The Bluebird {Si all a si alts). 



By I. N. Mitchell 



Length seven inches ; sexes much alike, female duller ; nest in hollow stumps, 

 trees, jxjsts and in bird-boxes ; eggs, four to six ; note a short but very pleasing 

 contralto warble. 



Range: Breeds in the United States (west to Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, 

 and ^Montana), southern Canada, Mexico and Guatemala; winters in the southern 

 half of the eastern United States and south to Guatemala. 



Habits and economic status: The bluel^ird is one of the most familiar 

 tenants of the farm ^nd dooryard. Everywhere it is hailed as the harbinger of 

 spring, and wherever it chooses to reside it is sure of a warm w'clcome. This 

 bird, lihce the robin, phoebe, house wren, and some swallows, is very domestic in 

 its habits. Its favorite nesting sites are crannies in the farm buildings or boxes 

 made for its use or natural cavities in old apple trees. For rent the bird pays 

 amply by destroying insects, and it takes no toll from the farm crop. The blue- 

 bird's diet consists of 68 per cent of insects to 32 per cent of vegetable matter. 

 The largest items of insect food are grasshoppers first and beetles next, while 

 caterpillars stand third. All of these are harmful except a few of the beetles. 

 The vegetable food consists chiefly of fruit pulp, only an insignificant portion of 

 which is of cultivated varieties. Among wild fruits elderberries are the favorite. 

 From the above it will be seen that the bluebird does no essential harm, but on the 

 contrary eats many harmful and annoying insects. 



To think of the bluebird is to think of spring. The long weeks of winter 

 have had their rugged pleasures. The bird lover may have taken snow-shoe 

 tramps afield to search for traces of the quail and grouse, to share a meal with 

 the friendly chickadee, to watch the w^oodpeckers or tree sparrows, or to dis- 

 cover some occasional resident as the robin or red-winged blackbird, shrike or 

 crossbill ; but in the main, the fields have been deserted and the wild life, like the 

 woods, has seemed wrapped in a long, restful sleep. We begin to long for the 

 ringing up of the white curtain and the lowering of the green one. How glad 

 we are when the warble of the blue-bird, the cackle of the robin, and the joyous 

 whistle of the meadow-lark give us warning that the change of curtains is about 

 to be made. 



The bluebird ventures back about the first week in March. His back never 

 looks so blue as when in contrast with the March and April snow. It is in har- 

 mony with the sky from the first, but his breast must help to melt away the 

 lingering snow before it can be in keeping with the rich, brown earth. 



Returning together, the bluebird and his mate soon set about looking over 

 available nesting places. The English sparrow^ is, at this time, their only com- 

 petitor, but a severe competitor he is. As cold weather approached in the fall, 

 he appropriated for winter quarters every bird-box into which he could squeeze; 



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