly. It also is very fond 
of various berries and buds, and it occasionally searches 
among the fallen leaves for insects and worms. 
After the young birds have become capable of providing 
for themselves, the whole family sometimes visit the orchards 
and gardens, where they eat a few berries and currants. 
By the middle of September, they proceed leisurely on their 
southern migration. 
CYANOSPIZA, Barrp. 
Passerina, ViEILLoT, Analyse (1816). Not of Linnzus; used in Botany. 
Cyanospiza, BAIRD. (Type Tanagra cyanea, L.) 
Bill deep at the base, compressed; the upper outline considerably curved; the 
commissure rather concave, with an obtuse, shallow lobe in the middle; gonys 
slightly curved; feet moderate; tarsus about equal to middle toe; the outer lateral 
toe barely longer than the inner, its claw falling short of the base of the middle; - 
hind toe about equal to the middle without claw; claws all much curved, acute; 
wings long and pointed, reaching nearly to the middle of the tail; the second and 
third quills longest; tail appreciably shorter than the wings, rather narrow, very 
nearly even. 
The species of this genus are all of very small size and of showy plumage, 
usually blue, red, or green, in well-defined areas. 
‘ CYANOSPIZA CYANEA. — Baird. 
The Indigo-bird. 
Tanagra cyanea, Linneus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 315. 
Fringilla cyanea. Wils., I. (1810) 100; Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1882) 877; V. 503. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Male. — Blue, tinged with ultramarine on the head, throat, and middle of breast; 
elsewhere with verdigris-green; lores and anterior angle of chin velvet-black; wing 
feathers brown, edged externally with dull bluish-brown. 
