280 GROSBEAK. 



wings, and tail black ; breast and under wing coverts fine purplish 

 rose-colour; belly, thighs, vent, and rump, white; on the wings 

 three white marks ; one across the coverts, a second parallel to the 

 edge of the wing, and a third at the end of the scapulars ; the end 

 half of the three outer tail feathers white, the inner web of the fourth 

 white at the tip ; the tail otherwise black, and somewhat forked in 

 shape ; legs blue, or pale brown. 



Males of the first year have the back varied with light brown, 

 white, and black ; a white line over the eye ; and the rose-colour 

 reaches to the base of the bill, where it is speckled black and white. 



The female is light flaxen yellow, streaked with darker, olive, and 

 whitish ; breast streaked olive, flaxen, and white; inside of the wings 

 pale yellow ; and the white on the wings less conspicuous. 



Some specimens are varied on the belly with a few purplish spots ; 

 and in one, the sides of the breast, and over the thighs were shaded 

 with ferruginous brown, and the vent very pale yellow. 



These birds differ much in length, some measuring more than 

 eight inches. 



Inhabits various parts of America. Found at Sandy-Hook in 

 spring, seen in the lower parts of Pennsylvania ; more frequent about 

 New York: feeds on the berries of the Sour Gum;* sings pretty 

 well, and sometimes kept in cages for that purpose : nest and eggs 

 not known. 



104— TUFTED GROSBEAK. 



SIZE of a Bunting ; length near eight inches. The bill five- 

 eighths of an inch, black ; the under mandible stout, the upper one 

 more slender from the middle to the end ; eyelids fringed with white ; 

 general colour of the plumage olive green above ; the feathers of the 

 back, and wing coverts, marked with a dark dash down the middle; 

 crown of the head black, and the feathers long, so as to form a crest, 

 capable of being erected over the forehead ; at the nostrils a white, 



* Nyssa integrifolia. 



