ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 
277 
pleasure, so as to be scarcely perceptible ; the tail 
*Xtends three incties beyond the wings, and is nearly 
®Ven at the end ; the bill is of a brilliant coralline 
Colour, very thick and powerful for breaking hard grain 
*nd seeds ; the legs and feet, a light clay colour (not 
Wood red, as Biiffou describes them); iris of the eye, 
^ark hazel. The female is less than the male, has the 
bpper parts of a brownish olive, or dtab colour, the 
Wil, wings, and tip of the crest excepted, which are 
•'early as red as those of the male ; the lores, front, and 
ehin are light ash ; breast, and lower parts, a reddish 
^fab; bill, legs, and eyes, as those of the male; the 
"•■est is shorter, and less fre(iuently raised. 
One peculiarity in the female of this species is, that 
jhe often sings nearly as well as the male. I do not 
allow whether it be owing to some little jealousy on 
^liis score or not, that the male, when both occupy the 
®aine cage, very often destroys the female. 
I8l. FBINGILLA LUDOPICIAyA, BON. LOXIA IlOSEAy WILS. 
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 
WILSON, PLATE XVII. FIG II. MALE. 
This elegant species is rarely found in the lower 
parts of Pennsylvania; in the State of New York, and 
'hose of New England, it is more froc[nently observed, 
I*arti(;nlnrlv in fall, when the berries of the sour gum 
ripe, oil the kernels of which it eagerly feeds. Some 
its trivial names would imimrt, that it is also an 
|"habitaut of Louisiana; but I have not heard of its 
heiiig seen in any of the Southern States. A gentleman 
Middleton, Connecticut, informed me, that he kept 
“"e of these birds for some considerable time in a cage, 
'"."i observed that it frequently sung at night, and all 
**'ttht ; that its notes were extremely clear and mellow, 
‘""1 the sweetest of any bird with which be is ac- 
9'iaiuted. 
The bird from which the following description was 
'^keii, ivas shot, late in April, on the borders of a 
