The Western Evening Grosbeak 9 



fears, and a sense of oppression weighs us down. The leaden minutes 

 creep on wearily and noiselessly, unbroken even by the hum of an insect ; 

 two or three blackbirds, hopping listlessly about as if they wished they 

 were somewhere else but had not energy enough to go there, are the 

 only signs of life that greet our faithful animals and ourselves." 



The Western Evening Grosbeak 



BY WM. ROGERS LORD 



With photographs from nature 



THE Evening Grosbeak is not generally well known upon the Atlantic 

 coast. Whether it is a more familiar bird in the Central West 

 I cannot say; but upon the Pacific coast, at all events in the states 

 of Oregon and Washington, a variety of this beautiful creature is, at least, 

 every two years — from 

 February to May — very 

 abundant and most won- 

 derfully tame. 



The western species 

 is a little darker in shade 

 than is the eastern bird, 

 but otherwise very much 

 the same in appearance 

 and habit. The color is, 

 for the most part, 'old 

 gold,' darker about the 

 head, with large white 

 patches upon the wings. 

 Of course, as the name 

 indicates, these birds have 

 a large bill, showing the 

 use to which they put it 

 in cracking pine - cones 

 and other tough coverings 

 of the seeds which furnish 

 them food. 



They come into the cities and towns of the Willamette valley, 

 Oregon, and around Puget Sound, Washington, about every other 

 year in large numbers. Though the usual flock is not above fifty or 

 sixty birds, it is sometimes much larger and sometimes considerably 

 smaller. They draw very near to the homes and the persons of men, 



