418 ANIMAL LIFE IX THE YOSEMITE 



close onto the stout body, and a short tail, indented at the end. The bird is 

 somewhat more chunky in build than the commoner black-headed grosbeak ; 

 and in similar way it differs from the pine grosbeak still more emphatically. 

 The outstanding color features of the evening grosbeak are the dark body 

 plumage, and the black wings and tail. In the male there are large mark- 

 ings of solid white on the wings, while the female has many small spots 

 of w^hite on both tail and wings. Often when the birds are feeding in 

 the tops of the trees and are seen against the bright sky no color mark- 

 ings can be distinguished; but then the short thick silhouette is entirely 

 diagnostic. 



The vocabulary of the evening grosbeak is not elaborate. The bird has 

 none of the extreme loquacity or versatility of expression of the black- 

 headed grosbeak. The only note to be heard commonly is a high pitched 

 two-syllabled call, variously written by us as plee-ck, quer-up, or killip. 

 This is repeated at regular intervals, and is often the first clue to an 

 acquaintance with the species. The song of the male is scarcely more than 

 a succession of these call notes. On one occasion it w^as written zer-r-p, 

 zir-r-p, priJip. The first two notes of this song were uttered slowly and 

 with a resonant twang, whereas the last note was more high pitched, and 

 uttered with a querulous intonation; the two syllables of it were run 

 together as fast or faster than a person could have pronounced them, 

 forming a sort of trill. The song of another male bird was written pnsr-r, 

 pras-r-r, prezer-r; the three notes being given in three different pitches, 

 and, as before, having a curious twanging timbre. 



California Evening Grosbeaks do some of their foraging in the crown 

 foliage of deciduous trees and some of it on the ground. Occasionally they 

 ^'isit fruiting bushes of the cascara or some other berry-producing plant. 

 In Yosemite Valley, in May, 1919, some of the birds watched seemed to 

 be eating the tender, newly unfolded leaves of the black oak, while others 

 gleaned forage from the carpet of pine needles and oak leaves on the forest 

 floor. When on the ground the birds progress rather slowly; they turn 

 their heads first to one side and then the other, just as when they are 

 feeding in the trees. 



A suggestion as to the courting behavior of the California Evening 

 Grosbeak was obtained in Yosemite Valley near Stoneman Bridge on the 

 afternoon of May 16, 1919. Three males and three females, closely asso- 

 ciated in pairs, were actively engaged in foraging on the ground under 

 some black oaks. While the rest of the flock was busily hunting for food, 

 one of the males was seen to spread his wings slightly and droop them so 

 that their tips nearly touched the ground. Then his tail, ordinarily held 

 in line with the back, was cocked up at an angle. The partially opened 

 wings were quivered for a few seconds and then held quiet for a time. 



