BIRD BIOGRAPHIES 



bird. In "Under The Maples" he says: "None of our 

 familiar birds endear themselves to us more than does 

 the bluebird. The first bluebird in the spring is as wel- 

 come as the blue sky itself. The season seems softened 

 and tempered as soon as we hear his note and see his 

 warm breast and azure wing. His gentle manners, his 

 soft, appealing voice, not less than his pleasing hues, 

 seem born of the bright and genial skies. He is the spirit 

 of April days incarnated in a bird. Not strictly a song- 

 ster, yet his every note and call is from out the soul of 

 harmony." ^ 



Bluebirds are of economic as well as aesthetic value. 

 They devour cutworms and other kinds of caterpillars, 

 grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, and beetles. They eat 

 fruit in the winter; they prefer that taken from pastures, 

 swamps, and hedgerows, rather than from gardens or or- 

 chards. They never destroy cultivated crops; on the con- 

 trary, benefit them.* 



These birds are such devoted lovers that one is rarely 

 seen far from its mate. The female is very gentle and 

 timid; she seems to need reassurance and protection. 

 There are times, however, when she knows her own mind 

 and shows firmness of character. A male bluebird in 

 Asheville, N. C, intoxicated by the warmth of a sunshiny 

 January day, wooed a female ardently. She was very 

 distant and finally dismissed him. She evidently had suf- 

 ficient foresight to realize that it would be disastrous to 

 go to housekeeping so early and therefore withheld her 

 consent. 



8 Used with permission of the Houghton Mifflin Co., the authorized pub- 

 lishers. 



4 Farmers' Bulletin 755, Biological Survey, U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



[104] 



