216 



USEFUL BIRDS. 



Rose-breasted Grosbeak. 



Zmnelodia ludoviciana. 



Length. — Seven and three-fourths to eight and one-half mches. 



Adult Male. — Above, mainly black ; the black of head extending around under 

 throat; wings and tail white-marked; rump white; upper tail coverts 

 black and white ; below, mainly white ; middle breast and under wing 

 coverts rose-red ; the large bill appears white from below. 



Adult Female. — The black of the male largely replaced by brown, except on 

 throat, which is white ; line over eye and space m front of eye white or 

 whitish ; a streak on crown also whitish, mixed with brown ; no white on 

 rump or tail ; no rose on breast, and that under wings replaced by yellow. 



Nest. — Built of twigs, fibers, and grasses ; loosely made m bush or sapling, from 

 five to twenty feet or more from gromid. 



Eggs. — Varymg in color from pale greenish-blue to dull green; thickly marked 

 with coarse spots of various shades of brown and purplish. 



Season. — Early May to September. 



The Rose-breasted Grosbeak should be accorded the most 

 cordial welcome wherever it appears ; for not many birds 

 have such beauty of plumage and song, and at the same 

 time such useful habits. 



This is one of the few birds that has increased in numbers 



Avithin the past forty years to 

 such an extent that it is now 

 found commonly in woods and 

 thickets where many years ago 

 it w^as considered rare. It is 

 common, too, about the fields and 

 gardens. Its sweet warbling may be 

 heard from the tall shade trees of the 

 village street. The introduction and 

 spread of the Colorado potato beetle, 

 which reached Massachusetts about 

 thirty years ago, may have had something to do with this 

 increase in the number of Grosbeaks, for they are among the 

 few birds that Avill eat this beetle. Thej^ seek the beetles 

 so assiduously everywhere that they are often locally known 

 as " potato bug birds." This Grosbeak has now become com- 

 mon throughout most of Massachusetts, except on Cape Cod. 

 The conmion note of this bird is a thin, sharp eeh, quite dif- 

 ferent from that of any other eastern bird. The song is a 

 strong, rolling carol, somewhat like that of the Robin in 



Fig. 78. — Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak, male, about 

 one-half natural size. 



