FEBRUARY, “THE LONG-SHORT MONTH” 317 
in itself a science and a subject about which there are 
many theories and differences of opinion by equally dis- 
tinguished men. 
“The food of the nestling Bluebird is insectivorous, or, 
rather, to be more exact, I should say animal; but the 
adult birds vary their diet at all seasons by eating berries 
and small fruits. In autumn and early winter cedar and 
honeysuckle berries, the grapelike cluster of fruit of 
the poison ivy, bittersweet and cat-brier berries, are all 
consumed according to their needs. 
“Professor Beal, of the Department of Agriculture, 
writes, after a prolonged study, that 76 per cent of the 
Bluebird’s food ‘consists of insects and their allies, while 
the other 24 per cent is made up of various vegetable sub- 
stances, found mostly in stomachs taken in winter. 
Beetles constitute 28 per cent of the whole food, grass- 
hoppers 22 per cent, caterpillars 11 per cent, and various 
insects, including quite a number of spiders, comprise the 
remainder of the insect diet. All these are more or less 
harmful, except a few predaceous beetles, which amount 
to 8 per cent, but in view of the large consumption of 
grasshoppers and caterpillars, we can at least condone 
this offence, if such it may be called. The destruction of 
grasshoppers is very noticeable in the months of August 
and September, when these insects form more than 60 per 
cent of the diet.’ 
“It is not easy to tempt Bluebirds to an artificial feed- 
ing-place, such as I keep supplied with food for Juncoes, 
Chickadees, Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Jays, ete.; yet it 
has been done, and they have been coaxed to nest close 
to houses and feed on window-sills like the Chickadees. 
