Birds of the Indian Hills 



The hen grosbeak differs considerably in colour 

 and marking both from the cock of her species 

 and from the hen black-headed oriole. She is 

 a dull ashy-grey bird, tinged faintly with 

 yellowish red on the back and abdomen. Her 

 wings and tail are black. The only young 

 grosbeak that I have seen resembled the female 

 in appearance, except that it had a yellow rump. 

 It was being fed by a cock bird. 



Grosbeaks live in forests, and go about either 

 in couples or in small companies. They seem 

 to feed largely on the ground, picking up 

 insects. The beak of the finch tribe is adapted 

 to a diet of seeds ; nevertheless, many finches 

 vary this food with insects. I saw a grosbeak 

 seize, shake, and devour a caterpillar about two 

 inches in length. Grosbeaks also eat berries 

 and stone fruit. When disturbed they at once 

 betake themselves to a tree, among the branches 

 of which they are able to make their way with 

 great agility. Grosbeaks are restless birds, 

 always on the move, here to-day and gone to- 

 morrow. The cock emits a call at frequent 

 intervals. This is not easy to describe. It 

 sounds something like kiu kree. 



The nest is a cup-shaped structure, composed 



exteriorly of twigs, grass, and moss, and lined 

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