178 
The Black-headed Grosbeak 
One day I stopped to look at a bird that was caroling in one of the : 
maples. I saw the Grosbeak-mother singing her lullaby as she sat on 
her eggs. It looked to me so like a human mother’s love ! Few birds 1 
sing in the home. However much they wish to, they are afraid. As 1 
John Burroughs says, it is a very rare occurrence for a bird to sing while I 
on the nest. But several times I have heard the Black-headed Grosbeak f 
do it. How this bird took up such a custom I do not know, for birds I 
are very cautious about attracting attention to the nest. 
In the Grosbeak family the Cardinal or Redbira is perhaps the most 
familiar, since he is so generally resident throughout 
the southern half of the Union. The Rose-breasted Western 
Grosbeak is the species of the Eastern States, while 
the Black-headed Grosbeak is a native of the West. He may be found 
anywhere from eastern Nebraska to California, and from British Col- 
umbia south to the plateau of Mexico. 
As a rule, he builds a loosely constructed nest of twigs, lined with 
fine roots. In the more northerly Pacific States the nests are built in 
dogwoods, vine-maples, and alders ; while in southern California the 
bird often nests in chaparral, willows, and other trees. The eggs number 
three or four, and are pale blue thickly spotted with brown. 
The Black-headed Grosbeak is sometimes complained of by fruit- 
growers on the Pacific Coast. It is fond of figs, cherries, and berries, 
but fruit is not the larger part of its diet. It destroys many insects that 
are harmful to fruit, such as the codling-moth, canker-worn, flower- 
beetles and scale-insects. 
According to Bulletin No. 32 of the United States Biological Survey, 
entitled “Food Habits of the Grosbeaks,” by W. L. McAtee, the Black- 
headed Grosbeak is a bird of much value to fruit-growers, notwithstand- 
ing the fact that it eats some fruit. Mr. McAtee’s careful studies prove 
that during its six months’ stay in its summer home two-thirds of its 
food is supplied by insects. It shows a distinct preference for the black 
olive-scale, one of the most abundant and destructive insects on that 
coast. This service alone more than pays fruit-growers for the fruit 
Fruit it eats. To give a clearer estimate of the value of 
Pests this bird to man, scientific observations show that for 
Eaten every quart of fruit eaten, the Black-headed Grosbeak 
devours more than three pints of black olive-scales and more than a 
quart of flower-beetles, besides a generous supply of canker-worms and of 
the pupae of the codling-moth. 
The Black-headed Grosbeak has a rollicking song, like that of the 
western Robin and western Tanager. I have sometimes found it diffi- 
cult to distinguish the song of the Grosbeak from that of the Tanager. 
The Black-headed Grosbeak is brilliant both in dress and in song. 
I loved to watch the male that lived in the clump of maples. He 
used to perch at the very top of a fir-sapling near the nest to stretch his 
wings and preen his tail, as if he knew his clothes were made for show. 
