340 NOTES ON THE 
They are said to locate their nests in bushes, and trees, much 
after the manner of Catbirds. The nests consist of small 
twigs, dry weeds, strips of grapevine bark, leaves, coarse 
grasses, etc., lined neatly with fine grass. The eggs four to five, 
are somewhat variable in coloration from a gray to a clear 
white, and two broods are raised each season as a rule. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 
A flattened crest of feathers on the crown. Bill red, body 
generally bright vermilion red, darker on the back, rump, and 
tail. Narrow band around the base of the bill with chin and 
upper part of the throat black. 
Female of a duller red, and this only on the wings, tail and 
elongated feathers of the crown. Above with light-olive, 
tinged with yellowish on the head; beneath brownish-yellow, 
darkest on the sides, and across the breast. Black about the 
head only faintly indicated. 
Length, 8.50; wing, 3.75; tail, 4.50. 
Habitat, more southern portion of United States to Missouri. 
HABIA LUDOVICIANA (L.). (595) 
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 
This beautiful bird, and sweetest of singers, comes to us in 
the last days of April, or the first weekin May. They appear 
almost simultaneously in every brushy and wooded section of 
the State, from Iowa to the British possessions. It is so con 
spicuous that [have had no difficulty in getting observations of 
its earliest arrivals from all points where I have correspond- 
ents. Rev. E. Lyman Hood, an odlogist and general orni- 
thologist, reported this bird as early as April 17th. Prof. 
Herrick on the 25th of the same month. P. Lewis, in Grant, 
and Dr. Hvoslef of Fillmore, the 29th of April. 
All speak of the appearance of the males some days before 
the arrival of the females During this interval they are quite 
reticent, and are employed for the most part in peering about 
the brushy and timbered margins of ponds, marshes and 
streams most favorable for their supply of food. When the 
females arrive ‘‘the music opens;” for of all the exhibitions of 
chivalric fighting for sweet love’s sake in the bird kingdom, 
theirs is at the head. A single instance out of a great many 
will be enough. While observing the spring birds with one 
eye and watching game ducks with the other, on the 26th of 
April, a rather raw, windy day, I heard the familiar voice of 
this grosbeak, which was instantly duplicated by several others, 
