66 BIRDS OF THE WEST 



If the man behind the gun had been a part of nature's plan 

 I have no doubt that all birds would have had more somber colors. 

 What a life it must be to be in the enemy 's country all the time ! 



By the way, the chewink is the bird that Thomas Jefferson 

 discovered upon his farm and became so much interested in. 

 He wrote with great interest to the scientists of his time about it 

 and it became his special favorite. 



ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 



In a little while, as soon as the buds have burst upon the 

 maple trees, you will be startled at the song of the grosbeak which 

 will faU upon your ear with an amazing sweetness. You will 

 never forget the day. That song is as full of music as its little 

 heart is full of love. 



FoUow the song and you will find it coming from one of the 

 prettiest birds that ever spread a wing. If you say "Handsome 

 is that handsome does", and "Is not the blue jay pretty and 

 pretty bad too?" the answer is "The grosbeak is pretty and pretty 

 good too". 



As he sits high up in the tree-top trying to fill the world 

 with music, he looks as though his throat had burst from the full- 

 ness of his song and his heart's blood had stained his throbbing 

 breast. Not so with his modest mate. Never a red feather in 

 her trousseau, just a brown and yellow to catch her feUow. 



As though it were not enough to be pretty and to sing sweet- 

 ly, the grosbeak is handy about the house. He helps make up the 

 nest. He helps to get dinner. He even does his share in the 

 nursery, sitting part of the time upon the eggs or singing mamma 

 and babies to sleep in their little cradle of straw. 



Yes, even at midnight when the reflected light of the rounded 

 moon sheds a radiance upon his cradled loved ones, he will watch 

 above them and warble to the night the echo of his day-song. If 

 you must shoot him, shoot him then. 



He has been called the potato-bug bird because of his diet, 

 however, his gross beak tells us that he cracks nuts and seeds for 

 food as well. 



He may be plentiful in some localities but it is doubtful, 

 for millinery "has marked him for her own" and "Death loves 

 a shining mark". His presence in gardens creates the farmer's 



