THE WESTERN EVENING GROSBEAK. 69 



General Range. — Western United States and Xorthern Mexico; east to and 

 including Rockv Mmintains; north to llritish Columbia. 



Range in Washington. — Co-extensive with evergreen timber and ajipearing 

 irregularly elsewhere. Resident within State but roving locally. Winters regu- 

 larly in parks of the larger cities. 



Authorities. — :^ Friiu/illa irsf^crtiiia 'i'ownscnd, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. I'hila. 

 \TII. iSv». 1^4 (Columbia R.). Hcspcril^hoini -,'cspcrtiiia Baird, Rep. I'ac. R. R. 

 Surv. IX. 1S5S. 4oy. T. C.^-S. Ra. Kk. B. E. 



Specimens.— r. of W. 1". I'rov. 1'.. E. 



SPARROWS are also called Cone-bills; it is, therefore, fair that the bird 

 with the biggest cone should take precedence in a family history. But fur this 

 primacy there are damaging limitations. The Grosbeak is neither the most 

 beautifnl nor the most tuneful of the Fringillidac, if he is by common consent 

 rated the oddest. His garb is a ])atclnvork ; his song a series of shrieks; his 

 motions eccentric; his humor phlegmatic; and his concepts beyond the ken 

 of man. Altho at times one of the most approachable of Ijirds, he is. on the 

 whole, an avian freak, a rebus in feathers. 



Perhaps we make too much of a mystery of him, just as we rate the owl 

 highest in wisdom for the single discretion of silence, which any dunderhead 

 may attain. But now take this group in the park; just what are they at? 

 They sit there stolidly in the rowan tree where all the passersby may take note 

 of them, giving vent ever and anon to explosive yelps, but doing nothing by 

 the iiour, until an insane impulse seizes one of their number to be ofif to some 

 other scene no better, be it near or far, and the rest yield shrieking consent by 

 default of alternative idea. It is all so unreasonable, so uncanny, that it 

 irritates us. 



Evening Grosbeaks are semi-gregarious the }ear around, but are seen to 

 best advantage in winter or early spring, when they flock closely and visit 

 city ])arks or wooded lawns. One is oftenest attracted to their temporary 

 quarters by the startling and disconnected noises which are flimg out broad- 

 cast. It may be that the fl(x-k is absorbed in the depths of a small fir. so that 

 one may come up near enough to analyze the sound. Three sorts of notes are 

 plainly distinguishable: a low murmuring of i)ure tones, quite pleasant to the 

 ear; a harsh but sulxlued rattle, or alarm note, li'^cct or tcxt.::-/'. familiarly 

 similar t(j that of the Crossbill ; and the high-pitched shriek, which dis- 

 tinguishes the bird from all others, dinip. A little attention brings to light 

 the fact that all the birds in the flock bring out this astonishing note at 

 precisely the same pitch. Once distinguished, this note will serve again and 

 again to draw attention to this uncanny fowl, as it passes overhead or loses 

 itself in the Iw.som of .some giant conifer. 



