APRIL, 1900. 
131 
or immature males remains imdecided, as no collecting was done ; 
although from the character of their note I was 'inclined to the 
opinion that they were of the same sex as their more richly colored 
companions, as the note of the females was found to be — at least 
in the month of April — clearly different from that of the male. 
One week later, on March 4th, during a heavy snow storm, 
I again repaired to West Park, which appeared to be the head- 
quarters of oi;r grosbeak visitors. Two rows of box-elder trees, 
laden with fruit, extend for about half a mile just east of the 
property, and here, as was the case before, the first flock was 
found. They were thirty-five in number and nineteen were males 
in mature plumage. Not far away, but in the center of the park, 
a small company of nine was found, and farther on one of sixteen. 
From some evergreens at the south end of the park the largest 
flock yet seen arose at my approach. They were estimated at be- 
ing not less than one hundred and thirty in number, and flew 
rapidly northward, dividing into two flocks which disappeared in 
opposite directions. About a mile away, on Twenty-sixth Street a 
flock of nine was found. These were on the snow beneath the 
box-elder trees, picking up the fallen seeds. 
During the entire month of March small flocks of a dozen 
or less could be found almost any day in some one of the localities 
mentioned. They were reported also from other and remote 
quarters of the city, and an examination made, personally, of box- 
elder trees in a cemetery some distance in the suburbs, gave un- 
mistakable evidence that the birds had recently been feeding there 
also. 
On March 28th a flock numbering more than a hundred was 
observed by F. Kirchner in West Park. No more have been seen 
in that locality since, so it is possible that the smaller companies 
may have combined just previous to their departure. 
On April 8th I discovered a flock of twenty-one, all females, 
in the town of Wauwatosa, a suburb just w^est of Mihvaukee. 
Box-elder trees of a large size are numerous there and had been 
stripped almost entirely of their fruit by the birds, showing that 
the latter, had been there for a considerable time and in large num- 
bers. These female birds, while in the trees, kept up a loud, 
monotonous chattering that could be heard three blocks away 
and which was noticeably different from 'the quieter, sparrow-like 
chirping of the males under the same conditions. When on the 
ground both sexes, so far as obs'erved, are almost silent. Soon 
after being noticed this flock flew to a garden plat near one of the 
residences and began industriously searching for food. They 
made use of their bills rath«ir than of their feet — lifting up and 
turning over the fallen leaves and occasionally several could be 
