BLUE GROSBEAK. 



597. Guiraca ccerulea. 7 inches. 



Male, deep blue with chestnut shoulders; female, 

 grayish brown above and grayish white below. 



Open woods, small groves and roadsides are the lo- 

 cations in which these birds will be apt to be found. 

 In some places they are fairly common, but nowhere 

 abundant. Their habits are very similar to those of 

 the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. 



Song. A rapid varied warble, similar to but louder 

 and stronger than that of the Indigo Bunting. 



Nest. Of twigs, weeds and grasses, lined with fine 

 rootlets; placed in thickets, bushes or low trees; four 

 or five plain bluish-white eggs (.85 x .62). 



Rang'e. Eastern U. S., breeding from the Gulf to 

 Maryland and Illinois ; winters south of U. S. 



Sub-species. 597a. Western Blue Grosbeak (la- 

 zula). Male of a brighter shade of blue than the east- 

 ern; found from the Mississippi to the Pacific, breeding 

 north to Kansas, Colorado and northern California. 



116 



