“Sept. 8. The old bird no longer perching at the nest to feed her young, but on the branch, to lure them from their cradle. They shook their wings vigorously and preened their tiny feathers.
“Sept. 11. Young Finches ventured to the edge of the nest and peered curiously into the unknown.
“Sept. 11. An empty nest.”
—Ella Gilbert Ives, in Bird-Lore.
“In spite of the rosy wing-linings and shield set above his white breast, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak is the least conspicuous of the Singers in Costume. The reason for this is, that unless you are either directly under or before him, the richly coloured breast may escape notice and only the dark back appear. Yet to one who knows birds, even the back will serve to name him, for no other familiar songster has so much black and white about him—black head and back, a white rump, black-and-white wings, and black-and-white tail.
National Association of Audubon Societies
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK
(Upper Figure, Male; Lower Figure, Female)
Order—Passeres Family—Fringillidæ