V. 



MAY BIRDS (CONTINUED). 



WORCESTER, May 18, 1887. 



MY DEAR MR. EDITOR, While walk- 

 ing yesterday in Hope Cemetery, I heard 

 issuing from the birch woods to the east- 

 ward a rich, rolling warble, reminding me 

 somewhat of the song of the robin. I was 

 at once persuaded that these notes could 

 belong only to one bird, the rose-breasted 

 grosbeak {goniaphea Indoviciana), one of 

 the rarest and most beautiful of our birds. 

 Following up the song I was soon able to 

 identify the bird with certainty, as he was 

 far from shy, and retained his perch until I 

 was almost under the tree from which he 

 was singing. Whoever has been fortunate 

 enough once to catch a glimpse of the 



