Bird Study 



61 



Bluebird at the entrance of its nest. 

 From. Country Life in America. 



be wound around the tree or post below the box. If the box for the nest 

 is placed upon a post the barbed wire will also protect it from the squirrels. 

 The eggs are bluish- 

 white; the young birds, 

 in their first feathers, are 

 spotted on the back and 

 have whitish breasts mot- 

 tled with brown. The 

 food of the nestlings is 

 almost entirely insects. 

 In fact, this bird during 

 its entire life is a great 

 friend to man. The food 

 of the adult is more than 

 three-fourths insects and 

 the remainder is wild 

 berries and fruits, the 

 winter food being largely 

 mistletoe berries. It 

 makes a specialty of in- 

 jurious beetles, caterpil- 

 lars and grasshoppers, 

 and never touches any of 

 our cultivated fruits. We 



should do everything in our power to encourage and protect these birds 

 from their enemies, which are chiefly cats, squirrels and English sparrows. 



The migration takes place in flocks during autumn, but it is done in a 

 most leisurely manner with frequent stops where food is plenty. The 

 bluebirds we see in September are probably not the ones we have had with 

 us during the summer, but are those which have come from farther north. 

 They winter largely in the Gulf States ; the writer has often heard them 

 singing in midwinter in Southern Mississippi. The bluebirds seem to be 

 the only ones that sing while at their winter resorts. They live the year 

 round in the Bermudas, contrasting their heavenly blue plumage with 

 the vivid red of the cardinals. The bluebird should not be confused with 

 the indigo bunting; the latter is darker blue and has a blue breast. 



References Bulletin, Some Common Birds in Their Relation to 

 Man, U. S. Dept. of Agr.; Bulletin, The Food of Nestling Birds, U. S. 

 Dept. of Agr.; Birds in Their Relation to Man, Weed & Dearborn, pp. 

 86-88; Nature-Study and Life, Hodge, chapters 18-21; Junior Audu- 

 bon Leaflets; Birds of Eastern North America, Chapman, 9. 403; 

 Field Book of Wild Birds and Their Music, Mathews, pp. 251-254; 

 Nature-Study in Elementary Schools, Wilson, p. 188. 



" Winged lute that we call a bluebird, 



You blend in a silver strain 

 The sound of the laughing waters, 



The patter of spring's sweet rain, 

 The voice of the winds, the sunshine, 



And fragrance of blossoming things. 

 All! You are an April poem, 



That God has dowered with wings." 



THE BLUEBIRD, REXFORD. 



