Rose-breasted grosbeak

“ The Rose-breasted Grosbeak breeds from Kansas, Ohio, Georgia (mountains) , and New Jersey, north to southern Canada; winters from Mexico to South America. This beautiful grosbeak is noted for its clear, melodious notes, which are poured forth in generous measure. The rosebreast sings even at midday during summer, when the intense heat has silenced almost every other songster. Its beautiful plumage and sweet song are not its sole claim on our favor, for few birds are more beneficial to agriculture. The rosebreast eats some green peas and does some damage to fruit. ”

“ A backward season brings strangers into close company for a while. A white-throat sings his clear song of the North, and a moment later is answered by an oriole’s melody, or the sweet tones of a rose-breasted grosbeak—the latter one of those rarely favoured birds, exquisite in both plumage and song. ”

“ Individuals referable to this species by sight records alone breed in fair numbers as far east as Cloud and Sedgwick counties, but to the east of these stations numbers are reduced, partly as a result of presumed competition with the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Hybrids between these two grosbeaks are regularly produced. The easternmost record of breeding by this species is at St. Mary's, Pottawatomie County, where a male was seen as probably mated with a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. ”

“ Against this wealth of green the dogwood spreads its snow-white masses of bloom. In sunlit spaces of greenness the scarlet flash of a tanager, the rich blue coloring of the indigo bird, newly arrived from its winter quarters in South America, and the glimpse of a rose-breasted grosbeak among the high tree tops are strangely suggestive of a tropical forest. The ear, too, is charmed with a multitude of curious notes. ”

“ They do not often approach closely, however, while a visitor is near, and on such occasions remain at some distance craning their necks curiously in every direction. They seldom utter a sound unless startled, when with a hoarse “quawk” and a shrilly harsh cry, they hastily fly away.
Nest and Eggs of Grosbeak
Nestlings
The rose-breasted grosbeak (Zamelodia ludoviciana) is one of the handsomest of the [Pg 272] finch family, and also one of the most useful to the farmer. The grosbeak’s chief diet is bugs and other insects, the potato bug being a favorite morsel in their menu. ”

“ The cardinal, scarlet tanager, indigo bunting, and rose-breasted grosbeak form a quartet of which even a tropical land might well be proud, and the two latter species have, in addition to brilliant plumage, very pleasing songs. Such wealth of æsthetic characteristics are unusual in any one species, the wide-spread law of compensation decreeing otherwise. More sombre hued seed-eaters which live their lives in the Park are towhees, swamp, song, field, and chipping sparrows. ”

“ Has the brilliant, strong-scented plant no ulterior motive in thus attracting their attention at this particular time? Surely! Robins, flickers, and downy woodpeckers, chewinks and rose-breasted grosbeaks, among other feathered agents, may be detected in the act of gormandizing on the fruit, whose undigested seeds they will disperse far and wide. Their droppings form the best of fertilizers for young seedlings; therefore the plants which depend on birds to distribute seeds, as most berry bearers do, send their children abroad to found new colonies, well equipped for a vigorous start in life. ”

“ She is a dull ashy-grey bird, tinged faintly with yellowish red on the back and abdomen. Her wings and tail are black. The only young grosbeak that I have seen resembled the female in appearance, except that it had a yellow rump. It was being fed by a cock bird.
Grosbeaks live in forests, and go about either in couples or in small companies. They seem to feed largely on the ground, picking up insects. The beak of the finch tribe is adapted to a diet of seeds; nevertheless, many finches vary this food with insects. ”

“ In some parts of the country the grosbeak feeds largely on the plum scale, the hickory scale, the locust and oak scales and on the tulip scale, which is very destructive to shade trees. The black grosbeak is another variety that deserves encouragement in every way, for it eats the chrysalis of the codling-moth that is so serious a foe to our apple crop. It eats also many other injurious insects, such as wire-worms, many of the most harmful of beetles, caterpillars, and scales. ”

