THE BLUEBIRD 



AS spring approaches, I invariably "go a-hunting," 

 not for "rabbit-skins," but for song sparrows and 

 bluebirds. Robins usually seek us, and sometimes their 

 blue-winged cousins call Cheer-e-o as they fly swiftly over 

 our housetops; but I am never happy until I have visited 

 an orchard or pasture frequented by these heaven-sent 

 birds. "My heart leaps up when I behold" once more 

 their exquisite blue and hear their soft, delightful warble. 

 Then I know that spring is really on her way, and I 

 am again eager and expectant. 



Bluebirds have always been much beloved, especially 

 in New England. Florence Merriam writes: "Although 

 the Bluebird did not come over in the Mayflower, it is 

 said that when the Pilgrim Fathers came to New England 

 this bird was one of the first whose gentle warblings at- 

 tracted their notice, and, from its resemblance to the be- 

 loved Robin Redbreast of their native land, they called 

 it the Blue Robin." ^ 



The bluebird has always been a favorite theme for poets 

 and nature-writers, especially in New England, where the 

 beauty and warm coloring of this sweet bird seem excep- 

 tionally welcome after a long, severe winter. In Tho- 

 reau's diary, "Early Spring in Massachusetts," he refers 

 to the bluebird thirteen times and writes: "The bluebird 

 — angel of the spring! Fair and innocent, yet the off"- 

 spring of the earth. The color of the sky, above, and of 

 the subsoil beneath, suggesting what sweet and innocent 

 melody, terrestrial melody, may have its birthplace be- 

 tween the sky and the ground." ^ 



Burroughs, too, makes frequent mention of the blue- 



^ From "Birds of Village and Field," by Florence Merriam. 

 2 Used with permission of the Houghton Miffin Q>., the authorized 

 publishers. 



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