Felx, 1884.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



19 



the opportunity by proper and frequent 

 contributions, and thereby encourage the 

 paper and benefit each other, and let every- 

 thing be expressed in "Plain English." — 

 William C. Flint, San Francisco, Gal. 



The Blue Grosbeak, (G-uiraca ccerulea.) 



This beautiful bird, although widely dis- 

 tributed in the United States in the breed- 

 ing season, is nowhere abundant. Perhaps 

 it is as common as anywhere along the 

 sparsely wooded streams and ravines in 

 Central Kansas. For the benefit of those 

 who have not had opportunities to study 

 its habits in the field, I desire briefly to re- 

 view my notes of this species made during 

 the past three years. 



Previous to 1881, I had observed the 

 Blue Grosbeak only during the Spring mi- 

 gration, and did not really know that it was 

 resident here. In June of that year, I 

 found my first nest of the species. It was 

 built in a peach tree in an orchard ; was 

 about six feet from the ground and con- 

 tained two eggs with two Cowbird's eggs. 

 The four eggs, being alike in size and 

 shape, but so different in color, presented 

 a pleasing contrast. When found, the nest 

 was occupied by the female ; but as I was 

 not familiar with the species I failed to 

 recognize the bird in the approaching twi- 

 light. The eggs, except for the size, re- 

 sembled those rrf the Indigo Bunting. As 

 I was three or four miles from home, I 

 took the set. hoping to be able to identify 

 them by my future observations. It did 

 not take much research to satisfy me fully 

 as to their identity. 



Having now become satisfied that the 

 species nested in this locality, I kept a 

 sharp lookout for their nests in 1882, The 

 males arrived about the middle of May, but 

 I saw no females until about the first of 

 June. On June 12th, I found a nest con- 

 taining two eggs. It was built almost en- 

 tirely of bits of newspaper, old letters, 

 etc., with a few weeds ; and had a lining 



of grass roots, taken from the surface of 

 plowed fields. It was built in a small wild 

 plum bush, about three feet from the 

 ground. The nest was near a dwelling 

 house. I left it for the full set ; but upon 

 visiting it a few days later, I found only 

 the scattered materials of the nest and a 

 few bits of scattered egg shells. About 

 this time a female (I have not yet seen the 

 male assist in house-building.) built a nest 

 about twenty feet from a dwelling near 

 town. This nest was in the lower branches 

 of a cotton-wood, six feet up. I watched 

 it for about ten days, but the bird deserted 

 it without laying. This nest, too, was 

 built largely of newspapers. 



The faihu'e of the previous year made 

 me still more anxious to succeed in 1883. 

 My earliest record of the arrival of the 

 males is on the fourth of May. On June 

 4th, I saw a female carrying material for 

 nesting ; and after carefully concealing my- 

 self, I was rewarded by finding the par- 

 tially built nest, well hidden in tangled 

 underbrush near the Kansas River. It 

 was built upon the lower horizontal limb of 

 a box-alder, two feet from the ground. On 

 June 8th, the bird laid the first egg, but a 

 day or two later a tornado wrecked this 

 nest, with, perhaps, hundreds of others in 

 its path. On June 15th, found a nest of 

 three eggs, about half incubated. This 

 nest was in a ravine in low bushes, and had 

 escaped the fury of the storm. June 21st, 

 found a set of four fresh eggs ; June 23d, 

 a set of three; and July 4th, a set of four, 

 all fresh. About this time three nests were 

 found by another local collector. Two of 

 these contained three eggs, and the third, 

 two of the Grosbeak's and one of the Cow- 

 bird's. I obtained two of these sets by 

 exchange. It was now too late in the sea- 

 son to secure other sets ; but afterward, 

 knowing its habits, I found many deserted 

 nests. Even during the past two months, 

 in my hunting excursions, I have been 

 able, from my knowledge of the construe- 



