506 LAND BIRDS 
over and over while perching, never on the wing. Ex- 
cept in the location of the nest, this bird is like the 
mountain bluebird in breeding habits, which have been 
fully described under that head. 
768. MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD. — Siala arctica. 
Famity: The Thrushes, Solitaires, ete. 
Length : 6.50-7.90. 
Adult Male: Upper parts brilliant light-blue; under parts pale tur- 
quoise blue. Winter plumage slightly duller. 
Adult Female: Upper parts gray, wings and tail bright taeda blue ; 
under parts soft ight-brown, w ashed with blue. 
Young: Grayish, indistinctly streaked or mottled with white; wings 
and tail blue. 
Geographical Distribution: From Great Slave Lake south to New 
Mexico, and from the Plains to the Pacific. 
California Breeding Range: On the higher Sierra Nevada, from Mt. 
Shasta to the San Bernardino mountains. 
Breeding Season: May, June, and July. 
Nest : In old woodpecker holes or in natural cavities of dead trees. 
Eggs: 5 to 7; pale turquoise blue. Size 0.85 X 0.63. 
THE exquisite coloring of the Mountain Bluebird ren- 
ders him easily the most beautiful of all Californian 
birds. No words can describe his brilliancy in the breed- 
ing season, as he flies through the sunny clearings of the 
higher Sierra Nevada, or sits like a bright blue flower 
against the dark green of the pines. In the winter the 
brilliant blue of his plumage is dulled by brownish, but 
even then he is glorious. All through the State east 
of the humid coast belt these birds wander during the 
winter in small flocks, looking like big blue butterflies, 
as they hover fifty feet above the earth. At this time 
they have all the habits of flycatchers ; I have seen them 
