218 THE BLUEBIRD. 



There never was a happier or more devoted hus- 

 band than the male bluebird is. But among nearly 

 all our familiar birds the serious cares of life seem to 

 devolve almost entirely upon the female. The male 

 is hilarious and demonstrative, the female serious and 

 anxious about her charge. The male is the attendant 

 of the female, following her wherever she goes. He 

 never leads, never directs, but only seconds and ap- 

 plauds. If his life is all poetry and romance, hers is 

 all business and prose. She has no pleasure but her 

 duty, and no duty but to look after her nest and 

 brood. She shows no affection for the male, no pleas- 

 ure in his society ; she only tolerates him as^ neces- 

 sary evil, and, if he is killed, goes in quest of another 

 in the most business-like manner, as you would go 

 for the plumber or the glazier. In most cases the 

 male is the ornamental partner in the firm, and con- 

 tributes little of the working capital. There seems 

 to be more equality of the sexes among the wood- 

 peckers, wrens, and swallows ; while the contrast is 

 greatest, perhaps, in the bobolink family, where the 

 sourting is done in the Arab fashion, the female flee- 

 ing with all her speed and the male pursuing with 

 equal precipitation ; and were it not for the broods of 

 young birds that appear, it would be hard to believe 

 that the intercourse ever ripened into anything more 

 intimate. 



With the bluebirds the male is useful as well as 

 ornamental. He is the gay champion and escort of 

 the female at all times, and while she is sitting he 



