404 



NESTS AND EGGS OF 



69V. Blue Grosbeak. 



Texas, it commences to build about the 

 first part of May. Mr. T. D. Perry has 

 found eggs as early as May 10, slightly 

 incubated, near Savannah, Georgia, and 

 fresh eggs as late as July 7, indicating 

 that at least two broods are reared in a 

 season. The nest resembles that of the 

 Painted Bunting, being invariably lined 

 with fine brown rootlets, and occasion- 

 ally it contains some horse hair. A 

 characteristic of the Blue Grosbeak's 

 nest is that it almost invariably con- 

 tains pieces of snakeskin in the outer 

 material of withered leaves and plants. 

 It is placed in blackberry bushes along 

 road-sides and on the border of woods. 

 Mr. J. A. Singley, of Giddings, Texas, says that in Lee county a favorite nesting place 

 is in the vicinity of houses where the first growth of timber has been cut down and 

 a growth of low thick bushes replaces it. He says he has taken the nest in peach, 

 apple, hickory and post-oak trees, ranging from fifteen to thirty feet. Mr. E. C. 

 Davis states that in Cooke county, Texas, this species usually nests in alder bushes 

 in swampy places. The eggs are three or four in 'number, plain light blue, and 

 when exposed to light a little while, fade into dull white; oval in shape and average 

 .84s, 66 inches. On the 24th of May, 1887, Mr. Perry found a nest containing four 

 spotted eggs of this species. They were distinctly marked with dots and spots of 

 chestnut and subdued lilac. One of the eggs was accidentally broken; the remaining 

 three measure .87x.63, .82x.62, .82x.62 respectively. 



597a. WESTERN BLUE GBOSBEAK. Guiraca cwrulea eurhyncha Coues. 

 Geog. Dist. — Southwestern United States, from South Dakota, Colorado, Southern 

 Utah, Southern Nevada and California to Lower California and Southern Mexico. 



There is absolutely no difference in the general habits, nests and eggs of this 

 subspecies and that of G. cwrulea. 



598. INDIGO BUNTING. Passerina eyanea (Linn.) Geog. Dist— United 

 States and Southern British Provinces; west to the Great Plains; south in winter to 

 \'era£ua. 



The Indigo Bluebird or Indigo Painted Bunting is quite an abundant bird in 

 various parts of the United States from the valley of the Missouri to the Atlantic, 

 and from Florida to New Brunswick. The male of this species is of an intense indi- 

 go-blue color, and the female plain grayish-brown. Breeds throughout its United 

 States range. The nest is built in a bush or low shrubby tree, generally in an up- 

 right crotch; it is composed of weed stalks, twigs and coarse grass, and lined with 

 finer material of the same. It is on the whole an inartistic nest for a bird of gay 

 plumage. The eggs are four in number, white, with a bluish or greenish tinge, un- 

 spotted or rarely thinly dotted with brown; average size .75x.53. Sometimes the 

 eggs of this species are pure white unmarked. 



599. LAZULI BUNTING. Passerina amwna (Say.) Geog. Dist. — Western 

 United, States from the Great Plains to the Pacific; south in winter to Western Mexico. 



The Lazuli Painted Pinch Is common in Colorado, Arizona, and very abundant 

 in California; in fact it is generally distributed throughout the west, and along the 



