298 



USEFUL BIRDS. 



Fig. 129. Indigo Bunt- 

 ing, male, about one-half 

 natural size. 



Indigo Bunting. Indigo Bird. 



Cyanospiza cyanea. 



Length. About five and one-half inches. 



Adult Male. Bright, lustrous indigo-blue, deepest on head, and often with a 



greenish tinge ; wings and tail dark brown, with blue marks and tints. 

 Adult Female and Young. Upper parts light brown, sometimes faintly, but 



never prominently, streaked ; under parts brownish-gray ; breast and sides 



faintly streaked. 

 Nest. In low bush. 

 Eggs. White. 

 Season. May to September. 



This bright blue Bunting is one of the most brilliant of 

 northern birds. The color of the male is so dark that at 

 a distance it seems almost black. The 

 male requires three years to attain full 

 plumage. It frequents bushy pastures, 

 sprout lands, and old fruit gardens 

 grown up to weeds. In late August 

 and September it is seen in sweet-corn 

 patches or cornfields. 



Its song is a rather rich and pleas- 

 ing refrain, with a metallic ring or jingle. A few notes 

 seem to exhaust its vocabulary and its breath at the same 

 time, but it is soon ready to try again. Perseverance is its 

 unfailing virtue, for it sings, intermittently, all through the 

 long, hot summer day. Its alarm note is a sharp chip. 



It feeds more on the caterpillars that infest trees and 

 bushes than do most Sparrows, and takes many such larvae to 

 its young. It is fond of grasshoppers, 

 and takes some insects from the jnirden. 



o 



It eats the birch plant louse with avidity. 



A few flies, mosquitoes, or gnats are 



taken ; cankerworms and other measur- 



ing worms, the larvae of several species of 



butterflies, and the imagoes of nocturnal 



and Tineid moths, with small beetles of different species, con- 



stitute a portion of its insect food. The larger part of its food 



consists of seeds, many of which are those of weeds. During 



its short stay with us it is one of the few useful species seen 



much about the garden, and is of some service in the orchard. 



iso. indigo Bunt- 

 ing> female - 



