Bluebirds 685 



which are much longer than the slightly emarginate tail. They are handsome 

 birds, the adult males being bright blue above and cinnamon and white, blue 

 and chestnut, or blue and white beneath; the females are duller than the males, 

 and the young are spotted and streaked with white. 



Too well known, perhaps, to need extended introduction, the Eastern Blue- 

 bird (S. sialis} is as widely and affectionately known to all residents of eastern 

 North America as any native bird, hardly excepting his relative, the Robin. 

 Gentle and lovable in disposition, he comes fearlessly about houses and gardens, 

 having the "blue of the sky upon his back and on his breast the tints of its rosy 

 dawn," a veritable harbinger of spring and messenger of good cheer. Although 

 generally migratory everywhere, a few may occasionally be seen in winter even 

 in the most northern states, but the majority spend the colder months in the 

 south, where in companies they congregate to feed upon the berries of the mistle- 

 toe, red cedar, and other like fruits. But in earliest spring, often in February 

 and March, they suddenly appear in couples in their summer haunts in the 

 north, returning year after year to the same localities. Not infrequently, how- 

 ever, they are overtaken by a sudden cold wave, and, as happened some years 

 ago, perish by thousands. As soon as weather conditions permit, they set about 

 house hunting, and after the inspection of all available sites select a nesting 

 box, a hole in a tree, a hollow post or fence rail, and upon a scant lining of soft 

 grasses deposit from four to six pale blue, rarely white, unspotted eggs. They 

 are often annoyed and frequently dispossessed of their nesting site by the pes- 

 tiferous House Sparrow, especially in towns and cities, though in country districts 

 they manage to hold their own. During summer the Bluebird feeds almost 

 exclusively upon insects, such as grasshoppers, beetles, moths, and spiders, 

 often flying to the ground for their capture ; but it does not hop upon the ground, 

 simply alighting there to secure one it has spied from a vantage point on fence 

 post or dead weed stalk, and to which it at once returns. After rearing several 

 broods, they congregate in small parties in pastures, stumpy fields, and cleared 

 woods, and seem loath to leave, but at last when the warning of approaching 

 winter can no longer be unheeded, they start with sadly plaintive calls quite 

 unlike their cheerful spring notes for their winter home. The Bluebird is not 

 often kept in confinement in this country, but it is frequently taken as a cage 

 bird to Europe, where it is known as the Blue Robin. It is said to make an 

 engaging pet, and even breeds in captivity. 



Of the other species, the Mexican Bluebird (S. mexicana} of southern Mexico 

 has little if any chestnut on the back, the blue being of a very rich, deep hue, 

 while a subspecies of this, known as the Western Bluebird (S. m. occidentalis}, 

 which is of smaller size and lighter blue above, takes the place of the Eastern 

 species throughout the western United States in general. The Mountain Blue- 

 bird (S. arctica) is distinguished at once by the rich, glossy cerulean blue above 

 and lighter blue below; it occurs in the Rocky Mountains and adjacent areas. 



Thrush-Robins. Although the so-called Thrush-Robins (Catharus) of the 

 neotropical regions have been placed by some authorities with the Bluebirds, 

 they are undoubtedly much more closely related to the Wood Thrushes (Hylo- 



