The Trade in Bird Skins. 



159 



resembling that of the grosbeak, although 

 it is not so sweet. It is a harsh guttural 

 kree-kree-eah in rhythm suggesting, as it has 

 been aptly expressed, the swinging of a 

 pendulum. His call is a loud chuck-ah, 

 or, as Mr. Bicknell gives it, chip-chlr. 



It may be an interesting example of the 

 law of natural selection that during the 

 nesting season the plumage of the female 

 is the complemental color of that of the 

 male — olive-green above, and greenish- 

 yellow below. How could she ever live 

 with such a fiery husband if her eyes did 

 not find relief in her own coloring ? Even 

 then, it would seem that her eyes had to be 

 accustomed by degrees, for in his youth 

 her gay cavalier is relieved by green, yel- 

 low and black, the colors he returns to 

 every fall in his adult stage. The tanagers 

 nest in trees, and lay four or five dark- 

 speckled eggs. 



ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 



The full-plumaged male grosbeak is a 

 bird that you will recognize anywhere. He 

 is almost as large as a robin. His head. 



neck and back are black; and a patch of 

 exquisite rose or carmine stands out bril- 

 liantly against the black of the throat to 

 which it is joined, and the white of the 

 breast in which it is set. When he flies he 

 shows white blotches on his tail, and car- 

 mine under his wings. 



His wife is as good a foil to hrm as the 

 plain little purple finch is to her handsome 

 husband. She looks decidedly like a spar- 

 row, and has patches of saffron-yellow un- 

 der her wings, where the male has carmine. 

 They both have equally heavy finch bills. 

 His is yellow, and he scrapes it on the side 

 of a branch as a man would sharpen a knife 

 on a whetstone — first on one side and then 

 the other. 



The song of the grosbeak is loud, clear, 

 and sweet, with a rhythm like the tanager's, 

 but longer, and the rough edges rounded 

 off. It has the oriole quality. His call is 

 as characteristic as the chip-chir is of the 

 tanager. It is a thin, unsteady kick, and 

 generally prefaces his song. He is found 

 in lower trees and more open ground than 

 the tanasrer. 



THE TRADE IN BIRD SKINS, 



WE do not attach very much import- 

 ance to figures, for we can judge 

 for ourselves in the streets and shops of 

 London, Paris, New York, and other large 

 cities and towns, what must be the sacrifice 

 of bird life; nevertheless we give a few 

 items derived from various authentic sources. 

 Between December, 1884, and April, 1885, 

 there were sold in one London auction room 

 6,228 birds of Paradise, 4,974 Impeyan 

 pheasants, 770 argus (Monal), 404,464 West 

 Indian and Brazil birds, 356,389 East Indian 

 birds, besides kingfishers, parrots, bronze 

 doves, fruit-eating pigeons, jays, rollers, 

 regent bird, tanagers, creepers, chats, black 

 partridges, golden orioles, pheasants, etc.; 



and various odds and ends such as ducks' 

 heads, toucans' breasts, and sundry nests. 

 "Wanted 1,000 dozen seagulls" (Adv., Cork 

 Constitution). "Wanted 10,000 pairs jays', 

 stirlings' and other wings." From America 

 we get the following: A Broadway dealer 

 says, "We buy from 500,000 to 1,000,000 

 small American birds every year. Native 

 birds are very cheap." Concerning terns 

 Mr. Dutcher says, "3,000 were killed at 

 Seaford, L. I., and 40,000 at Cape Cod in 

 one season." One taxidermist prepares 

 30,000 skins for hats and bonnets every 

 season. Maryland sent 50,000 birds, many 

 being Baltimore orioles, to Paris for a 

 single season; a New York taxidermist con- 



