lack.

BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE

_Megaquiscalus major major_

The male is a long-tailed, glossy blue-black bird.
(L. 16.) The female is much smaller (L. 12),
blackish brown above, buff below.

_Range._ Florida north on the Atlantic coast to
Virginia; west to Texas.

This giant Grackle frequents lakes, lagoons and bays, where it feeds
along the shore or among aquatic plants. The male, a poseur among birds,
strikes strange attitudes with bill pointing skyward, and with apparent
effort forces out hoarse whistles. The female is quiet and unassuming.
They nest in colonies, building in bushes and laying in April 3-5 bluish
white eggs, strikingly blotched and scrawled with blackish.

FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. FAMILY FRINGILLIDAE

EVENING GROSBEAK

_Hesperiphona vespertina vespertina_

A large, thick-set, heavy-billed, black and yellow
Finch. The male with the forehead and most of the
body yellow, the crown, wings and tail black; the
inner wing-quills white. The female is brownish
gray, more or less tinged with yellow, the wings
and tail black with white markings. L. 8.

_Range._ Western North America, wintering
regularly eastward to Minnesota and irregularly to
the North Atlantic States.

Glen Ellyn, one record, Dec. 11, 1889. SE. Minn.,
common W.V., Oct. 17-May 19.

[Illustration: EVENING GROSBEAK.

Male and Female.]

The Evening Grosbeak is a notable traveler from the far northwest whose
rare, irregular, and unheralded visits and striking appearance make him
always a welcome and distinguished guest. Of recent years these birds
have come to the east with greater frequency, arriving in November and
remaining as late as May. They feed largely on the buds and seeds of
trees--maple and box-elder--and can often be attracted to our
feeding-stations by the offer of sunflower seeds. They are usually
associated in flocks of from six to eight to ten birds, and their notes
when perching, have been described as resembling the jingle of small
sleigh-bells, while their song is said to be a "wandering jerky warble."

PINE GROSBEAK

_Pinicola enucleator leucura. Case 2, Figs. 53, 54_

Adult males are unmistakable; but young males and
female might be confused with the female Evening
Grosbeak, but they lack the conspicuous white