DISTRIBUTION AND SONG OF THE BLUEBIRD 79 



when this state, as sometimes happens, is accompanied by more than 

 ordinary extension of blue on the throat, they very closely resemble <S'. mexicana. 



9 , in full plumage : Blue of the upper parts mixed and obscured with 

 much dull reddish-brown, becoming bright and pure, however, on the rump, 

 tail, and wings. Under parts paler and more rusty-brown, with more 

 abdominal white than in the male. Little if any smaller than the male. 



Young, newly fledged : Brown, becoming blue on the wings and tail, the 

 back sharply marked with shaft-lines of whitish. Nearly all the under parts 

 closely and uniformly freckled with white and brownish. A white ring 

 round the eye; inner secondaries edged with brown. From this stage, in 

 which the sexes are indistinguishable, to the perfectly adult condition, the 

 bird changes by insensible degrees. 



In Mexican-bred specimens, the blue has a slight greenish shade, approach- 

 ing that of S. arctica, and does not ordinarily extend on the side of the head 

 below the eyes; the tail is rather longer. This is the basis of *S. " azurea." 



LIKE the Thrasher, the Bluebird barely reaches the confines 

 of the Colorado Basin, fairly within which it does not yet 

 appear to have been found. The northern limit of its distribu- 

 tion is nearly coincident with the boundary of the United 

 States, though including a portion at least of Canada and Nova 

 Scotia. The westernnaost quotations I have found are those 

 of Dr. Cooper, Mr. Holden, and Mr. Eidgway, which indicate 

 its extension to the Milk Eiver in Montana, the Black Hills, 

 lying across the boundary between Dakota and Wyoming, and 

 the mountains (probabl3^ the eastern foothills) of Colorado Ter- 

 ritory. In Mexico, the species occurs together with the slight 

 modification known as S. "azurea." It sometimes penetrates 

 to Central America; other extralimital localities assigned are 

 Cuba and the Bermudas, to which doubtless the Bahamas 

 should be added. It breeds indifferently througliout its United 

 States range, and spends the winter in great numbers in the 

 Southern States. 



There is no occasion to speak of the Bluebird's habits and 

 manners, familiar to every one. In the Middle States, it is one 

 of the earliest spring arrivals, with the Bobins, Crackles, and 

 Pewits, before the Swallows come ; it is occasionally observed 

 during warm w^eather in February, or even in January, and 

 may be suspected even of lingering through the winter when 

 not too severe. But it disappears in inclement weather, doubt- 

 less taking the short flight southward which brings it to a more 

 congenial climate ; yet, ready to yield to the allurements of a 

 few bright sunny days, it soon returns with its cheery, voluble 

 warbling, inseparable from the associations of spring-time, pre- 

 saging all the hopeful aspirations of the awakening year. This 



