78 FOOD HABITS OF THE GROSBEAKS. 



BLUE GROSBEAK. 



((luiraca cwrulea, Plate IV.) 



APPEARANCE, DISTRIBUTION, AND HABITS. 



While less strikingly colored than other grosbeaks, this species 

 equals them in beauty. The general color of the male is ultramarine, 

 but the tail and wings are black, with bars of chestnut crossing the 

 latter. The female is much duller. Brownish above and below, with 

 a lighter throat, she bears a marked superficial resemblance to the 

 female cowbird, and the massive bill is the only conspicuous feature 

 that serves to distinguish the two. 



This is the smallest of the grosbeaks, and occupies a wider range 

 in the United States than any of the others. There are two sub- 

 species of blue grosbeaks, the western one breeding from southern- 

 most Mexico to northern California and southern South Dakota and 

 the eastern from the gulf coast to southern Pennsylvania and south- 

 eastern Nebraska. The two races merge in eastern Texas, Oklahoma, 

 and Kansas. In winter both withdraw entirely from the United 

 States. 



During the breeding season the blue grosbeak is locally abundant 

 in the southern and western parts of its range, being in some places 

 a familiar garden and orchard bird. In the eastern part of the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley, however, and in the Atlantic States, it is shy, retiring,- 

 and generally rare. 



In the latter regions the nest is usually placed in a low bush or 

 vine in a thicket; but where the birds are more common they build 

 in fruit trees or even in cultivated ornamental plants about houses. 

 Everywhere the species nests late. The eggs are 3 or 4 in number 

 and are bluish white; two broods are raised in the south and one in 

 the north. In common with all its relatives, this handsome bird is a 

 good singer, and its song, though weak, suggests the rosebreast's 

 lovely carol. Its pleasing song and engaging appearance have made 

 the grosbeak a favorite cage-bird among the southern Creoles, who 

 know it as the " blue pop." 



ECONOMIC RELATIONS. 



The present investigation of the food habits of this species con- 

 cerns only summer residents of the United States. Fifty-one stom- 

 achs have been examined, which were collected in every month from 

 April to September, inclusive, and in seven States and the District 

 of Columbia. Of the food they contained 67.6 percent is animal 

 matter and 32.4 percent vegetable. No month is represented by more 

 than 19 birds ; hence the results obtained are by no means as reliable 

 as could be desired. However, as the economic relations of the blue 

 grosbeak are almost entirely unknown, even these tentative findings 

 have a distinct value. 



