Bluebird SONG-BIRDS. 



of tlie young from the nest. In the choice of a nesting 

 location they are often extremely stupid. The nest being 

 a combination of clay and sticks, is a rather bulky and 

 weighty affair, yet the birds frequently Iniild it in a spot so 

 exposed that a heavy summer shower will reduce it to pulp ; 

 or on so slender a branch that the weight of the growing 

 young cause it to tip over. 



Twelve pairs of Robins, that I knoAV of, nested this 

 season in various parts of the garden, some huddled close 

 to the house, or in fruit trees, others in the evergreens, 

 but in addition to these homes I found five nests, some con- 

 taining eggs, which, though of the season's building, had 

 been abandoned through hopeless faults of location and 

 construction, and the llobin does not lightly abandon its 

 nest after the eggs are laid, like some other Thrushes and 

 many Warblers. 



But with the list of the Robin's shortcomings before us, 

 the cheery sound of his piping effaces them all, and 

 awakens memories that go back to the very dawn of life. 

 He was the first bird, probably, that we learned to call by 

 name, and every spring he returns as the marshal of the 

 feathered hosts and well sustains the honour. 



The American Robin is an entirely different species from 

 the English Robin Redbreast ; the latter is a smaller bird 

 of more compact build, with a brilliant red breast, in form 

 resembling our Bluebird. 



Bluebird : Siala sialis. 



Plate I. Fig. 1. 

 Lencjth: G.50-7 inches. 

 3Iale : Azure-blue above. Wings blue Avith some dark edgings. 



Breast brick-red, lower parts white. Bill and feet black. 

 Female: Dull blue above. Breast paler and more rusty. Young 



with speckled breast and back. 

 Song: A sweet plaintive warble, seeming to say, " Dear ! dear ! think 



of it, think of it!" Burroughs says it continually calls 



" Purity, Purity " ; in either case the accent is the same. 

 Season : A resident species, though the majority come early in ]\Iarch 



and retire to the South in late October. 



m 



