310 PERCHERS AND SINGERS 
hand, Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright warmly contends that the 
song of the Grosbeak is both sweet to hear and abundant in 
volume. It is celebrated as an enemy of the potato-bug, and 
it feeds omnivorously upon other insects, buds, blossoms, seeds 
and fruit. 
The range of this species is bounded by the great Rocky 
Mountain barrier. Westward thereof is found the Black- 
Headed Grosbeak, and the arid lands of Texas, Arizona and 
southern California are inhabited by the Western Blue Gros- 
beak. 
The bluest bird that flies in North America is the Inp1IGo 
BuntING,! a trim little craft, built and rigged like a warbler, 
and of warbler size. Like the ocean, it is 
Deeply, darkly, beautifully blue, 
—not the sky-blue of the jay, but like indigo. In the East 
you cannot possibly mistake it. The deep-blue bird of the 
Far West is the Lazuli Bunting, our bird’s nearest relative. 
THE BLACKBIRD FAMILY 
Icteridae 
This Family includes several showy species of birds which 
are very much in evidence, and quite generally known to 
country dwellers. Five representative and very interesting 
species will be noticed. 
Tue Boson? is a bird with two very distinct char- 
acters. It has a name and a suit of feathers for the North, 
1 Cy-a'no-spi-za cy-a'ne-a. Length, 5.50 inches. 
2 Dol-i-cho'nyz o-ry-ziv'o-rus. Length, 6.75 inches. 
