Blue and Bluish 



wanders eastward to rival the bluebird and the indigo bunting 

 in their rare and lovely coloring, and eclipse them both in song. 

 Audubon, we remember, found the nest in New Jersey. Penn- 

 sylvania is still favored with one now and then, but it is in the 

 Southwest only that the blue grosbeak is as common as the 

 evening grosbeak is in the Northwest. Since rice is its favorite 

 food, it naturally abounds where that cereal grows. Seeds and 

 kernels of the hardest kinds, that its heavy, strong beak is well 

 adapted to crack, constitute its diet when it strays beyond the 

 rice-fields. 



Possibly the heavy bills of all the grosbeaks make them look 

 stupid whether they are or not — a characteristic that the blue gros- 

 beak's habit of sitting motionless with a vacant stare many min- 

 utes at a time unfortunately emphasizes. 



When seen in the roadside thickets or tall weeds, such as the 

 field sparrow chooses to frequent, it shows little fear of man un- 

 less actually approached and threatened, but whether this fearless- 

 ness comes from actual confidence or stupidity is by no means 

 certain. Whatever the motive of its inactivity, it accomplishes an 

 end to be desired by the cleverest bird ; its presence is almost 

 never suspected by the passer-by, and its grassy nest on a tree- 

 branch, containing three or four pale bluish-white eggs, is never 

 betrayed by look or sign to the marauding small boy. 



Barn Swallow 



(Cbelidon erythrogaster) Swallow family 



Length— 6. '^ to 7 inches. A trifle larger than the English sparrow. 

 Apparently considerably larger, because of its wide wing- 

 spread. 



Male — Glistening steel-blue shading to black above. Chin, breast, 

 and underneath bright chestnut-brown and brilliant buff that 

 glistens in the sunlight. A partial collar of steel-blue. Tail 

 very deeply forked and slender. 



Female — Smaller and paler, with shorter outer tail feathers, mak- 

 ing the fork less prominent. 



Range— Ihxoughoui North America. Winters in tropics of both 

 Americas. 



Migrations— h^rW. September. Summer resident. 



Any one who attempts to describe the coloring of a bird's 

 plumage knows how inadequate words are to convey a just idea 



106 



