THE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 329 



basal half of primaries and secondaries, and a large patch on the ends of the inner 

 webs of the outer three tail feathers, pure-white. 



Female, without the white of quills, tail, and rump, and without any black or 

 red; above yellowish-brown streaked with darker; head with a central stripe above, 

 and a superciliary on each side, white ; beneath dirty-white, streaked with brown on 

 the breast and sides ; under wing coverts and axillaries saffron-yellow. 



In the male, the black feathers of the back and sides of the neck have a subter- 

 minal white bar: there are a few black spots on the sides of the breast just below 

 the red. 



The young male of the year is like the female, except in having the axillaries, 

 under wing coverts, and a trace of a patch on the breast, light rose-red. 



The tint of carmine on the under parts varies a good deal in different specimens. 



Length, eight and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, four and fifteen one-hun- 

 dredths inches. 



Hob. Eastern United States to the Missouri plains, south to Guatemala. 



This beautiful bird is a not very common summer inhabi- 

 tant of New England. It seems to be pretty generally dis- 

 tributed, but is in no locality plenty. It arrives about the 

 first week in May in the southern districts of these States, 

 and a fortnight later in the northern sections. It prefers 

 the neighborhood of a swamp, and is most often found in 

 low growths of birches and alders. The nest is placed 

 in low shrubs and trees, often in the barberry-bush and 

 alder, usually in the deep woods, sometimes in a pasture. 

 It is loosely constructed of twigs and roots, and lined with 

 grass and hair-like roots, and sometimes a few leaves. The 

 eggs are usually four in number, more often less than 

 more. Their ground-color is a greenish-blue : this is. irregu- 

 larly covered with fine spots and dashes of umber-brown, 

 thickest at the greater end of the egg. Dimensions vary 

 from 1 by .74 to .90 by .70 inch. One brood only is reared 

 in the season in New England. I am aware that this 

 description differs from those which have been written of the 

 nest and eggs of this bird ; l but it is correct. I have had a 

 number of the eggs, and have seen several of the nests : 

 these were invariably of the above description, and differed 

 in no essential particular, though from various localities. 



1 According to Bonaparte, its nest is concealed amidst the thick foliage of the 

 lhady forest ; externally, it is composed of twigs, and lined with slender grass ; and 

 the eggs are four or five, white, spotted with brown. NUTTALL. 



