THE INDIGO BUNTING 259; 



the case with the indigo bunting, and from that day 

 forward as long as I lived in Southeastern Iowa it was 

 abundant. 



This bird is not inuch of a songster. In fact, we never 

 considered him a song bird at all, but we liked to see him 

 flit back and forth among the trees because of his bril- 

 liant color. Because of his color and shape he could hardly 

 be mistaken for any other bird. He is much more slender 

 than the^ bluebird and has no red on the breast. These 

 birds vary more or less in color, some being more nearly 

 green, others more nearly blue. In the picture you will 

 see a good representation of these birds, so a careful de- 

 scription of their appearance is hardly necessary. You 

 will have no difficulty in recognizing them after you have 

 looked at the picture carefully. 



They prefer to live in the open places in forests, and 

 on the borders of woods rather than in the deep forest it- 

 self, tho I have frequently seen them in the deepest woods. 

 They feed largely on insects and are desirable birds to 

 have about. 



The nest is usually built of leaves and coarse grass, well 

 lined with fine roots and fibers of bark, and the inside is 

 nicely finished with hairs. The birds lay three or four 

 white eggs and usually raise two broods in a year. You 

 will generally find the nest in a tangle of brush or on the 

 branches of low growing trees, seldom more than four or 

 five feet from the ground and completely sheltered by a 

 canopy of leaves. 



We have quite a number of buntings in this country, aU 

 delightful little creatures, feeding largely on insects and 

 weed seeds or v/ild berries, and most of them are bright 

 colored. We like to see brilliant colors in birds almost 



