Blue and Bluish 



among the singing birds. Some one has likened his voice to the 

 squeak of a mouse, and Nuttall says it is "scarcely louder," which 

 is all too true, for at a little distance it is quite inaudible. But in 

 addition to the mouse-like call-note, the tiny bird has a rather 

 feeble but exquisitely finished song, so faint it seems almost as if 

 the bird were singing in its sleep. 



If by accident you enter the neighborhood of its nest, you 

 soon find out that this timid, soft-voiced little creature can be 

 roused to rashness and make its presence disagreeable to ears and 

 eyes alike as it angrily darts about your unoffending head, peck- 

 ing at your face and uttering its shrill squeak close to your very 

 ear-drums. All this excitement is in defence of a dainty, lichen- 

 covered nest, whose presence you may not have even suspected 

 before, and of four or five bluish-white, speckled eggs well be- 

 yond reach in the tree-tops. 



During the migrations the bird seems not unwilling to show 

 its delicate, trim little body, that has often been likened to a di- 

 minutive mocking-bird's, very near the homes of men. Its grace- 

 ful postures, its song and constant motion, are sure to attract 

 attention. In Central Park, New York City, the bird is not 

 unknown. 



Ill 



