104 



THE INDIGO BUNTING. 



emphatic that the inquisitor believes himself "hot" when he may be a dozen 

 yards away. As a result the nest is rather hard to find ; and the number found 



in a season's nesting will be 

 out of all proportion to the 

 abundance of the birds. 



The nests, while usually 

 bulky, are models of neatness 

 and strength. Dead leaves 

 and grasses make up its 

 mass, and there is a copious 

 lining of fine grasses with 

 an admixture of horse-hair. 

 Often two, and sometimes 

 three, broods are raised in a 

 season. 



The eggs are of a beauti- 

 ful pale blue, warmed, while 

 fresh, by the color of the 

 contents. Of their occasion- 

 al variation Dr. Coues says : 



k W J^IE^H I M " The e "S is variously de- 



scribed as pure white, plain 



L / f ]ByP blue, or bluish speckled with 



Bk Bfc reddish. The fact appears to 



k. ^m^J be ' not that tliese statements 



are conflicting or any of 

 them erroneous, but that dif- 

 ferent eggs vary accord- 

 ingly. It seems to be the general rule with normally bluish eggs that they range 

 in shade from quite blue to white, and are occasionally speckled.'' 



Taken near Obcrlin. p\ loto by Lynds Joncs _ 



XEST AND EGGS OF THE INDIGO-BIRD. 



