CHAPTER VII. 



THE NEST-HOLE OF THE BLUEBIRD. 



THE mellow note of the Bluebird is a welcome sound on March mornings when the 

 air is yet wintry, and the snow stands deep in the woods. Its meaning is unmis- 

 takable, but to appreciate it, one must live in the North where spring means 

 literally " turning over a new leaf," a new order of existence. Should cold weather or 

 heavy snows return, the birds retire 

 for a time, but promptly re-appear 

 with better days. 



Robins, Song Sparrows, Blue- 

 birds, and Phoebes all arrive from the 

 South during the latter part of March, 

 and the personalities of these birds 

 are too well marked to be mistaken. 

 On March 24th, I heard a bird call- 

 ing from a distant apple orchard, 

 when it presently flew in my direc- 

 tion, alighted on an elm beside the 

 road, and repeated its low sweet call- 

 notes again and again. Through the 

 mist not a feather could be seen, but 

 there was no mistaking this plaintive 

 voice. Five days earlier in the month 

 the Bluebird was seen at Northfield, 

 thirty miles to the south. The males 

 are first to arrive, coming singly or in 

 small straggling companies. As we 

 walk along the desolate country 

 roads, they rise from wall and fence- 

 row, displaying their brilliant azure 

 wings, or when flying overhead the 



cinnamon brown and white of their under plumage. Their almost ventriloquial " phee-ur " 

 note which is heard as they fly is not peculiar to any season. 



When the females come a little later, the males are in full song, and the period of 

 courtship, which is very ardent in the Bluebird, begins. The affection and gallantry of 



71 



Fig. 59. Female Bluebird taking a look outside, as if hesitating, 

 before going in search of food. 



