Birds of Canada. 65 



the throat and the base of the bill. Length, eight 

 and three-quarter inches. Habitat, Virginia and 

 the Carolinas. Occurs very rarely in Canada. 



Cyanospiza cyanea. The Indigo Bird. 



This beautiful bird is five and a-half inches 

 long. The color, bright ultra-marine blue ; wing 

 feathers tinged with dull bluish-brown. This 

 bird prefers the skirts of the forests. Its song 

 is sweet and interesting. Nests, in low bushes ; 

 e gg s > six J color, blue, with purple spots. It 

 arrives from the south about the twentieth of 

 May, and returns late in September. Feeds on 

 insects and berries. 



Pipilo erythropthalmus. The Ground Robin, or 

 Chewink. 



This is a common visitor. It arrives in the 

 vicinity of Toronto about the twentieth of May ; 

 the males arriving about ten days before the 

 females. For two or three hours after sunrise, 

 the Chewink sits perched upon the top of a 

 small tree or bush, and sings with mellow sweet- 

 ness, which cannot fail to interest the hearer. 

 Nests, on the ground, beneath a tuft of grass ; 

 eggs, four in number, of a flesh color, with dark 

 spots. Two broods, and sometimes three, are 

 raised in the season. They collect in flocks about 

 the last of October, and leave for the south. 

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