Birds of Lewiston-Auburn 17 



LAND BIRDS 



ORDER PERCHING BIRDS 

 FAMILY THRUSHES 



1. *(766) BLUEBIRD 



A summer resident, quite common. A party of us 

 saw one March 7, 1915, but the regular time of arrival is 

 about March 20. It remains till the first of November and 

 stragglers are seen even later. The bluebird is a good 

 fighter. It spends much time peeping here and there for 

 nesting places. Two broods are reared. While the robin's 

 spring note is the first for the city, the bluebird is usually 

 seen a morning or two earlier in the country. Its note is 

 a welcome sound on that March morning when the "earth 

 tinge on his breast and the sky tinge on his back" give us 

 the first color of spring as he flies from "post to post." 

 That rich contralto warble often heard in the air before 

 the bird is seen, is associated with early spring. Bur- 

 roughs says its song expresses love. After it changes the 

 first love song to one of only three notes, the "de-a-rie" is 

 poured forth with that richness of quality peculiar to the 

 bluebird. About April 20 it settles down to housekeep- 

 ing and the song is heard less. In the autumn its notes 

 have that sweet plaintiveness quite in keeping with the 

 season. 



2. (761) AMERICAN ROBIN 



A very abundant summer resident. Not all that are 

 seen during the spring migration remain. Some go 

 farther north for the summer and reappear on their way 

 south in the autumn. It arrives from the i8th to 27th 



*The numbers in parentheses are taken from the Check-List of 

 the American Ornithologists' Union. 



