982 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



140. GENUS PASSERIXA XI 



*233. (598). Passerina cyanea (LINN.). 



Indigo Bunting. 

 Synonym, INDIGO BIRD. 



Adult Male. Blue; darker on head, throat^and breast; lighter on 

 back; black about base of bill; wing and tail feathers, black, with 

 bluish edgings; bill, dark above, light below, with a dark stripe along 

 gonys. Adult Female. Brown above, whitish below, more or less 

 streaked with brownish; shoulders, rump and some of larger feathers, 

 showing blue; wing and tail feathers, more or less distinctly edged 

 with bluish. Immature. Male, similar to female, but showing more 

 or less blue, according to age; young birds, streaked below. 



Length, 4.75-5.75; wing, 2.60-2.80; tail, 2.20-2.50. 



Note. Close observation will show bluish edgings on wing and tail 

 feathers, which will determine the bird. 



RANGE. North America, from Panama and Cuba, east of Plains, 

 to Minnesota, northern Michigan and Nova Scotia. Breeds through- 

 out its United States range. Winters from the coast of the Gulf 

 States, south. 



Nest, in crotch of bush, low down, of leaves, grass and bark, 

 lined with similar material. Eggs, 3-5; white, tinged with blue, occa- 

 sionally speckled with reddish-brown; .73 by .53. 



The Indigo Bunting is a common summer resident throughout In- 

 diana. The blue plumage and sprightly song of the male are known 

 to every one who has spent much time about bushes, brier patches 

 and thickets. They prefer the drier land and are very seldom found, 

 in southern Indiana at least, about low or swampy places. 



They sometimes appear on the southern border of the State by the 

 middle of April, but other years, when the season is more forbidding, 

 they are not found until May 1. The following early and late dates 

 of first appearance .are given: Bloomington, April 13, 1882, May 2, 

 1895; Bicknell, April 22, 1896, April 30, 1895; Brookville, April 22, 

 1885, May 8, 1889; Vigo County, April 18, 1897, May 8, 1886; Spears- 

 ville, April 27, 1895, and 1897, April 29, 1894; Greencastle, April 

 24, 1896, May 1, 1894 and 1895; Lafayette, April 27, 1896, May 10, 

 1895; Sedan, May 4, 1895, May 5, 1896; Chicago, 111., May 18, 1895, 

 May 23, 1896 and 1897. 



The males precede the females from a day to a week. Mating be- 

 gins soon after the latter arrive. The beginning of pairing was noted 

 at Brookville, May 9, 1887. Sometimes they must be mated when 



