212 BIRDS OF OHIO. 
299. (766.) Strata statis (Linn.). 10. 
Bluebird. 
Synonyms: Saxicola sialis, Sialia wilsonii, Motacilla sialis. 
Eastern Bluebird, Blue Robin, Blue Redbreast, Blue War- 
bler, Cottage Warbler, Blue-backed Redbreast Warbler, 
Common Bluebird, Wilson’s Bluebird, American Bluebird. 
Kirtland, Ohio Geol. Surv., 1838, 163. 
Bluebird is familiar to all who ever look at birds. Pre- 
vious to that disastrous cold winter—1894-5—when the 
Bluebirds were all but exterminated in Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee, it was decidedly common all summer. Its recovery 
from that calamity has been steady and rapid until it 
has become common again. Previous to that time there 
were no records for its wintering in northern Ohio, but 
since then it is regularly found all winter in small numbers. 
The survivors were a hardier race which has pushed its 
range farther north. Bluebirds are found everywhere ex- 
cept in the deep woods during the breeding season. They 
easily adapt themselves to the changing conditions due to 
the settlement of the country, and readily breed in boxes 
erected for their use. 
They feed to a small extent upon wild fruits and their 
seeds, but 76 per cent. of the food is animal, mostly noxious 
insects. There can be no question of the usefulness of 
Bluebird. 
Robin and Bluebird arrive very near together, and tarry 
equally long into November. The Bluebird is considered 
the “Harbinger of Spring.” 
