•332 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



I 



bugs. On this account alone, it is entitled to our protection, but it 



is also one of the most attractive birds which visit the shrubbery, 

 and should be most welcome if it could be taught to consider itself 

 protected and come nearer to our dwellings. 



Before retiring in the fall, the males lose the greater portion of 

 their black, but retain the carmine on the breast and under wing 

 coverts. 



Genus PASSERINA Vieillot. 

 PASSERINA CYANEA (Linn.). 



241. Indigo Bunting. (598) 



Adult male : — Blue, tinged with ultra-marine on the head and throat, 

 elsewhere with verdigris-green ; wings and tail, blackish, glossed with green ; 

 feathers around base of bill, black ; bill, dark above, rather paler below, with a 

 curious black stripe along the gonys. Female : — Above, plain warm brown ; 

 below, whitey-brown, obsoletely streaky on the breast and sides ; wing coverts 

 and inner quills, pale edged, but not whitish ; upper mandible, blackish, lower 

 pale, with the black stripe just mentioned. Young male : — Is like the female, 

 but soon shows blue traces, and afterwards is blue, with white variegation 

 below. Length, 5^ ; wing, 2^ ; tail, 2h. 



Hab. — Eastern United States, south in winter to Veragua. 



Nest, in a bush, composed of leaves, grass and weed stalks, lined with finer 

 material of the same kind. 



Eggs, four or five, white, tinged with bhie; sometimes speckled with 

 reddish-brown. 



About the 15th of May, the Indigo arrives from the south, and at 

 once commences to deliver his musical message, such as it is, with 

 considerable animation. While so engaged, he is usually perched 

 on the upper twig of a dead limb, within hearing of the female, who 

 is of retiring habits and seeks to elude observation among the briars 

 and underbrush. 



It is rather a tender species, and probably does not penetrate far 

 north into Ontario. It is not mentioned either by Prof. Macoun 

 or by Mr. Thompson as having been seen in the North- West, 

 and by the middle of September i^ has disappeared from Southern 

 Ontario. The rich plumage and lively manners of the male make 

 him quite conspicuous while here. Individuals vary considerably in 

 the regularity of their coloring and in the intensity of the blue, but a 

 male in rich spring plumage is a very handsome little bird. 



A favorite resort of the species near Hamilton is about the 

 railroad track, near the waterworks reservoir. 



