212 BIRDS OF OHIO. 



299. (766.) SIALIA SIALIS (Linn.). 10. 

 Bluebird. 



Synonyms: Saxicola sialis, Sialia wilsonii, Motacilla sialis. 

 Eastern Bluebird, Blue Robin, Blue Redbreast, Blue War- 

 bler, Cottage Warbler, Blue-backed Redbreast Warbler, 

 Common Bluebird Wilson's Bluebird, American Bluebird. 



Kirtland, Ohio Geol. Surv., 1838, 163. 



Bluebird is familiar to all who ever look at birds. Pre- 

 vious to that disastrous cold winter 1894-5 when the 

 Bluebirds were all but exterminated in Kentucky and Ten- 

 nessee, it was decidedly common all summer. Its recovery 

 from that calamity has been steady and rapid until it 

 has become common again. Previous to that time there 

 were no records for its wintering in northern Ohio, but 

 since then it is regularly found all winter in small numbers. 

 The survivors were a hardier race which has pushed its 

 range farther north. Bluebirds are found everywhere ex- 

 cept in the deep woods during the breeding season. They 

 easily adapt themselves to the changing conditions due to 

 the settlement of the country, and readily breed in boxes 

 erected for their use. 



They feed to a small extent upon wild fruits and their 

 seeds, but 76 per cent, of the food is animal, mostly noxious 

 insects. There can be no question of the usefulness of 

 Bluebird. 



Robin and Bluebird arrive very near together, and tarry 

 equally long into November. The Bluebird is considered 

 the "Harbinger of Spring." 



