BIRDS OF BERMUDA. 175 



vivacious manners, and pleasant warble render it an object of interest 

 to all ; while its confiding and fearless nature in the breeding season, 

 and the number of noxious insects it destroys, cause it to be strictly 

 protected throughout the islands. The male bird in spring, when the 

 sun's rays illumine his dazzling blue plumage, is iierfectly lovely ; he 

 flashes across the road like a ray of azure light, and seems actually to 

 blaze with intense color from among the sombre foliage of the cedars, 

 nis spouse is far more sober in lier attire ; but she too puts on nuptial 

 attire and looks uncommonly smart in April and May, when she acquires 

 an unusually vivid blue, and much suffusion of reddish brown about the 

 head. I accidentally shot one in this plumage one afternoon, thinking 

 it was a stranger, so much did it differ from the ordinary female. They 

 breed twice, and, I believe, in some cases thrice; I have seen fresh eggs 

 on April 4, and as late as June 19. Eggs four or five, delicate pale 

 blue, unspotted, .85 inch by .68 inch. Nest of grasses and bents, in all 

 manner of places. I have found them commonly in holes ni old (]uarries 

 or road-side cuttings ; also in crevices of walls ; in rocks, even when 

 some little distance from the shore ; in holes in trees ; on the branches 

 of trees ; in stove and water-pipes ; in calabashes, boxes, &c., hung up 

 for them in the verandas of houses ; in the folds of a canvas awning 

 outside the door of one of the officers' quarters at Prospect Camp ; and 

 in several other curious situations. The female sits close, and I have 

 caught her on the nest. The young are strikingly spotted until their 

 first molt. The males sing much in the early morning in spring, both 

 stationary and on the wing, and continue their song, though with 

 diminished ardor, till an hour or so before sunset. A warm, sunny day 

 in winter, however, is the time to hear them in perfection, when a favor- 

 ite cedar grove will resound with their combined melody, each songster 

 perched on the very topmost twig of a tall cedar. The song is merely 

 a short, but sweet, wild little stave, sounding to me not unlike that of 

 the Blue Thrush {Monticola eyaneus), as I used to hear it from the 

 heights, far away above my head, on the rock of Gibraltar. The call- 

 note is a soft twitter; but they have also a loud double note, "cher- 

 wee," reminding one forcibly of that of an jEgkditis. Attemi)ts are 

 made frequently to bring up young birds from the nest, but they rarely 

 succeed. A few live ones are to be seen in captivity, presumably adults 

 captured by birdlime or in traps ; but as a cage bird it is a failure. It 

 occasionally drives the Red Bird {Gardinalis virginianus) from its nest, 

 even after eggs have been laid, and uses it as a foundation for its own. 