“ The moment his eye rests on the intruding observer he flits off in haste, calls to his mate, and plunging into the thicket sits in silence till he is satisfied of the restoration of solitude, when he again cautiously mounts the twig and pours out afresh the oft-told but never-tiring tale of his affection and devotion to the joys of nature. His song, which greatly resembles that of the Red-breasted Grosbeak, is heard at early dawn, and at intervals nearly to the close of night. It is a loud, varied, high-toned and melodious fife, which rises and falls in the sweetest cadence ”

“ Among the small grosbeaks, pairs of which sit together, the intimate relation is never disturbed; even over the feeding-cup there is no quarrelling. They stand highest in this respect among birds. Love-tokens are exchanged by pressing of beaks together—a veritable kissing, accompanied with loving gestures. They are also more sociable, and even at nesting-time more peaceable, than other birds. In the case of other grosbeaks, when the male bird sits by the female in the nest, there are various demonstrations of affection, but also slight occasional disputes, especially about feeding-time. ”

“ The first is the delicate bill of the bird itself, and the latter is the strong fibre of the bark of a tree, with which the bird sews every leaf, lapping one over the other in the same manner that slates are laid upon a roof.
Nevertheless this is simple instinct; the tailor-bird in the days of Adam constructed her nest in a similar manner, which will be continued without improvement till the end of time.
The grosbeak almost rivals the tailor-bird in the beautiful formation of its nest. These birds build in company, twenty or thirty nests being common upon one tree. ”

“ The Pine-grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) inhabits the conifer-zone of both the Old and the New Worlds, seeking, in Europe and probably elsewhere, a lower latitude as winter approaches—often journeying in large flocks; stragglers have occasionally reached the British Islands (Yarrell, Br. Birds, ed. 4, ii. 177-179) . ”

“ It is usually to be seen in small flocks and it often occurs in towns.
Evening Grosbeaks see so little of man in their wilderness home in the Great Northwest that they are surprisingly unsuspicious when they visit us during the winter. They are sociable, almost always being seen in flocks, and they feed upon seeds of maple and other trees, upon frozen apples, and upon berries which they find, notably those of the mountain ash. ”

“ GROSBEAK (Fr. Grosbec) , a name very indefinitely applied to many birds belonging to the families Fringillidae and Ploceidae of modern ornithologists, and perhaps to some members of the Emberizidae and Tanagridae, but always to birds distinguished by the great size of their bill. Taken alone it is commonly a synonym of hawfinch (q.v.) , but a prefix is usually added to indicate the species, as pine-grosbeak, cardinal-grosbeak and the like. ”

“ They are nesting in the young growth near these very river woods, and I will show you one of their homes presently. You see that protecting birds, and leaving suitable bits of woodland and brush for them to build in, is practical as well as sentimental.
"This Grosbeak dares not trust its brilliant colors in large trees or open places, and so nests where it may hide in a maze of bushes. When it finds the right spot, it is not very particular about nest-building. A jumble of weeds, twigs, roots, and sometimes rags or bits of paper, serves to hold its light-blue eggs with brown markings. ”

“ Evening Grosbeaks are semi-gregarious the year around, but are seen to best advantage in winter or early spring, when they flock closely and visit city parks or wooded lawns. One is oftenest attracted to their temporary quarters by the startling and disconnected noises which are flung out broadcast. It may be that the flock is absorbed in the depths of a small fir, so that one may come up near enough to analyze the sound. ”

“ The cardinal grosbeak stays as far north as New Jersey and Ohio all winter, and a little flock have lived in Central Park, New York, for several years. That is most delightful for those [90] who live near, for they sing all winter, when few bird-notes are to be heard. They can stay because they are seed eaters, and they find many weed seeds, and wild berries like cedar berries, that stay on all winter.
CARDINAL
A lady once had a cardinal in a cage with a pair of the tiny green parrots called love-birds. ”

“ Song.—A rapid varied warble, similar to but louder and stronger than that of the Indigo Bunting.
Nest.—Of twigs, weeds, and grasses, lined with fine rootlets; placed in thickets, bushes, or low trees; four or five plain bluish-white eggs (.85 × .62) .
Range.—Eastern U. S., breeding from the Gulf to Maryland and Illinois; winters south of U. S.
Sub-Species.—597a. Western Blue Grosbeak (lazula) . Male of a brighter shade of blue than the eastern; found from the Mississippi to the Pacific, breeding north to Kansas, Colorado, and northern California. ”

