50 WASTE-LAND WANDERINGS. 



flocks of cedar-birds, that liave kept so closely togeth- 

 er from November to May, do not disperse, and a gener- 

 al stampede for wives and husbands takes place. All 

 contention upon this point is among themselves, and 

 the small proportion of unmated birds, common to gre- 

 garious or non-gregarious species, either remain in sin- 

 gle blessedness for a season, or join other communities 

 where mates are to be had. 



In this case, as in that of crows, it is necessarily a mat- 

 ter of probabilities, not demonstrable facts; but when we 

 come to consider the following non-gregarious species, 

 we are treading upon firmer ground. 



It is a somewhat significant fact that birds are very 

 seldom seen alone ; and if we do chance to come across 

 a single individual of one species, it is pretty sure to be 

 in the company of other kinds of birds. To meet with 

 a bird that is strictly alone, even in the late autumn or 

 winter, when birds have no thoughts of nesting, is the 

 very rarest occurrence I have noted during many years 

 of rambling. 



Prominent among our resident birds is the familiar 

 bluebird. Since 187-1 1 have recorded them thirty four 

 hundred times, and when not in loose flocks, there w^as 

 always at least a pair, and flying in such close company 

 it was evident that they had mutual interests, whether 

 it happened to be December or May. Of their nests 

 I have examined seventy-three, and fifty-five of them 

 were built, year after year, in six different localities. 

 One hole in an apple-tree was certainly occupied by the 

 same pair for five successive summers. The male bird 

 was readily recognized by a peculiarity in the plumage. 



