448 INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 



his devoted mate. All his energy is poured out into this 

 simple ditty, and with an ecstatic feeling of delight he 

 often raises and quivers his wings like the Mocking Or- 

 pheus ; and, amidst his striving rivals in song, exerts his 

 utmost powers to introduce variety into his unborrowed 

 and simple strain. On hearkening some time to his notes, 

 an evident similarity to the song of the Thrush is observ- 

 able, but the accents are more weak, faltering, and in- 

 clining to the plaintive. As in many other instances, 

 it is nearly impossible to give any approximating idea of 

 the expression of warbled sounds by words, yet their re- 

 semblance to some quaint expressions, in part, may not 

 be useless, as an attempt to recall to memory these pleas- 

 ing associations with native harmony ; so the Blue-Bird, 

 often, at the commencement of his song, seems tenderly 

 to call in a whistled tone ^hcar — 'Mar hiity, huty ? or 

 merely hear — huty, and instantly follows this interrogato- 

 ry call with a soft and warbling trill. So much is this sound 

 like that which they frequently utter, that on whistling 

 the syllables in their accent, even in the cool days of au- 

 tumn, when they are nearly silent, they often resume the 

 answer in sympathy. During the period of incubation, 

 the male becomes much more silent, and utters his notes 

 principally in the morning. More importantly engaged, 

 in now occasionally feeding his mate as well as himself, 

 and perhaps desirous of securing the interesting occupa- 

 tion of his devoted consort, he avoids betraying the resort 

 of his charge by a cautious and silent interest in their 

 fate. Gentle, peaceable, and familiar, when undisturb- 

 ed, his society is courted by every lover of rural scenery, 

 and it is not uncommon for the farmer to furnish the 

 Blue-Bird with a box as well as the Martin, in return for 

 the pleasure of his company, the destruction he makes 

 upon injurious insects, and the cheerfulness of his song. 



