60 Handbook of Nature-Study 



THE BLUEBIRD 

 Teacher's Story 



TERN as were our Pilgrim Fathers, they could not fail 

 to welcome certain birds with plumage the color of June 

 skies, whose sweet voices brought hope and cheer to 

 their homesick hearts at the close of that first, long, 

 hard winter of 1621. The red breasts of these birds 

 brought to memory the robins of old England and so 

 they were called "Blue robins"; and this name ex- 

 presses well the relationship implied, because the blue- 

 birds and robins of America are both members of the 

 thrush family, a family noted for exquisite song. 



The bluebirds are usually ahead of the robins in the northward journey 

 and arrive in New York often amid the blizzards of early March, their 

 soft, rich "curly" notes bringing, even to the doubting mind, glad con- 

 victions of coming spring. There is a family resemblance between voices 

 of bluebird and robin, a certain rich quality of tone, but the robin's song 

 is far more assertive and complex than is the soft, "purling" song of the 

 bluebird, which has been vocalized as "tru-al-ly, tru-al-ly." These love 

 songs cease with the hard work of feeding the nestlings in April, but may 

 be heard again as a prelude to the second brood in June. The red breast 

 of the bluebird is its only color resemblance to the robin, although the 

 young bluebirds and robins are both spotted, showing the thrush colors. 

 The robin is so much larger than the bluebird that commonly the relation- 

 ship is not noticed. This is easily explained because there is nothing to 

 suggest a robin in the exquisite cerulean blue of the bluebird's head, back, 

 tail and wings. This color is most brilliant when the bird is on the wing, 

 in the sunshine. However, there is a certain mirror-like quality in these 

 blue feathers; and among leaf shadows or even among bare branches they 

 in a measure, reflect the surroundings and render the bird less noticeable. 

 The female is paler, being grayish blue above and with only a tinge of red- 

 brown on the breast; both birds are white beneath. 



The bluebirds haunt open woods, fields of second growth and especially 

 old orchards. They flit about in companies of three or four until they 

 mate for nesting. While feeding, the bluebird usually sits on a low 

 branch keeping a keen eye on the ground below, now and then dropping 

 suddenly on an unsuspecting insect and then returning to its perch; it 

 does not remain on the ground hunting food as does the robin. The nest 

 is usually built in a hole in a tree or post and is made of soft grass. A 

 hollow apple tree is a favorite nesting site. 



In building birdhouses we should bear in mind that a cavity about ten 

 inches deep and six inches in height and width will give a pair of bluebirds 

 room for building a nest. The opening should not be more than two or 

 two and one-half inches in diameter and there should be no threshold; 

 this latter is a very particular point. If there is a threshold or place to 

 alight upon, the sparrows are likely to dispute with the bluebirds and 

 drive them away, but the sparrow does not care for a place which has no 

 threshold. The box for the bluebird may be made out of old boards or 

 may be a section of an old tree trunk ; it should be fastened from six to 

 fifteen feet above the ground, and should be in nowise noticeable in color 

 from its surroundings. To protect the nest from cats, barbed wire should 



