320 BLUE-BIRD. 



black; inside of the mouth and soles of the feet yellow, resemb- 

 ling the colour of a ripe persimmon : the shafts of all the wing and 

 tail feathers are black; throat, neck, breast, and sides partially 

 under the wings, chestnut; wings dusky black at the tips; belly 

 and vent white; sometimes the secondaries are exteriorly light 

 brown, but the bird has in that case not arrived at his full co- 

 lour. The female is easily distinguished by the duller cast of 

 the back, the plumage of which is skirted with light brown, 

 and by the red on the breast being much fainter, and not de- 

 scending near so low as in the male; the secondaries are also 

 more dusky. This species is found over the whole United States; 

 in the Bahama islands where many of them winter; as also in 

 Mexico, Brazil, and Guiana. 



Mr. Edwards mentions that the specimen of this bird which 

 he was favoured with, was sent from the Bermudas; and as these 

 islands abound with the cedar, it is highly probable that many 

 of those birds pass from our continent thence, at the commence- 

 ment of winter, to enjoy the mildness of that climate as well as 

 their favourite food. 



As the Blue-bird is so regularly seen in winter, after the con- 

 tinuance of a few days of mild and open weather, it has given 

 rise to various conjectures as to the place of his retreat. Some 

 supposing it to be in close sheltered thickets, lying to the sun; 

 others the neighbourhood of the sea, where the air is supposed 

 to be more temperate, and where the matters thrown up by the 

 waves furnish him with a constant and plentiful supply of food. 

 Others trace him to the dark recesses of hollow trees, and sub- 

 terraneous caverns, where they suppose he dozes away the win- 

 ter, making, like Robinson Crusoe, occasional reconnoitering 

 excursions from his castle, whenever the weather happens to be 

 favourable. But amidst the snows and severities of winter I 

 have sought for him in vain in the most favourable sheltered 

 situations of the middle states; and not only in the neighbour- 

 hood of the sea, but on both sides of the mountains. * I have 



* I speak of the species here generally. Solitary individuals are found, parti- 

 cularly among our cedar trees, sometimes in the very depth of winter. 



