Vol. XXXIII 



1916 



J Allen, Xe.sting of Ihc Rose-breasted Grosbeak. 53 



A NESTING OF THE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 



BY FRANCIS H. ALLEN. ^ 



In the spring of 1914 I watched a nesting of the Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak (Zamclodia ludoviciana) in West Roxbury, Mass., and 

 though my notes are not so complete and detailed as I could wish, 

 they are perhaps worth recording, and I offer them for what they 

 are worth. 



On May 23 I observed a female Grosbeak building in the top of a 

 pear tree which stands about twenty feet from a veranda of my 

 house. The nest, which was only just beginning to take shape, 

 was in plain sight from our upper windows. From that time till 

 incubation began the male bird was never seen at the nest, though 

 he often sang near by. I think he took no part in the building. 

 The female had a habit of uttering a few high-pitched and faint 

 notes, rather prolonged, ee ee ee, while on and about the nest. 

 They were, perhaps, addressed to her mate, though he seemed 

 never to respond in any way, and, in fact, during this period of 

 nest-building I never saw him near when these notes were uttered. 

 It is hard to see of what value such a habit could be ^o a bird, for 

 the notes would serve only to betray the presence of the nest; 

 but they impressed me as a sort of crooning of satisfaction over the 

 preparations going forward, — though the word crooning would not 

 apply to the quality of the notes, which were high-pitched, as stated. 



On May 28 I saw the bird moving about on the nest and judged 

 that it was completed. As I did not go up to the nest at this period, 

 I do not know just when the eggs were laid, nor did I note just 

 when incubation began, but on June 7 the birds had been sitting 

 for several days. The male assisted his mate in the work of incu- 

 bation, but the female appeared to do most of it. The male took 

 his cares lightly and sang habitually while incubating. The song 

 thus given was shorter and less loud than the ordinary song of the 

 species, but, though somewhat subdued in tone, it was not identical 

 with the very soft and subdued song which is sometimes heard from 



1 Read before the Nuttall Ornithological Club, December 7, 1914. 



