THRUSHES, SOLITAIRES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. 477 



Young: brownish or grayish, streaked with white; wings and tail blue. 

 Male: length G.50-7.i»U, wing 4.00-4.80, tail o.OO-o.lu. Female: length 

 7.00-7.20, wing about 4.25, tail 2.75-2.90. 



Distribution. — Breeds mainly in Boreal zone, chiefly in tlie interior 

 from Great Slave Lake south to New Mexico, and from the western part 

 of the Plains to the Pacific. 



Nest. — In old woodpecker hole ; among rocks or about houses. Eggs : 

 5 to 7, pale greenish blue. 



Food. — Largely crickets, also cicadas, grasshoppers, ants, weevUs, and, 

 in winter, unpicked grapes and seeds of mistletoe and hackberry. 



The exquisite coloring of the arctic bluebird makes it seem the 

 gentlest, most beautiful of all the lovely bluebirds. 



In the Sierra Nevada in August, families of young are common 

 in the Murray pine meadows. The birds hunt largely in the open, 

 and are in the habit of hovering a few feet from the ground as they 

 look about for insects. In Colorado, Prof. Cooke says, the birds 

 wander up above timberline to at least 13,000 feet. 



