484: HISTORY OF THE 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male ..... 9.15 12.00 3.80 4.35 .95 .78 



Female... 8.75 11.50 3.50 4.25 .93 .73 



Iris brown; bill red; legs and feet dark reddish brown; claws 

 brown. 



This beautiful species, of rich, gaudy colors, proud bearing 

 and clear, melodious song, inhabits the groves and thickets, 

 usually in pairs. A shy, retiring bird, much sought after for 

 the cage, on account of its showy plumage and loud, energetic, 

 varied whistling song, which is almost continuous for at least 

 two-thirds of the year. They do not, however, take kindly to con- 

 finement, but flutter and struggle hard and long to escape. In 

 their habits are partially terrestrial, hopping about and scratching 

 upon the ground for their food, which consists of berries, seeds 

 and grains (the corn cribs are often visited in winter), and in- 

 sects, in their season, help to make up their bill of fare. They 

 also hunt for the same in the bushes, weeds and vines, seldom 

 mounting high in the treetops. Their flights are low and firm, 

 but not long sustained. 



Their nests are placed in low trees, bushes and briers, loosely 

 constructed of leaves, grasses, vine-like stems and strippings 

 from grapevines, and lined with finer grasses, which are woven 

 into a rather compact and rounded form. Eggs three or four, 

 .99x.73; grayish white, irregularly spotted with purple, lilac 

 and reddish brown, thickest about larger end; in form, oval. 



GENUS HABIA REICHENBACH. 



"Bill very large, much swollen; lower mandible scarcely deeper than the 

 upper; feet almost coccothraustine, tarsi and toes very short, the claws strong 

 and much curved, though blunt. First four primaries longest, and nearly equal, 

 abruptly longer than the fifth. Tail broad, perfectly square. Colors: Black, 

 white and red, or black, cinnamon, yellow and white, on the male; the females 

 brownish, streaked, with the axillars and lining of the wing yellow." 



Habia ludoviciana 



ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 

 PLATE XXIX. 



A rare summer resident in eastern Kansas; quite common dur- 

 ing migration; in the western part of the State, a rare migrant. 

 (I have never met with the birds west of Junction City.) Ar- 



