ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 
277 
pleasure, so as . to be scarcely perceptible ; the tail 
extends three inches beyond the wings, and is nearly 
even at the end ; the bill is of a brilliant coralline 
colour, very thick and powerful for breaking bard grain 
and seeds ; the legs and feet, a light clay colour (not 
blood red, as Buffo n describes them) ; iris of the eye, 
dark hazel. The female is less than the male, has the 
upper parts of a brownish olive, or drab colour, the 
tail, wings, and tip of the crest excepted, which are 
nearly as red as those of the male ; the lores, front, and 
chin are light ash ; breast, and lower parts, a reddish 
drab ; bill, legs, and eyes, as those of the male ; the 
crest is shorter, and less frequently raised. 
One peculiarity in the female of this species is, that 
she often sings nearly as well as the male. I do not 
know whether it be owing to some little jealousy on 
this score or not, that the male, when both occupy the 
same cage, very often destroys the female. 
181 . FRINGILLA LUDOVICIANA, BON. — LOXlA ROSEA, 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 
those of New England, it is more frequently observed, 
particularly in fall, when the berries of the sour gum 
are ripe, on the kernels of wli ich it eagerly feeds. Some 
of its trivial names would import, that it is also an 
inhabitant of Louisiana; but I have not heard of its 
being seen in any of the Southern States. A gentleman 
of Middleton, Connecticut, informed me, that he kept 
one of these birds for some considerable time in a cage, 
and observed that it frequently sung at night, and all 
night ; that its notes were extremely clear and mellow, 
and the sweetest of any bird with which he is ac- 
quainted. 
The bird from which the following description was 
taken, was shot, date in April, on the borders of a 
