BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.
596. Zamelodia melanocephala. 7½ inches.
This species similar in size to the Rose-breasted Grosbeak of the eastern sections (which is sometimes found west to Colorado), does not have the bright colors of his eastern brother. In habits they appear to be much the same, their song is wonderfully sweet and clear. They are very quiet birds, and when nesting will almost allow one to touch them before leaving. Their nests are simply a few straws and sticks, loosely laid on the forks of some horizontal branch of a bush or low tree, so frail that frequently their eggs can be seen from beneath. They lay four eggs of a bluish green, spotted and blotched with different shades of brown (1.00 × .70).