20 NESTS AND EGGS OF N. A. BIKDS. 



generally containing four pale blue eggs, uniform in color, and 

 without spots, which measure .81 of an inch in length by .69 in 

 breadth." — Baird, Brewf.r and Ridgway's N. A. Birds, vol. i, 

 pp, 60, 61. 



22. SIALIA SIALIS. 



BLUEBIRD. 



This bird, which is so familiar to every ordinary observer, is one 

 of the earliest and most welcome visitors of the Eastern States, ar- 

 riving as early as the first of March. It breeds in almost every 

 part of the eastern portion of North America, from Georgia and 

 Louisiana to the Arctic regions. The site chosen for its nest is 

 usually a hollow in the decayed trunk of a tree, a deserted wood- 

 pecker's excavation, or a box prepared for its use. The nest is 

 composed of fine twigs, grasses, roots, feathers, leaves and hair, 

 carelessly woven together, but leaving quite a depression. The 

 eggs are five, sometimes six, in number, and of a uniform pale 

 blue, measuring about .81 of an inch in length by .62 in breadth. 

 This bird rears two and sometimes three broods in a season. 



23. SIALIA MEXICANA. 



CALIFORNIA^ BLUEBIRD. 



"This Bluebird belongs to western North America, its proper 

 domain being between the Rocky Mountains and Pacific, from 

 Mexico to Washington Territory, Mr. Nuttall first met with this 

 species among the small rocky prairies of the Columbia. He 

 speaks of its habits as exactly similar to those of the common blue- 

 bird, *** The eggs, usually four in number, are of a uniform 

 pale blue of a slightly deeper shade than that of the S. sialis. 

 They measure .87 of an inch in length by .69 in breadth." — 

 Baird, Brewer and Ridgway's N. A, Birds, vol. i, pp. 65, 66, 



24. SIALIA ARCTICA. 



ROCKY MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD. 



"This Bluebird belongs to the Central fauna, and occupies a 

 place in the Eastern only by its appearance on its borders. It was 

 first procured by Sir John Richardson, at Fort Franklin, in July, 

 1825. It is abundant throughout the central table-lands of North 

 America between the Pacific and the mouth of the Yellowstone, 

 from Great Bear Lake to the lower portions of California. In the 



