FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC.: BLUE GROSBEAK 677 
forth their sweet strains till long after dusk had settled down upon 
the deep forest” (1875, p. 297). 
Additional Literature.—Finley, W. L., American Birds, 45-53, 1907; 
Educational Leaflet 45, Nat. Assoc, Audubon Soc.; Condor, VI, 145-148, 1904.— 
Head, Anna, Condor, IV, 119-121, 1902.— McAtee, W. L., Biol. Surv., U. S. Dept. 
Agr., Bull. 32,60-77,1908.— Merriam, F. A.,A-Birding on a Bronco, 170, 1896 (song). 
ARIZONA BLUE GROSBEAK: Guiraca caerulea interfusa Dwight and Griscom 
Plate 62 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 5.9-7 inches, wing 3.4-3.8, tail 2.6-3.1, 
bill .5-.7. Female: Length (skins) 5.6-6.5 inches, wing 3-3.5, tail 2.4-2.8, bill 
.5-.7. Bill less swollen than in the Black-headed Grosbeak, the upper outline nearly 
straight; wings long and pointed; tail shorter than wings. Adult male in summer: 
Plain purplish blue, back streaked with black, wings and tail blackish with dull 
bluish edgings, wings until two brownish bands , the wider one usually .2 to .3 inches 
wide and decidedly paler than the narrow one; under tail coverts edged with white; 
a narrow black line around base of bill, bill grayish blue. Adult male in winter: 
Essentially like summer male but blue more or less obscured by brown and buffy 
feather margins, especially on back and breast, feathers of belly with buffy or whitish 
margins and outside tail feathers tipped with white. Adult female and young: 
Olive-brown, back streaked, female usually more or less tinged with blue, tail and 
wings dusky, tail with bluish edgings, wings with brownish edgings and two light 
bands; underparts brownish buffy or clay-color, darkest on chest; bill brownish. 
Immature male: Variously intermediate in coloration between adult female and adult 
male according to age. 
Range. —Breeds in Upper and Lower Sonoran Zones from southern Nevada, 
Colorado, southwestern South Dakota, and Nebraska south to central Texas, 
southern Arizona, southeastern California, and Oaxaca; winters from southern 
Sonora to Costa Rica. 
State Records. —The warmer parts of New Mexico are inhabited in the 
summer by the Arizona Blue Grosbeak, which occurs north to Silver City (Fisher); 
Roswell (Bailey); [between Roswell and Fort Sumner June 16-21, 1918 (Ligon)]; 
Ribera and Pecos (Bailey); Rinconada (Surber); near Taos (Bailey); Espanola 
(Surber); [Albuquerque (Ligon)]; and Rio Puerco (Hollister). It breeds at Mesilla 
Park (Merrill), at Carlsbad (Bailey), its breeding altitude ranging from 3,100 feet 
at Carlsbad to 6,000 feet at Rinconada and Silver City. The birds seen at Taos, 
6,900 feet July 14, 1904, and between Glorieta and Pecos, 7,000 feet, July 11, 1903, 
were probably breeding birds. [They breed commonly in northern Santa Fe County 
in orchards and in willows along streams. Fresh eggs are found June 15-August 1 
(Jensen, 1922). In eastern New Mexico they were not common but observed in 
irrigation districts, especially where there were willows, May 27-June 22, 1924 
(Ligon).] A nest with eggs, evidently a second set, was found July 22, 1901, at 
Carlsbad (Bailey). 
Three birds noted August 16, 1907, at Shiprock (Gilman), were undoubtedly 
wanderers, being here nearly 200 miles from the nearest known breeding range 
on the east and about the same on the south. The species is an early fall migrant, 
and most of the individuals have left the State by the end of August. Some dates 
of the last noted arc: Rio Puerco, September 4, 1905 (Hollister); Albuquerque, 
September 11, 1900 (Birtwell); a flock of old and young near Hondo, September 
17, 1902 (Hollister); and one at Mesilla, October 12, 1913 (Merrill). 