“ It is best to keep them, even during the winter, in an unwarmed room, or still better in a cage hung outside the house. In its native state the Pine Grosbeak feeds upon the seeds of the fir-trees, which it picks out of the open cones or gleans from the ground. It will also eat many kinds of seeds or berries, and looks upon green weeds and the buds of trees as dainties. Tame birds are fed with linseed, rapeseed, and juniper or mountain-ash berries; they require a considerable quantity of food, as they are large eaters. ”

“ Greenland, North, and Grinnell Land, Mammalia, 313, 353
Greenshank, 287
Grosbeak, Pine, claim to be regarded as British, 242
Grosbeak,„ Rose-beaked, 412
Grouse, Black, 202
Grouse,„ Pallas's Sand, reappearance in Ireland, 24, 58
Grouse,„ Red, 284; Partridges coloured like, 229, 256
Grus communis, 203
Guillemot, Black, 329
Guillemot,„ Common, 97, 329; singular variety, 57; variety, 298
Guillemot,„ Ringed, 329
Gull, Black-headed, 325 ”

“ When the grosbeaks are with us you would not be apt to notice them unless you stumbled directly upon them, for they are the most silent of birds, which is remarkable, since the great majority of them are females". ”

“ The Evening Grosbeak in New York.—Mr. Charles F. Earle writes me from Syracuse, N. Y., July 11th, as follows: “On the 8th of the present month I saw a male Evening Grosbeak (Hesperophona vespertina) near Marcellus Station, Onondaga County, N. Y. Being engaged in fly-fishing at the time, I was unable to secure the bird; but there is no question of the identification, as I had a good view of it at reasonably close quarters.”—Elliott Coues, Washington, D.C.
The Black-throated Bunting in Florida.—Neither Professor Allen in his “Winter Birds of East Florida,” nor Mr. ”

“ Blue Grosbeak.—Only a few were seen during the present trip, but Mr. Stephens found them common on the Gila River in 1876. “They are late migrants.”
445, ♂ ad., Tucson, May 28. Length, 7.20; extent, 11.10; wing, 3.60; tail, 3.27. “Iris dark brown; bill black above, bluish below; legs black.”
86. Passerina amœna (Say) Gray. Lazuli Bunting.—Two specimens, obtained April 25, at Tucson, are noted as “the first ones seen.” One of them, a male, has the blue almost completely obscured by rufous, which forms a broad tipping on all the feathers of the upper parts. ”

“ The breeding plumage is much brighter and richer than that of the male, another peculiar characteristic, and the male alone possesses the naked abdomen. The female always remains near the nest while he is sitting, and shows great solicitude upon the approach of an intruder. The adults assume the winter plumage during July.
[Pg 68]
THE EVENING GROSBEAK.
ANDSOMER birds there may be, but in the opinion of many this visitant to various portions of western North America is in shape, color, and markings one of the most exquisite of the feather-wearers. ”

“ This bird inhabits the northern countries of Europe and Asia, and in America there is a very similar species. As far as we can ascertain, the Pine Grosbeaks live during the summer alone, or in pairs, and only assemble during the winter in flocks, that may be seen flying over the northern woods or frequenting the solitary farms, returning at the commencement of spring to their retreats in the forests. Should a heavy fall of snow occur and compel them to migrate to more southern parts, the flocks will join each other, and that often in very considerable multitudes. ”

“ They lay first in May, and, as soon as the young are able to shift for themselves, a second nest is made. Thus in July both young birds at large and nests with eggs are likely to be seen. The eggs are not unlike those of the English hawfinch; the ground colour is pale greenish grey, blotched and spotted with blackish brown. Sometimes the markings occur chiefly at the broad end of the eggs.
The most striking feature of the black-and-yellow grosbeak, and that on which I wish particularly to dwell, is the extraordinary resemblance that the cock bird bears to the cock black-headed oriole. ”