OF NEW ENGLAND. 233 



(&). The nest, a rather frail structure, is composed of straws, 

 leaves, or twigs, and is sometimes lined with hairs. It is often 

 built in the shrubbery or trees of cultivated estates, but is 

 also to be found in barberry-bushes in pasture-land, or oaks, 

 etc., in the woods, especially damp woods. An instance is 

 known of its being found in a pine, fifty feet from the ground, 

 though usually not placed very high. The eggs, which are 

 here laid generally in the first week of June, are three or four, 

 and average 1-00 X * 75 of an inch. They are marked quite 

 thickly but coarsely, usually with rather dull reddish or pur- 

 plish umber. Their ground-color varies from greenish-blue to 

 dull olive-green. They strongly resemble several other eggs. 

 (See the Key.) 



(c). The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak possesses, combined 

 in such a degree as few other birds do, gay beauty of plumage, 

 and fine powers of song, though the female is plain, incon- 

 spicuous, and for the most part silent. He, therefore, absents 

 himself from the immediate neighborhood of his nest, except 

 when obliged to approach it, or when relieving his mate from 

 the fatigue of incubation, as he occasionally does. He is rare 

 to the northward of Massachusetts, where he is common in 

 many places, though still locally distributed. He reaches 

 Boston in the second week of May, and returns to the South 

 in September, not being sufficiently hardy to withstand the 

 cold accompanying a hard frost. He frequents not only lightly 

 timbered or swampy woods, but orchards, groves, and shrub- 

 bery on cultivated estates. He feeds chiefly upon berries and 

 seeds, and obtains the latter from various trees, such as the 

 birches and alders. He also eats buds, often committing 

 depredations on our fruit-trees, and he must be considered as 

 injurious to agriculture. He frequently plucks blossoms, and, 

 dexterously cutting off the petals, etc., lets them fall, while he 

 retains the ovary which contains the seeds. He occasionally 

 seeks for morsels on the ground, and may be seen rustling 

 among the fallen leaves and decayed vegetation. He usually, 

 however, remains at some height above the ground, and rarely 

 flies near it. He is rather shy and watchful, there being noth- 

 ing in his habits to render him noticeable. 





