400 Birds of Colorado 
03, p. 74; Gilman 07, p. 157 ; Warren 08, p. 24; 09, p. 16; Rockwell 
08, p. 173 ; Henderson 09, p. 238. 
Description.— Adult Male—Top and sides of the head black; back 
black streaked with tawny ochre, wings and tail black, the former with 
white tips to the median and greater coverts and inner secondaries, 
and a white band across the bases of the primaries, the latter with 
large white subterminal spots on the inner webs of two or three of the 
outer tail-feathers ; rump, collar round the hind neck and under-parts 
cinnamon or tawny, becoming white on the anal region ; patch on the 
abdomen, under wing-coverts and axillaries lemon-yellow; iris dark 
brown, bill dull slate, paler on the lower mandible, legs bluish-grey. 
Length 7-20; wing 4-0; tail 3-20; culmen -70; tarsus -90. 
The female is dusky above, mottled with pale cinnamon streaks 
about the middle of the crown and on the hind-neck ; the white markings 
on the wings much restricted, those on the tail absent ; a white super- 
* cilium ; below much paler cinnamon than in the male, the sides and 
flanks with fine streaks of dusky, the centre of the abdomen and 
axillaries lemon-yellow. A young male is somewhat intermediate 
between the male and female; it has a buffy median stripe on the 
head and a marked supercilium. 
Distribution.—Western North America, breeding from British 
Columbia to the southern Mexican plateau ; migrant in the northern 
part of its range, resident throughout the year in the south. 
In Colorado the Black-headed Grosbeak is a common summer resident, 
arriving late, about the middle of May, and departing about the be- 
ginning of September. Aiken’s earliest date for El Paso co. is May 
llth. It breeds throughout the plains and the mountains up to about 
8,500 feet, at which elevation it was found nesting on the Blue River 
in Middle Park by Carter (Cooke 97); Lowe states that he has found 
it as high as 10,000 feet in the Wet Mountains, but this is not con- 
firmed by other observers. Other records are: Boulder co. (Minot), 
near Denver (Allen), Bergin Park (Trippe), Pueblo (Beckham), Salida, 
arriving May 9th and breeding (Frey), Fort Garland (Henshaw), Routt 
and Gunnison cos. (Warren), La Plata co. (Gilman), Mesa co. (Rockwell). 
Habits.—A handsome and conspicuous bird, this 
Grosbeak is generally to be found among deciduous 
trees and bushes along the courses of streams, where 
it feeds on buds and soft vegetable matter. It is said 
to have a predilection for garden peas and to be un- 
popular in consequence. The male has a superb song, 
generally given from the top branch of a tree, while 
Coues likened its call to that of a Gambel Partridge. 
