LAND BIRDS. 535 
which are somewhat wet and swampy where there is much young growth. 
The nest, which is usually built late in May, is asomewhat shallow and rather 
fragile structure, made of the slenderest of twigs, rootlets and other fibrous 
materials, usually with the bottom so thin and open that the eggs can be 
seen through it. It is placed ordinarily in a bush or sapling from five to 
ten feet from the ground, and often so ill-concealed as to be readily seen 
from a distance. Occasionally nests are built at much greater heights, 
in one instance at least forty feet up. The eggs are three to five, greenish 
or bluish, spotted with brown, and average .95 by .67 inches. In the south 
the bird is said to rear two broods, but we have little evidence that this is 
the case in Michigan, although nests with eggs are sometimes found as 
late as mid-July. It is a somewhat remarkable fact, well attested by 
numerous observers, that the male bird not only incubates, but frequently 
utters his full song while sitting on the eggs. 
The bird is a beautiful singer, its rich sweet warble somewhat resembling 
that of the Robin, but softer, fuller and much more varied. Usually he 
remains perched while singing, but occasionally one may be heard warbling 
as he flies from tree to tree, and two males often burst into full song 
while chasing each other. 
The food is varied, and combines factors favorable and unfavorable to 
the agriculturist. On first arrival it eats buds very freely and shows 
a decided preference for the buds and blossoms of fruit trees. One 
will sit singing for half an hour in a cherry tree, gorging himself with cherry 
blossoms in the pauses between the songs. Later in the summer he feasts 
on green peas and helps himself to cherries and strawberries occasionally, 
but not to excess. On the other hand we have no bird which shows such 
evident fondness for the potato-bug, and the Rose-breasted Grosheak has 
been seen repeatedly carrying potato-bug larve to its young, and later 
escorting the whole family to the field and encouraging them to gather 
this food for themselves. It also eats other leaf-feeding beetles, and even 
shows a decided relish for these Chrysomelids which so many birds carefully 
avoid. 
On the whole, considering the bird’s beauty, his music, and insect-eating, 
we have few species which can make stronger claim for universal protection. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Adult male in spring: Entire head, neck, and back as far as the rump, deep black; chest, 
middle line of breast, axillars and under wing-coverts, bright rose-red; rest of under parts 
pure white, sometimes with a few blackish streaks on sides and flanks; rump pure white 
(in high plumage sometimes tinted with pink); wings mainly black, with two white wing- 
bars and a large white bar or patch across the middle of the primaries; tail black, the three 
or four outer pairs of feathers largely white on inner webs; bill white or pinkish; iris brown. 
Adult female in spring: Entirely different; upper parts brownish or buffy gray, streaked 
with blackish, the crown often with a distinct median stripe of gray; a whitish stripe from 
nostril over eye to nape, bordered below by the brown ear-coverts and a dark stripe behind 
them: chin and belly whitish; chest and sides more or less buffy, rarely tinged with salmon 
across the chest, always narrowly spotted or streaked with brown, under wing-coverts 
lemon yellow to orange; wings and tail grayish brown, the tail with little or no white; 
the wings with two white bars but with little white on the primaries; bill grayish brown. 
The adult male in late summer loses all the black body plumage and retains only a fraction 
of the color on the breast and under wing-coverts, where it is salmon rather than rose. 
The deep black and pure white of wings and tail are preserved, however, but the general 
appearance is that of the adult female or young male. The young male in autumn is nearly 
like the adult male except that the wings ‘and tail are brown like those of the female, and 
there is always a rosy or salmon wash on the breast and under tail-coverts. A good colored 
