22 THE) tA7U DO BON? BU Lele ae 
Bird Notes From Elgin 
The Evening Grosbeak is an occasional visitor in this vicin- 
ity. Several years ago I discovered five feeding upon the ground 
among some underbrush near a wild black cherry tree in Lord’s 
Park. I discovered them through the repeated, faint, cracking 
noise which attracted 
my attention as I ap- 
-| proached their feed- 
“| ing ground. I saw 
they were busily en- 
gaged picking some- 
thing from the 
' ground and_crack- 
ing it with their 
stout bills. This 
proved later to be the 
seeds of the black 
cherry which they 
broke to get the ker- 
nels they contained. . 
In Mayes. 
when my cherry 
trees were in bloom, 
I found a large num- 
ber of the blossoms 
on the ground. Upon 
close examination I> 
discovered that they 
had been nipped from 
the twigs. Numerous 
marks, apparently 
from the bill of some 
_ bird were found upon 
the calyx and in some 
cases the calyx had 
been removed entire- 
ly. I had noticed Ori- 
oles and Warblers, 
birds with slender 
a bills probing the blos- 
Aas aS: / soms, apparently for 
AFTER A WATER COLOR BY C. F. GRONEMANN nectar and_ insects 
and therefore con- 
cluded that birds with a stout bill were the offenders. Later I 
heard a Rose-breasted Grosbeak singing in the cherry trees. Im- 
mediately my suspicion was directed toward him. Upon coming 
closer I discovered both male and female Grosbeaks picking the 
cherry blossoms; eating the calyx and letting the sepals and 
petals fall to the ground. 








