FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 373 



brown on upper parts. Adult female : upper parts blackish brown, 

 streaked with pale brownish or buff y ; collar buffy white ; wing bar white ; 

 tinder parts dull buffy, yellowish on belly, flanks, and sometimes breast ; 

 sides streaked ; under wing 1 coverts lemon yellow. Winter female : with 

 buffy or brown stronger ; lateral crown stripe streaked with black. Young : 

 much like adult female, but under parts paler, without yellow on belly ; 

 back spotted ; crown stripes uniform blackish brown. Male : length 

 (skins) 6.60-7.70, wing 3.72-4.30, tail 2.79-3.38, bill .60-.80. Female: 

 length (skins) 6.15-7.80, wing 3.72-4. 12, tail 2.70-3.40, bill .61-.78. 



Distribution. Breeds in Transition and Upper Sonoran zones of the 

 western United States, from eastern Nebraska to California, and from 

 British Columbia to northern v Lower California and southern part of 

 Mexican plateau. 



Nest . Usually in chaparral, made loosely of sticks and weeds. Eggs : 

 3 or 4, pale bluish white, thickly spotted with brown. 



Food. Similar to that of the rose-breasted grosbeak. 



When you hear the call-note of the black-headed grosbeak for the 

 first time, you naturally hunt through the greenery for a small 

 bird, for the note is a peculiarly insignificant eek, and when you dis- 

 cover the goodly sized bird with strongly marked black and golden 

 brown coat and great bill, his small voice seems much out of char- 

 acter. You marvel at it still more when you hear his wonderful 

 song. At its best, given from a poplar or live-oak top in the leisure 

 of a sunny afternoon, it is one of the most varied, exquisitely finished, 

 and musical of bird songs. It has the swinging rhythm and clear- 

 ness characteristic of grosbeak songs, but is smooth and rounded, 

 and its highest notes are dwelt on and trolled over with rare tender- 

 ness, repeated not as a thrasher's notes are repeated, but with the 

 enjoyment of an artist consciously perfecting his work. In Arizona 

 Mr. Henshaw has heard the birds give sunset concerts from the tops 

 of the tallest pines. 



The nature of the grosbeak is not belied by his song, for like 

 others of the family he has a gentle spirit. His devotion to the nest 

 is shown by his habit of brooding in the absence of his mate. 



GENUS GUIRACA. 



597a. Guiraca cserulea lazula (Less.). WESTERN BLUE GROS- 

 BEAK. 



Bill large, conical, compressed ; nostrils exposed ; wing longer than tail ; 

 tarsus about as long as middle toe with claw. Adult male in summer : 

 plain bright blue ; wing with two brownish bands, that across tips of 

 greater coverts usually .20-. 30 wide, and decidedly paler than the anterior 

 band ; under tail coverts with white borders. Adult male in winter : blue 

 of body more or less obscured by brownish or buffy tips to feathers. Fe- 

 male and young : grayish brown, usually more or less tinged with blue. 

 Immature males : plumage of adult male and female mixed in various pro- 

 portions, according to age. Male : length (skins) 5.90-7.00, wing 3.40 - 

 3.80, tail 2.62-3.10, bill .55-70. Female: length (skins) 5.60-6.50, wing 

 3.02-3.48, tail 2.41-2.80, bill .55-.6S. 



