The California Evening Grosbeak 



life, the din which they 

 help so valiantly to pro- 

 mote. At any rate, it is 

 easy enough to see why 

 they are more noticeable 

 here, for their showy and 

 patchy coloration marks 

 them as distinguished 

 visitors in town, whereas 

 in the forest their colors 

 so melt into and har- 

 monize with their sur- 

 roundings that it is dif- 

 ficult to follow their 

 movements. 



These Grosbeaks, or 

 New World Hawfinches, 

 are not to be commended 

 as horticulturists. In 

 winter they feed largely 

 upon the ground, glean- 

 ing fallen seeds and 

 fruits ; and they are espe- 

 cially fond of the winged 

 key of the large-leafed 

 maple (Acer macrophyl- 

 lum) and of the box elder 

 (A. negundo calif orni- 

 cum). They drop down 

 to such a feast one by one from the branches above, and it is amusing to 

 note how the loud cracking of seeds is interspersed with music. A little 

 later the birds devote themselves to swelling buds, and here too the maple 

 is a favorite, though ash, alder, flowering currant, and a dozen more, are 

 not disdained. The damage done is not considerable ; for the birds, viewed 

 in the large, are not numerous enough, all told, to be taken seriously; but 

 viewed in the concrete, the snip, snip of those mandibles in the currant 

 bushes is no berry-growers' serenade. 



It may be that the key of high C sharp, or whatever it be, staccato 

 con moto, is the accepted love note, and that the green-liveried swain 

 hurls declarations at his inamorata, like Samson in Handel's oratorio, 

 the live-long year. Anyway, his exertions are redoubled in early June, 

 and he charges about in a reckless frenzy which excites the envy of the 



Taken in Mono County Photo by the Author 



"THE LADY IN THE GREEN BOMBAZINE DRESS" 



FEMALE WESTERN EVENING GROSBEAK IN DEAD FIR TREE 



H3 



