212 THE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 



grasses, and those of different kinds of berries, along with insects. The 

 young are three years in obtaining their full dress, and undergo their changes 

 very slowly. 



Although common about the mouths of the Mississippi in spring, when on 

 its way northward, this species is never seen in South Carolina. When 

 proceeding to the Texas in April, 1837, I found it so abundant wherever we 

 landed that hundreds might have been procured. Both sexes were in perfect 

 plumage. Mr. Townsend observed it on the Missouri; and Dr. T. M. 

 Brewer informs me that he shot a fine male at Fresh Pond, near Boston, 

 in the summer of 1832, and knew of two or three females killed afterwards. 



In an adult male from Texas, the palate is deeply concave in the middle, 

 with two prominent longitudinal ridges, forming a large projection at their 

 meeting anteriorly; it ascends obliquely, is gradually narrowed, and beyond 

 the nostrils becomes horizontal, the upper mandible beneath being concave, 

 with three strong longitudinal ridges and four grooves; the lower mandible 

 is very deeply concave. The posterior aperture of the nares is 3 twelfths 

 long, oblongo-linear, margined with papillae. The width of the mouth is 6 

 twelfths. The tongue is 5|- twelfths long, emarginate and papillate at the 

 base, convex and fleshy above, as high as broad, horny beneath, and tapering 

 to a point. (Esophagus 3 inches 2 twelfths long, nearly uniformly 3 twelfths 

 wide. Stomach small, roundish, compressed, ^ inch long, and of the same 

 breadth; its muscles distinct and of moderate thickness, the tendons large, 

 the epithelium thin, tough, longitudinally rugous, and of a reddish-brown 

 colour. The contents of the stomach small seeds and particles of quartz. 

 Intestine 9-^- inches long, its width from 2 twelfths to l-£ twelfths; coeca lj 

 twelfths long, ^ twelfth in breadth, 1 inch distant from the extremity. 



Trachea 2 inches 1 twelfth long, from 1 twelfth to ^ twelfth in breadth; 

 the rings about 70, firm, considerably flattened. Bronchi of about 15 rings. 

 Muscles as usual in this family; the inferior laryngeal large. There are 

 very slender elongated salivary glands, extending to beyond the articulation 

 of the jaw. 



Male, 7f, 13. 



Passes from Texas northward and eastward in great numbers. Breeds on 

 the Missouri, in the Middle States, Newfoundland, and Labrador. Rather 

 common. Migratory. 



Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Lo.via rosea, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. ii. p. 135. 

 Fringilla ludovktana, Bonap. Syn., p. 113. 



Coccothraustes LiDoviciANA. Rose-breasted Grosbeak, F. Bor. Amer., vol. i. p. 271. 

 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Fringilla ludoviciana, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 527. 

 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Fringilla ludoviciana, And. Orn. Bios:., vol. ii. p. 166; vol. 

 v. p. 513. 



