—25— 



the rose-breasted grosbeak that the listener who is acquainted 

 with the latter might imagine that the eastern species had 

 wandered beyond its elm and maple groves of eastern local- 

 ities, and had taken up its residence in our western evergreen 

 woods. The lower trees and thickets are more congenial to 

 the black-headed grosbeak, haw trees being usually selected 

 for nesting sites. Like its eastern relative, it is a tireless song- 

 ster in the nesting season, everywhere proclaiming its presence 

 by its rich, mellow expressions of content. 



On our first exploring trip, in the afternoon of June 14, I 

 found a nest of the black-headed grosbeak beside the road 

 leading up Swan River on the eastern side. The nest was in 

 a clump of saplings, built in a crotch twelve feet from 

 the ground, among upright stems so small that a bundle of 

 them had to be strapped together to support the weight of 

 the collector. When the nest was discovered, the male was at- 

 tending to family duty, a trait of the grosbeaks notable with 

 the rose-breasted species. The nest is made loosely of weed- 

 stems and rootlets, with a lining of fine grass stems, all hav- 

 ing a brownish color. The cavity is three inches in diameter, 

 and one and one-fourth inches deep. The nest contained four 

 eggs far advanced in incubation. They are light olive green, 

 marked irregularly with specks and blotches of pale brown, 

 usually more numerous on the larger end. One egg of this 

 set was destroyed by a gust of wind, which carried the egg 

 off a table and landed it upon a rock in the foundation of the 

 laboratory. The nest with the three remaining eggs is shown 

 in the accompanjdng illustration, Plate VI. 



On June 19, a second nest was found in the woods at the right 

 of the mouth of Swan River. As in the preceding instance, 

 the nest was beside a road leading out upon the point at the 

 river's mouth, though not generally used. The site was an 

 upright crotch thirteen feet from the ground in a haw, near 

 the extremity of an oblique branch. In this case the male 

 was likewise sitting upon the eggs. The nest was made like 

 the former, of brownish stems and rootlets, lined with fine 

 grass stems. There were four eggs, which were advanced in 

 incubation. This nest is also figured in an accompanyiag illus- 

 tration, Plate IX. 



