Spotted Eggs of the Blue Grosbeak. 
BY T. D. PERRY, SAVANNAH, G-A. 
This retired but beautiful species ( Guiraca 
ccerulia ) has been written upon so often that it 
seems like trespassing upon the brother readers 
of the O. and O. by afflicting them with it 
again, but the past season of 1887 has been 
one of successful events with me, and one 
in which so many new phases of bird life have 
been discovered, that I cannot refrain from 
ling about my discovering spotted eggs of 
this species. 
May 24th, 1887, dawned bright and clear, and 
as usual I started for an all day’s tramp, having 
nothing in particular to look for, but every- 
thing in general; so I kept well to the open 
country, which was thickly dotted with pine 
saplings, and a dense undergrowth of oak 
bushes. I had only gone a short distance when 
a bird flew from between my legs. I stopped 
short, parted the bushes, and there not more 
than two feet high, was a nest containing four 
pale bluish eggs with spots. I knew at a glance . 
that 1 had never seen anything like them before, 
so I took them out carefully and began ex- 
amining them, when by an accident one fell to 
the ground and was smashed, and the worst of 
it was that it was one ot the best marked. As 
fretting would not replace it, however, I soon 
packed the remaining three in my collecting 
box and turned my attention to the nest, and 
as soon as I got it in my hand a thrill of joy 
ran through me, for then I knew I had dis- 
covered spotted eggs of the Blue Grosbeak. 
Yes, there was no mistaking that nest. Every- 
j| tiling, even to the traditional snake skin, was 
! there (which, by the by, is strongly cliaracter- 
J istic of them, as 1 have never yet found a nest 
that did not contain it). But to be on the safe 
side and make identity certain I waited, and 
very soon the chuck , chuck of the female was 
heard as she flew around the spot. She soon 
disappeared, only to return accompanied by 
the male. I watched them some time, being 
satisfied that I had found something I had 
never heard of before. 
Two of the remaining three eggs are very 
thinly dotted with minute spots of red, while 
the third is marked very distinctly with good- 
sized spots of a reddish chestnut, and some few 
spots of subdued lilac (such as you will find in 
specimens of the Least Tern.) The large end 
is very thickly marked , while the small end has 
only two red spots (I thought at first that the 
markings were accidental, but upon washing 
I find they still remain), so taking them alto- 
gether they are very handsome, and as a set I 
prize them very much. 
The eggs of this set measure .87 x .63, .82 x 
.62, and .82x.62, which is almost the usual 
size, although some will measure ,90x.63. and 
I have one in a set of three that is, only .75 x .58, 
and is the smallest I ever saw. 
Now while this species is not common, it is 
very evenly distributed and particular, and 
this past season I have taken eleven sets of 
:ee eggs, four of four eggs, and several of 
Nesting of the Blue Grosbeak in 1888 
and 1889 at Raleigh, N. C. 
1888. May 18th. Found a nest just fin- 
ished, five feet high in a pine. On May 22d it 
had two eggs in it, and on May 24tli the eggs 
were gone. This is the only instance of this 
bird building in a pine that has come un- 
der my personal observation. 
June 2d. Found another nest three feet 
high in alders, alongside of a lane, and on 
June 8th I took a set of three fresh eggs. The 
bottom and outside of the nest were composed 
of weed stems, dead leaves, pine straw and 
paper, inside of fine grass and lined with 
horsehair — the nest being placed in an alder 
fork, the sides of the nest were attached to 
the fork by cobwebs, the whole being quite a 
compact structure. This description will do 
for the majority of nests found here, although 
the bird often uses cotton as well in building 
her nest. 
1889. June 3. Took a set of three~eggs (after 
leaving them for three days) from a nest simi- 
lar to above, placed in a sweet gum fork five 
and a half feet high. The nest contained 
some cotton. 
June 1C. Took a slightly incubated set of 
four from a nest in a mulberry fork four feet 
high. Bird on nest. 
June 12. My brother took a slightly incu- 
bated set of four from a nest five feet high in 
a sweet gum sapling. This nest was a loose 
structure much like a Chat’s, but was attached 
to the fork with cobwebs, which a Chat’s 
never is; some snakeskin gave tone to the ar- 
chitecture of this nest. 
June 20. Took a set of three from a nest 
four and a half feet high in a mulberry fork. 
This nest was of the usual compact type, but 
had a good deal of snakeskin in the bottom of 
tile nest. 
June 20. A colored man brought us a set of 
three and nest of this bird, which lie said had 
been built in a grape vine in a neighboring vine- 
yard. The young Grosbeaks had already 
chipped tlie eggs in their efforts to enjoy the 
free air of heaven, and this detracted from 
their usefulness. The nest was rather a small 
one very largely composed of roots, but had 
the unmistakable Blue Grosbeak look about it. 
Tlie Blue Grosbeak usually builds in an iso- 
lated bush or sapling, and the nest seems to be 
always under six feet in height. The set of 
eggs is three or four in this locality, and ap- 
parently the smaller number is as frequent as 
the larger. ( 7 , S. Brim ley. 
Raleigh, N. C. 
Q.&.O. y y, Feb . 1 89 O v.22 
