255 



THE OOLOGIST 



Evening Grosbeaks. 



Reappearance After Twenty-one Years 



Absence. 



Having occasionally seen Notes in 

 the OOLOGIST, the last in the Febru- 

 ary Number of 1912, I wish to contri- 

 bute this article and the illustrations 

 of the Grosbeak to The Oologist. 



Some time ago the "Rochester Her- 

 ald" announced that several speci- 

 mens of the Evening Grosbeak had 

 been seen in Summer Park and also 

 in Highland and Seneca Parks at 

 Rochester. This item recalled to me 

 the following: 



In the latter part of December, 1889, 

 Dave Trenton and Dr. Bergtold (the 

 first died years ago and the latter now 

 lives in Denver, Nebraska) shot an 

 evening Grosbeak in Deleware Park. 

 This was brought to my attention. I 

 at once got in communication with 

 friends near Ridgeway, across the 

 river and gave them a description of 

 the bird. Within a week I received 

 about thirty of these rare birds, males 

 and females. I mounted them. Sev- 

 eral I gave to the Buffalo Society of 

 Natural Sciences where they can be 

 seen now. One pair is in the National 

 Museum of Sweden and fourteen are 

 left in my collection. 



Looking over Audubon's great work, 

 now in possession of the Buffalo So- 

 ciety of Natural Science, through the 

 generosity and kindness of Dr. Ros- 

 well Park, I found a life sized picture 

 of the Evening Grosbeak. In order 

 to have his life work finished and pub- 

 lished, our great naturalist in the 

 early '30's, went to Europe and obtain- 

 ed subscriptions there for financial 

 support. The life-sized pictures of 

 the birds are contained in five or six 

 large volumes. You can Imagine the 

 size, as it contained the Wild Turkeys 

 as well as the Warblers and Hum- 

 mers. 



At one time Audubon was supposed 

 to be dead, but after an absence of 

 three years he returned from the 

 southern uninhabited regions with a 

 complete knowledge of its bird life. 

 He had pictures and descriptions of 

 Warblers which for a long time were 

 considered imaginary, and also five 

 plants. All the plants have been 

 found and five of the Warblers. This 

 is the work of the greatest ornitholo- 

 gist known. Even in his time the 

 Evening Grosbeak was very incom- 

 plete. 



Their natural haunts are in the ex- 

 treme north west of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, north of Saskatchewan. The 

 color of the Evening Grosbeak is a 

 dull yellowish, shading into a brownish 

 on the head, with a bright and yellow 

 forehead, and supercilllary line, black 

 wings and tail and white inner secon- 

 daries and greater coverts. They are 

 the size of a robin. Their casual oc- 

 currence in the East is due to the 

 heavy snowfall, followed by excessive 

 cold, which deprives them of the ne- 

 cessary food, and so they travel east. 



When I heard of their appearance 

 I informed the naturalist in Ridgeway, 

 Ontario, Mr. A. H. Kilman, and receiv- 

 ed from him the following: "About 

 the time you write to me that the 

 Evening Grosbeaks were seen in Roch- 

 ester I observed two of them in the 

 maples of my yard. The next day I 

 visited a grove near here, where I 

 had seen them years ago, and found a 

 flock of about twenty. They fed most- 

 ly on the hanging keys of some Ash 

 leaved maples. There were many full 

 plumaged males in the flock, and they 

 presented a charming sight flying in 

 the sunlight. As I had in my collec- 

 tion all I cared for, I shot and mounted 

 only one fine specimen." 



S. J. Wallace, and Walter Raine, of 

 Toronto, Ontario, saw several Gros- 



