210 
THE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 
I have frequently observed this beautiful species, early in the month of 
March, in the lower parts of Louisiana, making its way eastward ; and 
when residing at Henderson in Kentucky, and in Cincinnati in Ohio, I have 
noticed the same circumstance. At this early period, it passes at a con- 
siderable height in the air, and now and then alights on the tops of the 
tallest trees of the forest, as if to rest awhile. While on wing it utters a 
clear note, but wdien perched it remains silent, in an upright and rather stiff 
attitude. It is then easily approached. I have followed it in its migrations 
into Pennsylvania, New York, and other Eastern States, through the British 
provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, as far as Newfoundland, 
where many breed, but I saw none in Labrador. It is never seen in the 
maritime parts of Georgia, or those of the Carolinas, but some have been 
procured in the mountainous portions of those States. I have found them 
rather plentiful in the early part of May, along the steep banks of the 
Schuylkill river, twenty or thirty miles from Philadelphia, and observed, 
that at that season they fed mostly on the buds of the trees, their tender blos- 
soms, and upon insects, which they catch on wing, making short sallies for 
the purpose. I saw several in the Great Pine Forest of Pennsylvania ; but 
they were more abundant in New York, especially along the banks of the 
beautiful river called the Mohawk. They are equally abundant along the 
shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie, although I believe that the greater num- 
ber go as far as New Brunswick to breed. While on an excursion to the 
islands at the entrance of the Bay of Fundy, in the beginning of May, my 
son shot several which were in full song. These islands are about thirty 
miles distant from the main land. 
The most western place in which I found the nest of this species was 
within a few miles of Cincinnati on the Ohio. It was placed in the upright 
forks of a low bush, and differed so much in its composition from those 
which I have seen in the Eastern States, that it greatly resembled the nest 
of the Blue Grosbeak already described. The young, three in number, 
were ready to fly. The parents fed them on the soft grains of wheat which 
they procured in a neighbouring field, and often searched for insects in 
the crannies of the bark of trees, on which they alighted sidewise, in the 
manner of Sparrows. This was in the end of July. Generally, however, 
the nest of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak is placed on the top branches of an 
alder bush, near water, and usually on the borders of meadows or alluvial 
grounds. It is composed of the dried twigs of trees, mixed with a few 
leaves and the bark of vines, and is lined with fibrous roots and horse-hair. 
The eggs are seldom more than four, and I believe only one brood is raised 
in the season. Both sexes incubate. I have found the nest and eggs, on 
the 20th of May, on the borders of Cayuga Lake in the State of New York. 
