BiueDird WESTERN BIRDS 



driven from the boxes placed for them by their human 

 admirers by that impudent intruder, the English Spar- 

 row. Mr. Nehrling suggests that boxes be placed with 

 no perch beneath, since the Bluebirds can go directly to 

 the hole, while the clumsy Sparrows must have a foot- 

 hold. 



Nuttall says: "The song of the Bluebird, which con- 

 tinues almost uninterruptedly from March to October, 

 is a soft, rather feeble, but delicate and pleasing warble, 

 often repeated at various times of the day, but most 

 frequently in early spring, when the sky is serene and 

 the temperature mild and cheering. At this season, 

 before the earnest Robin pours out his more energetic 

 lay from the orchard tree or fence-rail, the simple song 

 of this almost domestic favorite is heard nearly alone; 

 and if at length he be rivalled at the dawn of day, by 

 superior and bolder songsters, he still relieves the silence 

 of later hours by his unwearied and affectionate attempts 

 to please and accompany 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. . . . On barkening sometimes to his notes, an 

 evident similarity to the Thrush is observable; but the 

 accents are more weak, faltering, and inclined to the 

 plaintive." Translated into words he says the bird 

 seems tenderly to call in a whistled tone, hear — hear 

 buty, butyf or merely hear — buty, and instantly fol- 

 lows this interrogatory call with a soft and warbling 

 trill. The plaintive note given in fall is tshay-wit, or 

 tur-wee, tur-wee, as it is sometimes interpreted. 



With the coming of winter the birds band together 

 and go south, where they rove about through the woods, 

 eating berries and insects. Economically, they are bene- 

 ficial because of their fondness for grasshoppers, beetles, 

 caterpillars, and other noxious insects. 



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