190 WAKE-ROBIN 



found his Bermuda on some broad sunny hillside 

 thickly studded with cedars and persimmon-trees. 



In New York and in New England the sap starts 

 up in the sugar maple the very day the bluebird 

 arrives, and sugar-making begins forthwith. The 

 bird is generally a mere disembodied voice; a rumor 

 in the air for two or three days before it takes visi- 

 ble shape before you. The males are the pioneers, 

 and come several days in advance of the females. 

 By the time both are here and the pair have begun 

 to prospect for a place to nest, sugar-making is 

 over, the last vestige of snow has disappeared, and 

 the plow is brightening its mould-board in the new 

 furrow. 



The bluebird enjoys the preeminence of being the 

 first bit of color that cheers our northern landscape. 

 The other birds that arrive about the same time — 

 the sparrow, the robin, the phoebe-bird — are clad 

 in neutral tints, gray, brown, or russet; but the 

 bluebird brings one of the primary hues and the 

 divinest of them all. 



This bird also has the distinction of answering 

 very nearly to the robin redbreast of English mem- 

 ory, and was by the early settlers of New England 

 christened the blue robin. 



It is a size or two larger, and the ruddy hue of 

 its breast does not verge so nearly on an orange, but 

 the manners and habits of the two birds are very 

 much alike. Our bird has the softer voice, but 

 the English redbreast is much the more skilled 

 musician. He has indeed a fine, animated warble, 



