7S 



NOUTII AMEKICAX DrilDS. 



The sj>t'cies (IcscrilH'il as C//ffnosj)i:(f. jKirdliua in the Uinls of Xortli 

 America, l)Ut whieii so far lias noi bot'ii uetually detected iu>rth of Mexico, 

 is a 111 iiiitit lire Gairava, more related, liowever, to the H. coucnta than to 

 varulea. It is easilv dij^hiiiiiiished from the latter bv more k)hed hill, 

 darker hack a.iid under ])arts, al>SL*nce of rufous \viny;-bands, and inferior 

 size. Lenj^th, '> inches; wini^, -."»(). 



Males from the Pacific coast region (ralifornia, Colinia, etc.) liave tails 

 considerahly Ioniser than eastern specimens, while those from California are 

 of a nuich lighter and less purplish Idue, the ditference heinjj: nnicli the same 

 as hetween Sinlla sialis and S. azuna. 



Autumnal and winter males have the feathers genei-ally, especially on the 

 back and ]>reast, tipped with light brown, obscuring somewhat the blue, 

 though producing a beautiful api)earance. 



Habits. The Blue (irosbeak, though more a bird of the Southern States, 

 is also one both of an extended and of an irregular distribution. It was 

 even met with one year in the vicinity of Calais, Me., although none have 

 been known to occur in any j»art of the country between that point and New 

 York City. It is found from the Atlantic to the Pacific C(»ast. 



The extent to which it is distributed throughout California is inferred, 

 rather than known. Dr. Coo})er noticed one at Fort Mohave, May (>, and 

 afterwards saw many more freciuentini,' the trees and bushes along the river, 

 and singing a lively song, which he compares with that of the Carj)0(.f((Ci(-i 

 frvntrdis. He also saw them at Los Angeles and at Santa liarbara, and 

 states that they were found at Pit liiver, in the extreme northeastern ]»art 

 of the State, by Dr. Xewl>erry. They were observed to frequent the banks 

 of streams crossing the great int«;rior plains and deserts, where there was 

 little vegetation except a few bushes. 



The Blue Grosbeak was only met with by ^Ir. Pidgway and Ids party at 

 Sacramento. It does not occur — or, if so, it was not seen — in the interior so 

 far to the north as tlie route of Mr. King's survey. At Sacramento it was 

 found freipienting tlie same localities as the Ctptnoxpiza amo'no,i\\u\ appeared 

 to be characteristic of the cottonwood co])ses. Their nests were loiind be- 

 tween the 18th and the 29th of June, and were all in similar situations. 

 These were imilt in small cotton wood-trees, on the edge of the copse, and 

 were all alxjut six feet from the ground. 



Mr. John lUiiroiighs, in one of his chaiining popular essays ^ on the general 

 habits of our Itirds, refers to their occasional preference, in sites for their 

 nests, of the borders of freipiented roadsides, and mentions finding a n3st of 

 the P»lue (Jrosbuak among the trees that line one of the main streets and 

 fashionable drives leading nut of Washington City, less than half a mile 

 from the boundary. There, he states, this bird, which, according to Audu- 

 bon's ol»servations, is shy and recluse, affecting remote marshes and the ^ or- 

 ders of large ponds of stagnant water, had ]»laced its nest in the lowest twig 



1 Atlantic Monthly, XX 1 11, \k 707. 



