2 
The Rose- Breasted Grosbeak 
does it know when to start for its home in the temperate clime where its 
offspring were reared the previous year? Can it calculate the days and 
hours that it will take to accomplish the distance? How can it retrace the 
path traversed the previous autumn? It reaches its old home about the 
same date each year, having traveled thousands of miles to do so. Most of 
this journey was made in the night, sometimes at an altitude of many 
thousand feet. The vision of all birds is very acute, and the Grosbeak may 
fly from one landmark to another, which, when it is reached, may disclose 
still another in the distance, and so on until home is reached. These 
journeys are not continuous; during the daytime the traveler descends to 
the earth for rest and food and at night resumes its journey again. During 
the height of the migratory period, the upper air must be filled with thou- 
sands of feathered wanderers, who are sometimes met by storms or thick 
weather vvhen all landmarks must be blotted out. It is known that they 
then fly at a much lower altitude, for on such occasions they are attracted 
by light -houses, and thousands of birds of numerous species are killed by 
flying against the glass of the lantern. This v/onderful phenomenon of 
Nature, migration, is well worth extended study, and the scholar is advised 
to read the exhaustive treatment of the subject by Prof. Alfred Newton* 
and Mr. W. W. Cooke. t 
The Rose-breasted Grosbeak selects as its home, most frequently, second 
growths of oaks on the borders of large timber, but does not confine itself 
exclusively to such localities. It builds a rather bulky nest of weed -stalks, 
twigs, rootlets, etc., in bushes or trees from five to twenty feet from the 
ground. The eggs are usually four in number, of a pale green color pro- 
fusely speckled with brown. 
The song of this bird is the theme of every nature-writer, and all unite 
in pronouncing it of the highest type. In some respects it resembles that of 
the Robin, but it is thought to have a more refined and musical quality. 
The description of the song of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak by Audubon is 
such a delightful exhibition of the character of the man, showing so per- 
fectly his childlike faith in a Creator, and his absolute absorption in the 
beauties of Nature, that the passage is given in full: 
''One year, in the month of August, I was trudging along the shores of 
the Mohawk River, when night overtook me. Being little acquainted with 
that part of the country, I resolved to camp where I was. The evening 
was calm and beautiful, the sky sparkled with stars, which were reflected 
by the smooth waters, and the deep shade of the rocks and trees of the 
opposite shore fell on the bosom of the stream, while gently from afar came 
on the ear the muttering sound of the cataract. My little fire was soon 
* ‘ Dictionary of Birds,’ Part 2, pages 547-572, London, i8gt. 
+ ’ Repo t on Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley ’ in Bull'n. No. 2, United States Department of Agricul- 
ture. Division of Econon7iC Ornithology, Washington, 1888. 
