50 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



ley," compiled by W. W. Cooke, and published in Forest 

 and Stream, October 12, 1882, report that great numbers 

 of bluebirds stay all winter, becoming more and more 

 numerous during February. Their spring arrival in New 

 England is said to vary from the last of February to the 

 10th of March. 



Though the bluebirds merit our lavish encomiums for 

 braving the uncertainties of opening spring to suggest to* 

 us visions of living color and the wealth of summer 

 loveliness, they seem to hesitate before descending among 

 the scenes that still speak of winter-beaten experiences. 

 For the first week or more subsequent to their arrival, 

 they frequent the tops of trees in village, city, and 

 country, as well as the tops of outbuildings, continually 

 warbling their sweet, tremulous strains. They seem un- 

 determined whether to remain; and when we note their 

 pretty habit of lifting their wings and trembling lightly 

 on their perch, we sometimes fear that they are about to 

 rise and leave us only the memory of their visit. How 

 restless they appear as they uneasily shift their stations! 

 What a contrast their unfamiliar behavior presents to their 

 well-known confidence when they are prepared to select 

 a home and assume the duties of rearing their broods! 



It is during their dalliance in the "upper story" of 

 their resorts that the bluebirds utter their strains with 

 greatest persistency and tenderest expressions. Then 

 their voices seem in perfect accord with time and place, 

 aptly borne upon the genial breath of April, accompanying 

 the quivering fervor of the atmosphere, and the quiet 

 though rapid change of nature's habiliments. Even in 

 its most energetic execution, however, there is a well- 

 defined undercurrent of sadness in the flow of spirits. 

 Indeed, every action of these amiable creatures is to me 

 suggestive of trustful resignation to the hand of sorrow. 

 I must ever compare the gentle, even tempered demeanor 

 of the bluebirds to the conduct of those persons whose 

 lives have been chastened by some deep-reaching force, 

 and whose brightest smiles are yet brighter in their iinde- 

 finable trace of sadness. It seems to me that much of the 

 charm in the manners of the bluebirds lies in the air of 

 pensiveness ever expressed in their actions, and voiced in 



