Length: 7 inches; indigo bunting, 5½ inches.
Male: Body a deep blue, almost black on the back; chin and cheeks black; bill heavy; tail black, edged with blue; wings black, tipped with bright brown, giving the effect of one broad and one narrow wing-bar. Winter plumage, rusty brown mottled with blue.
Female: Grayish-brown above, more or less washed with blue; wings brown, barred with buff; under parts washed with buff.
Song: A sweet grosbeak warble.
Range: Eastern North America. Breeds from Missouri, southern Illinois and Maryland, south to eastern Texas, and northern Florida; accidental in Wisconsin, New England, the Maritime Provinces, and Cuba; winters in Yucatan and Honduras.
The Blue Grosbeak resembles its smaller relative, the indigo bunting, but it has a larger, darker body, a heavier bill, and brown-tipped wing feathers. It is more nearly the size of a cowbird than of the indigo-bird. It may be found in thickets similar to those frequented by its small blue relative.
It is a bird of the southeastern part of the United States, but occasionally strays northward.
