FANNING HERSELF DRY. 109 



amazement was amusing to see, but he quickly- 

 made up his mind that it was not a safe place 

 to eat, and when I gave him another he went 

 to the roof of the same cage. She instantly- 

 mounted the top perch, put up her bill and 

 seized the worm; but he held on, dragged it 

 away, and then retired to his own cage with it. 

 She positively could not resist this temptation, 

 and even from her own cherished spouse she 

 would sometimes snatch the desired tidbit. 



The bluebirds' method of bathing differed 

 from any I have noticed. They put the head 

 under water, and held it there, while spattering 

 vigorously with wings and tail. On leaving the 

 bath the female fanned herself dry, holding 

 tightly to the perch and beating her wings with 

 violence, while dancing back and forth the 

 whole length of the perch, in a bewitching man- 

 ner. Her mate fanned himself also, adding a 

 very pretty lateral shake of the wings, and rais- 

 ing the feathers on the crown and throat till he 

 looked twice as big as usual. But he was very 

 fond of sunning himself dry, in the attitude al- 

 ready spoken of. That position, by the way, 

 was a not unusual one with him ; he often 

 hopped the length of three feet before a blind 

 which stood against the wall, his legs bent, 

 head nearly touching the floor, and tail thrust 

 almost straight up. A droll figure he made. 



