Pattie ACUS DU B-OON® 2B UsLeL EoD DN 9 
Grosbeaks 
By ANNA C. AMES 
THE MEMBERS of the family known as grosbeaks probably better illustrate 
than any other group the truth that birds are classified according to struc- 
ture, not according to plumage or song. There is a red grosbeak, a blue 
one, a yellow one, a rose-breasted one, a black-headed one with a tawny or 
buffy-cinnamon breast divided lengthwise by a lemon-colored line, and 
there is one with a rosy head, breast, and rump. These references to color 
apply chiefly to the male birds; the females are much more modestly and 
quietly dressed. All have large, conical bills and are efficient seed-eaters. 
_ The grosbeaks form one of the most attractive and satisfactory groups 
of birds. They are tuneful, prepossessing, and useful. Their family life is 
ideal. Unless they have learned from experience to distrust man, they are 
gentle, confiding, and fearless. In the past the cardinal, the rose-breasted 
grosbeak, the evening grosbeak, and the blue grosbeak have not infrequently 
been caged. The cardinal comes freely to feeding stations in winter as 
does the evening grosbeak in some localities. 
The cardinal grosbeak, so-called because he wears the brilliant garb 
of a cardinal of the church, or red-bird, was formerly considered a bird 
of the South, but he has so extended his territory that he is now a perma- 
nent resident in the Chicago area. Louis Untermeyer has referred to him 
as a “crimson arrow.” On a gray, cold day he makes a pretty picture 
against the winter’s snow and he sings during every month of the year. 
He is our only red bird with a crest (except the pyrrhuloxia). Female 
cardinals vary greatly in depth and amount of coloring. Some are strik- 
ingly attractive while others can hardly be said to be pretty. All are 
crested. In the spring the male cardinal is ardent in the pursuit of the 
lady bird of his choice although she may be but a drab-looking female. 
According to Gene Stratton-Porter he calls her, saying, ‘““Come here. Come 
here.” Later he whistles, “So dear! So dear!’ He knows she is won 
when she accepts food from his bill. 
The lady cardinal sings almost as well as her mate but in a softer 
strain. The first time that I heard her I thought, “That sounds like a 
cardinal yet doesn’t seem quite right.” So I hunted the singer until I 
located her. 
The cardinals are not strictly particular about the location of their 
nests, but do like a site with considerable cover, such as a heavily leaved 
grape vine, a vine-covered stump, a brush heap or thicket of dense bushes. 
The eggs vary in color from white to bluish, grayish, or greenish, but they 
are always sploched with various shades of brown, purple, and lilac. 
The cardinal is very attentive to his mate, staying near and singing 
while she is building the nest, and, after incubation begins, bringing her 
food when she asks for it. Both parents assume the care of the young 
during the nine or ten days that they remain in the nest. When they are 
able to fly a little the father takes almost or completely sole charge of 
them and guards them for three weeks or more while the mother is busy 
