The Bluebird 199 
If one carefully approached the tree and scratched 
on the bark, the mother would give one low note and 
every noisy baby bluebird would immediately become 
quiet. Each repetition of the experiment called forth 
the same low note. This is characteristic of other 
birds as well. The ruffed grouse does it, and there is 
every reason to believe that all birds have some sort of 
a language of their own. 
The old birds of this family became very tame. On 
the ninth day after the young were hatched the female 
must have been killed, for she disappeared on that day 
and was not seen again. This tragedy seemed to 
discourage the male, and as the young were in danger 
of starving, we took them into the house and brought 
them up by hand. They became great pets, and after 
they could fly about the yard they would come for their 
food several times a day. They remained until August 
fifteenth, and after that I was not sure that I saw them 
again, for one bluebird looks very much like another. 
In late summer the song of the bluebird is changed to 
a plaintive note that is as suggestive of coming winter 
as the song is of returning spring. At this season of 
the year, and especially in autumn, it is usual to see 
small flocks of them along the roadsides and about the 
orchards. At the approach of winter the greater 
number of these bluebirds migrate to the southern part 
