NORTH AMERICA* BIRDS. 403 



595. ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. Habia ludov Ida na (Linn.) Geog. Dial. - 

 Eastern United States, north to Southern Canada; south in winter through Cuba, 

 Central and into Northern South America. 



The rose-bud of our North American Osdnes everywhere noted for its beauty 

 and musical ability. Breeds from the Northern States northward, but it is nowhere 

 an abundant bird. Trees and shrubbery along the banks of streams or the borders 

 of dense woods are its favorite resorts. A bird with a plump, round form, the male 

 with head and neck black, bill whitish, wings and tail white and black, the breast 

 and under wing-coverts rosy or carmine red. The parts which in the male are black 

 are streaked with blackish and olive-brown in the female, and the under wing- 

 coverts saffron-yellow, and though not so striking in contrast, makes a bird of hand- 

 some appearance. The nest is placed in the thick foliage of trees at the edges of 

 woods or on the banks of streams. It is a flat, shallow structure, composed of small 

 twigs, vegetable fibres and grass. Breeds in May and June. The eggs are three to 

 five in number, the latter being uncommon. They are greenish-blue or bluish- 

 green, more or less spotted over the entire surface with blotches of reddish-brown; 

 the eggs resemble very closely those of the Summer Redbird or Scarlet Tanager; 

 sizes range from .95 to 1.08 in length by .70 to .76 in breadth. 



596. BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK. HaUa melanocephala (Swains.) Geog. 

 Dist. Western United States, east to the Great Plains, south into Mexico. 



This bird occurs from the high Central Plains to the Pacific, and from the 

 northern portions of Washington Territory to the table lands of Mexico. Breeds 

 throughout its United States range. Colonel Goss gives it as a quite common sum- 

 mer resident in Middle and Western Kansas; begins laying the last of May. Quite 

 common in California; begins nesting about the first of April nesting abundantly 

 in the willow and water-mootic copse near Santa Clara River and among the live- 

 oaks along the small -streams and creeks. The nests are placed from five to twenty 

 feet from the ground, and composed of a few slender twigs, weeds, grasses and 

 rootlets. Two to four eggs are laid. Sets of this bird's eggs are in my cabinet 

 collected at San Gorgonia Pass, California, by Mr. Herron, in May and June. These 

 are of two and three eggs each. They are bluish-green sprinkled and blotched with 

 reddish and rusty-brown; some heavily spotted while others are sparingly marked, 

 the spots in all cases become more numerous towards the larger ends. Eight eggs 

 measure .84x.65, .86x.67, .87x.65, .92x.69, .94x.68, .90x.67, 1.07x.72, 1.07x.73. 



597. BLUE GROSBEAK. Guiraca ccerulea (Linn.) Geog. Dist. Eastern 

 United States, from Southern New Jersey, Southern Illinois and Central Nebraska 

 south to Cuba and Mexico. Casual northward to New England. 



The Blue Grosbeak is nowhere an abundant bird, but breeds throughout its 

 United States range, occasionally as far north* as Southern Pennsylvania. In the 

 West it is found in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and California. Colonel Goss 

 gives it as a summer resident of Kansas, being quite common in the Middle and 

 Western portion; begins laying the last of May. A common species in the South 

 Atlantic and Gulf States. Mr. C. S. Brimley says that in the vicinity of Raleigh, 

 North Carolina, it begins nesting about the first part of June. Mr. G. Noble, of 

 Savannah, Georgia, has sent ine a typical nest which he collected in June. In 



