BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 291 



first a mere wandering voice in the skies, comes down to us 

 a sure augury of returning spring. The Robin, Song Spar- 

 row, and Blackbird renew the vernal prophecy ; but when 

 the Bluebird warbles gently from the leafless trees, and flits 

 from fence to house top, we feel that 

 the very spirit of the spring has come. 

 The Bluebird is usually common, 

 locally at least, in Massachusetts by 

 the middle of March, and flights may 

 be seen going south in September and 

 October. The bird is seldom seen 

 later than November ; but it is quite 

 possible that occasionally a few winter Fig. 127.— Bluebird, about 



,1 , -\r 1 ,, ,1 one-half natural size. 



in southeastern Massachusetts, as they 



have been reported there in December and January, and a 

 few are said to winter in the same latitude in Connecticut. 

 Wherever dense red cedar and sumac thickets are numerous 

 and fruitful, there is food enough to carry through the winter 

 such Bluebirds as may venture to stay. It is quite probable 

 that some of the early birds which come from the south in 

 February are starved and frozen during the extreme cold 

 weather and snowstonns which sometimes follow their ap- 

 pearance ; most of them, however, contrive to exist until 

 warm weather appears. 



This bird often rears two or three broods. The male bird 

 takes care of the young after they have learned to fly, while 

 the female prepares a nest for the next brood. 



The Bluebird needs no defence ; it has long been regarded 

 as a harmless species, for it takes practically none of man's 

 products, and boards itself. Nevertheless, it is probably not 

 as useful as the Robin, — a bird which has been widely reviled 

 as a pest. However, the utility of the Bluebird must be ac- 

 knowledged, although it perhaps eats more beneficial insects 

 in proportion to the harmful ones than does the Robin. The 

 Bluebird comes close to the Robin as a cutworm destroyer, 

 and at times it is an eflicient caterpillar hunter. It is valu- 

 able in the orchard in repressing outbreaks of cankerworms. 

 As it eats the furry caterpillars of Arctians and other hairy 

 species, it is of especial value in Massachusetts. It is a 



