i''92l Butler oh the Evcnitu^ Grosbeak. -4'] 



presented heretofore. Prof. C. R. Hrirnes of Madison, Wiscon- 

 sin, has kindly furnished me the following: from that locality. 

 "The birds were first seen here Nov. 20, 18S9, — two or three 

 only. Later, hut just when I am unable to say, they appeared 

 in lunnbers, a flock of about fifty stayinti^ through the winter. 

 They ate the buds of the elm and maple trees and the seed of the 

 box elder {Ncgundo accroides). They also ate tlie buds of the 

 latter tree to some extent, but chiefly the seeds which they neatly 

 extracted from the samaras. The flock was last noted on March 

 39, but a pair was seen late in May." Mr. Edward P. Carlton 

 lijives the following notes from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. " Nov. 

 9, 18S9, I saw a flock of fifteen Evening Grosbeaks, in a row of 

 box elders, feeding wyiow the seeds. Nov. 13, a large flock near 

 the Public Square. Jan. 10, 1S90, I saw three, and throughout 

 the month they were frequently seen, last on the 29th. They 

 were next seen Feb. 23 ; on that date it was snowing very hard. 

 Fel). 25 I saw a flock of fifteen flying about apparently blinded 

 by the storm. Feb. 26 I saw a single Evening Grosbeak appar- 

 ently much excited ; it uttered continually a loud call note. 

 March i, thermometer zero this morning; I saw a single female, 

 l^hey were seen occasionally throughout the month, and were 

 last noted April 2. During their stay with us thev were exceed- 

 ingly tame as a rule, and boys could easily get them with slings. 

 The oidy thing thev fed on, as far as I could see, was the seeds 

 of the l)Ox elder, and in stripping them from the trees they re- 

 minded me of a lot of clumsy Crossbills. Cold did not seem to 

 have the slightest effect on them, while during a snow storm they 

 would move around a good deal. Males in full plumage, that is fine 

 ones, were not common, even in a flock of twenty or thirty." 

 Mr. O. G. Libby informs me a fe\v were seen at Barron, Wis- 

 consin, Nov. 20, 1S89. In a week twenty or thirty appeared and 

 remained all winter eating the buds of the elms and maples. 

 They remained until March 29, 1890, though in smaller numbers. 

 The same gentleman says: "A flock of fifteen or twenty was 

 noted by me the past winter and spring (1889-90) at Patch Grove, 

 Grant Co., Wisconsin, also at Boscobil, Grant Co., and at Bloom - 

 ington. Prof. F. Cramer, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis- 

 consin, says: " Last winter (18S9-90) I became very much in- 

 terested in a flock of Evening Grosbeaks that made a crab apple 

 tree in my yard their headquarters for some time. The tree 



