222 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



derparts buffy, streaked with brownish ; under wing coverts 

 orange or saffron yellow. 



The rose-breasted grosbeak is a migrant whose coming 

 to the north occurs early in May and who returns south from 

 the middle of September to the middle of October. Its range 

 extends north from western Ecuador and the province of Santa 

 Marta in Columbia to Labrador and Saskatchewan and from 

 the Atlantic to the west of the Great Plains. It breeds from 

 the higher points in the Carolinas throughout its northern 

 range. Nest building begins about the middle of May. The 

 female does most of the work in building the nest, which is 

 built low in briar bushes, or in a shrub or tree at the edge of 

 the woods or field. As will be seen by the illustration, it is 

 shallow and loosely built of small twigs and the tendrils of 

 vines. In it are laid three to five greenish-blue eggs, thickly 

 spotted with small irregular brownish and lilac markings. 

 Mr. A. R. Dugmore in his most excellent book, Bird Homes, 

 says : "It is not a difficult nest to find, as the male bird, whose 

 brilliant color makes him so conspicuous, is generally to be 

 discovered near by, and when the nest is threatened by an in- 

 truder he becomes greatly excited, uttering oft-repeated sharp, 

 piercing notes, and occasionally breaking into that beautiful 

 soft song so peculiar to the grosbeak. When he is seen to act 

 in that manner there is sure to be a nest not far away, and a 

 little patient searching will discover its whereabouts." This 

 is an exceedingly good record for the bird. All observers join 

 in giving him credit for his devotion to his home, his mate 

 and their young. He assists in the duties of incubation and 

 in providing food for the nestlings. They leave the nest in 

 about twelve days, and are fed by their parents for a consider- 

 able time after they have left it. 



The rose-breasted grosbeak is not a very common bird in 

 the vicinity of Indianapolis. I have found only one pair of 

 them at Buzzard's Roost, and they were found in the strip of 

 timber next to Fall Creek. At Somerleaze I find them every 

 year in a swampy tract of land that adjoins our thicket. I oc- 

 casionally see them as we are going to and from the railroad 

 station. It was there that I. was first delighted with their 

 song. The male was in an elm by the roadside and so perched 



