THE EVENING GROSBEAK. 



( Coccothraustes vespertinus. ) 



The Evening Grosbeak would have a 

 very limited range were it not for its 

 erratic migrations. A constant' resident 

 of the regions from Manitoba northward 

 and westward, it is quite a common win- 

 ter visitant to the upper Mississippi Val- 

 ley and the vicinity of the Great Lakes. 

 But its winter visits are not confined to 

 a given region. As if by fancy led, it is 

 a casual visitor to Michigan, Ohio, On- 

 tario, New York and the New England 

 states. Neltje Blanchan says : "In the 

 winter of 1889- 1890 eastern people had 

 the rare treat of becoming acquainted 

 with this common bird of the northwest, 

 that, in one of its erratic travels, chose 

 to visit New England and the Atlantic 

 states, as far south as Delaware, in great 

 numbers. Those who saw the Evening 

 Grosbeaks then remember how beautiful 

 their yellow plumage — a rare winter tint 

 — looked in the snow-covered trees, 

 where small companies of the gentle and 

 even tame visitors enjoyed the buds and 

 seeds of the maples, elders ' and ever- 

 greens." 



During the winter and spring, the 

 Evening Grosbeaks are gregarious, trav- 

 eling and feeding in small flocks. At 

 such times the birds become very tame, 

 seemingly ignorant of the dangers which 

 surround them, when away from the 

 quiet solitude of their northern home. 

 When feeding, they will frequently allow 

 one to approach within a very few yards 

 of them. Mr. R. W. Shufeldt succeeded 

 in taming a female Evening Grosbeak, 

 which he fed on cedar berries. "She 

 would whistle shrilly as soon as she 

 caught sight of me coming towards her 

 with a fresh branch loaded with her 

 favorite food. In eating the berries, the 

 outside skin and soft parts are rapidly 

 removed by rolling them deftly around 

 between the powerful mandibles, when 

 the seed is quickly swallowed, and the 



bird ducks over and picks a fresh one to 

 extract the seed in the same manner, and 

 this she would keep up until her alimen- 

 tary canal seemed almost ready to burst 

 with unnatural distention." Later, Mr. 

 Shufeldt captured a male which soon be- 

 came tame. Both birds would permit 

 him to hold them and stroke their heads 

 with his fingers. 



These Grosbeaks feed extensively on 

 the seeds and buds of trees, especially 

 those of the box elder, maple, and elm. 

 Mr. A. W. Butler says that while they 

 are extracting the seeds of the box elder, 

 they resemble clumsy crossbills. No 

 doubt these birds in the regions of their 

 summer homes, live upon the seeds of 

 cone bearing trees. The strength and 

 large size of their bills would indicate 

 that they are probably used in breaking 

 the cones for the purpose of obtaining 

 the seeds. They have also been known to 

 feed upon wild crab apples and also the 

 domestic apples which have frozen while 

 still hanging on the trees. It is well 

 known that they are very fond of apple 

 seeds. Sparrow like, they will hunt for 

 seeds upon the ground. 



Mr; Butler says of the notes and song : 

 "The males have a loud call note, a 

 sharp, metallic cry like the note of a 

 trumpet, which they utter frequently 

 when excited. The females chatter like 

 Bohemian waxwings. Their song to- 

 wards spring is a rambling, jerky warble, 

 beginning low, suddenly increasing in 

 power, and as suddenly ceasing, as 

 though the singer was out of breath." 

 Their notes, when uttered in concert, 

 have been likened to the chorus arising 

 from a flock of rusty blackbirds in the 

 spring, and some have heard in the Gros- 

 beaks' notes a sound similar to the "shrill 

 piping arising from some frog pond on 

 a quiet summer evening." It is said that 

 the breeding season song of the male is 



no 



