Rose-breasted Grosbeak. 
Doubtless some readers of the Orni- 
thologist and Oologist know as little 
of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak as I did, 
and as last summer I had a chance to 
; make a slight acquaintance with them, I 
think I should pass my scraps in. 
I arrived at Shin Creek, in the extreme 
north of Sullivan County, New York, 
about the middle of June. By that time 
the birds must have been hatched, for I 
; j found young ones ten days later. My first 
bird was an adult male. I saw him on 
June 17 at the top of a thicket, eating the 
green tips of the new shoots and catching 
a few caterpillars and worms. 
I shot him, and hunted faithfully for the 
nest that I hoped was there, but it didn’t 
materialize. Before I shot him I watched 
and listened. He hopped restlessly from 
' ground to branch, and branch to top, 
“warbling” in a hurried, interrupted way 
in a clear but squeaky voice. Then he 
would vary it by a series of kuchks , in a 
hoarse, grating voice. I was very much 
i disappointed, as I had heard of their beau- 
tiful song. 
A couple of weeks later, July 1, when 
j near a deserted house, I was startled by a 
series of clear, mellow whistles, whoit , 
| whoit. I followed it up, and saw a bird 
I recognized, by description, as a female 
i Rose-fcreasted Grosbeak. She had a big 
fat caterpillar in her beak, and was calling 
her young one, who I saw in a tree near 
by ; as he refused to fly, she flew to him, 
calling again. I looked over my binocu- 
lars, and they fell. Unfortunately, the 
young one fell on a stone, and the head 
| splitting open let out a mixture of brains 
| and eye water. Her stomach contained a 
large dragon fly, several caterpillars, and 
a mess of flies and green vegetable tips. 
That mellow, rich whistle quite opened 
my eyes, and I was prepared, when I fol- 
lowed a glorious song, to find a $ Gros- 
beak singing. Their voice has a peculiar 
“human” quality. It is more like 
human singing than the Cardinal’s 
whistle. 
Many times after that, as I whipped the 
Beaverkill in a golden sunset glory, did I 
hear that wonderful song and see the flash 
of the musician as he flitted along the 
b 
