THE BLUE GROSBEAK. 205 



spread around them. Humbly and inconspicuously clad as the young birds 

 are, most of them escape the talon of the watchful Hawk, or the fire of the 

 mischief-loving gunner. The parents soon join them, and no sooner is their 

 favourite rice gathered, than the whole fly off, and gradually wend their way 

 to warmer climes. 



Although this sweet songster spends the spring and summer in our South- 

 ern States, it must be considered as a rather scarce bird there. It seldom 

 enters deep woods, but prefers such low grounds as I have described above, 

 or the large and level abandoned fields covered with rank grasses and patches 

 of low bushes. It arrives in the lower parts of Louisiana about the middle 

 of March, the males appearing eight or ten days before the females, in small 

 parties of five or six, when their common call-note, a single chuck, is fre- 

 quently uttered to attract the females. They proceed through Alabama, 

 Georgia, and the Carolinas, in all which districts they breed. Beyond this, 

 however, few are to be met with. I never observed this species on the 

 Mississippi farther up than the neighbourhood of Natchez; nor is it ever seen 

 in Kentucky, or in any other part of the western country. Along the Atlantic 

 coast it is rarely found beyond the State of New Jersey. 



It is remarkable that, although this bird seldom places its nest more than 

 a few feet from the ground, it is fond of ascending to the tops of the tallest 

 detached trees, to sing, during the spring and summer, rarely performing that 

 pleasant duty among the low bushes which it usually inhabits. 



One or two pairs of these birds generally take possession of a field, for the 

 purpose of breeding, making choice of one little frequented by other birds. 

 There, in the most secluded part, the Blue Grosbeak builds its nest, placing 

 it in the upright fork of some small slender bush, or attaching it to the tall 

 blades of a tuft of rank grass. It is composed of fine dried grasses, which 

 are more carefully arranged towards the interior, and is lined with a few 

 delicate fibrous roots, dried moss, or horse-hair. There are seldom more 

 than four eggs, but two broods are raised in the season. When the first 

 broods leave their parents, the young birds assemble in small flocks com- 

 posed of a few families, and resort mostly to the rice fields, feeding on the 

 grain when yet in its milky state, and until it is gathered. The parents join 

 them with their second brood, and shortly after, or about the first days of 

 September, they all depart southward. 



In the summer of 1829, I accidentally met with a nest of these birds in 

 the State of New Jersey, a few miles only from Philadelphia. I was attract- 

 ed towards it by the cries of the birds, both of which were perched on a tall 

 hickory tree, standing on a piece of barren ground, near a swamp, well 

 known on account of the visits it receives during the Woodcock season. I 

 looked for the nest for some time in vain. The parents left the tree, flew 



Vol. III. 34 



