Nests in Trees, Bushes, or Vines 



dark brown ; belly white ; wings black, with white feathers, 

 each white feather tipped with buff. 

 Breeding Hange — The Eastern States, from North Carolina (in the 

 more elevated regions) northward to New England. 



The nest is shallow, and loosely constructed of dry vine ten- 

 drils and small twigs, at a height of seven to fifteen feet from the 

 ground, placed in blackberry or other vines, in bushes, or in 

 trees. The eggs, from 3 to 5 in number, are pale greenish 

 blue, nearly covered by small irregular brownish and lilac mark- 

 ings. Size — .96 X .73. See Fig. 12, Plate D. 



It is not a difficult nest to find, as the male bird, whose brilliant 

 colour makes him so conspicuous, is generally to be discovered near 

 by, and when the nest is threatened by the intruder he becomes 

 greatly excited, uttering an oft-repeated sharp, piercing note, and 

 occasionally breaking into that beautiful soft song so peculiar to 

 the grosbeak. When he is seen to act in that manner there is 

 sure to be a nest not far away, and a little patient searching will 

 discover its whereabouts. The nest when found will probably 

 cause some surprise by the apparently insecure manner in which 

 it is placed. Most birds weave their nests around branches or 

 vines, but the grosbeaks seldom take such precaution ; they usually 

 build their nest in or on the fork of a branch, from which it may 

 be removed without disturbing it in any way. A likely place for 

 the nest is near the banks of a stream, where the bushes grow 

 thick. 



The young leave the nest when about eleven days old. If 

 taken at that age they may be easily reared, as they are remark- 

 ably hardy and become absolutely tame in a very short while. 

 Few birds make better pets ; they are sociably inclined — even 

 affectionate, if I may use the term when speaking of birds — beau- 

 tiful in appearance, and the male bird sings a delightfully sweet 

 song, which he commences when ten weeks old. If left in a 

 lighted room, they sing until late at night. The breeding season 

 near New York begins about the third week in May. 



597. Blue Grosbeak: Guiraca caerulea (Linn.) 



Adult $ — Deep and rather obscure blue; nearly black on the 

 back ; chin and in front of eyes black. 



149 



