GROSBEAKS 371 



tured, but the handsome adult males were more wary and 

 remained near the top of the tree, so that it was impossible to 

 capture any of them. 



After a careful scrutiny of the captives, I selected two likely 

 looking ones which by sheer luck turned out to be a pair. My 

 friend also selected a couple of birds, and the remainder were 

 set free. My pair of birds were placed in a large cage in our 

 kitchen, where they would become accustomed to seeing persons 

 near them, and they quickly became very tame. The next day 

 after their capture, the male began to sing in a low ventril- 

 oquial voice which seemed to come from an entirely opposite 

 direction from where he was. 



In a few days they would eagerly take apple and hemp seed 

 from my hand, and very soon I would allow them to come out 

 of their cage and fly about the room. When I desired to get 

 them into their cage again, a few seeds placed near the door 

 at once enticed them within. 



The male quickly assumed the ascendency, and did not allow 

 the female to partake of any proffered dainties until his own 

 appetite was satisfied. The second week in May he showed 

 indications of pairing, and nesting material was put in the 

 cage. Both birds would carry this around the cage in their 

 beaks, but did not seem to know how to begin to build a nest. 

 May 30, the male was found dead in the cage. Notwithstand- 

 ing this, the female continued preparing to lay, and the 

 morning of June 10 an egg was found in the bottom of the 

 cage. June 11 a second and last egg of the set was laid. 

 They were of a greenish blue color, spotted with black and 

 lilac. The spots were thickest at the larger end where they 

 tended to become confluent and form a wreath. The eggs 

 measured 1.00 x 0.68, 1.02 x 0.64 inches respectively. 



The next winter, 1893-94, no Grosbeaks were observed in 

 this vicinity, and so I was disappointed in getting a mate 

 for my bird. The last of May, 1894, she showed signs of 

 desiring to build a nest. An old nest of the Loggerhead Shrike 



