BIRDS OF INDIAN \. 979 



Nest, in bush, or low down in tree, of twigs, fibres and rootlets. 

 Eggs, 3-5; greenish-blue, thickly spotted with olive-brown and rufous- 

 brown; .95 by .67. 



Throughout northern Indiana this attractive bird is found, in most 

 places, as a summer resident, increasing in numbers as one goes north- 

 ward. Elsewhere, it is an irregular migrant, some years very common, 



Rose-breasted Grosbeak. 

 (Beal. Farmer's Bulletin 54, United States Department of Agriculture.) 



others, rare or wholly absent. In some localities, where it was for- 

 merly found in some numbers, it is said to be becoming scarce. 



It breeds commonly south to the Wabash River: Wabash, Logans- 

 port and Lafayette. Farther south, at Terre Haute, it rarely builds, 

 and it has been reported nesting at Frankfort, Lebanon and Anderson. 

 It is extremely unusual for it to breed farther south, but it has been 

 so reported from Bloomington. Audubon found it nesting near Cin- 

 cinnati, 0., and Dr. E. Raymond thought it might breed in Franklin 

 County, as he had found it there in early June and in August. Dr. 

 Wheaton once found a nest near Columbus, 0. (Birds of Ohio, pp. 

 346, 347), and Mr. Otto Widmann has observed it nesting at St. Louis, 

 Mo., where it rears two broods in a season (Nehrling, N". A. Birds, 

 Pt. XIIL, p. 204). They nest on low bushes, tall shrubs, in orchards 

 and forest trees even, at times quite high. Along the Des Plaines 

 River, in Illinois, they nest in thorn trees (Parker). They prefer to 

 breed in the neighborhood of lakes, streams and tamarack swamps 



