FIRST-COMERS. 39 



fore they are suited ; for the woodpeckers have been there 

 years before them, chiselling out many holes for themselves 

 which are now left vacant ; or the snapping off of some old 

 limb has opened the way to a snug cavity in its hollow 

 interior. Any kind of a cranny seems to serve in a pinch. 

 I have known them to build in a broken tin water-spout 

 under the eaves of a house for want of a better place ; al- 

 though, no doubt, the birds exercise a decided choice when 

 they can. The tenement determined upon, the furnishing 

 of it does not require much labor or contrivance. The birds 

 bring enough of a peculiar kind of soft grass which turns 

 reddish brown when it dries, sometimes mix with it a little 

 hair, and thus thickly carpet the bottom of the cavity. That 

 is all. The eggs are laid by the second week in April, and 

 the young are hatched about ten days after. The eggs are 

 five in number, and are light blue, without spots. Once, in 

 ISTorthern Ohio, I found a nestf ul of pearly-white eggs, and 

 one other similar case has come to my knowledge. They 

 were just as well worth sitting on, however, as five blue 

 eggs would have been. 



The bluebird is also a true bird of the garden, taking the 

 place of England's robin -redbreast more nearly than any 

 other bird in America. It is no trouble to have them twit- 

 tering about the house the whole summer through. The 



