-e 
Birds of Massachusetts. 147 
is spent in catching beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, 
and grubs, for which we have seen him descending 
in fields, and open grounds. The wire-worm is an- 
other of their luxuries, which are all of a kind that 
man can easily spare. When they eat berries, it is 
not those of the garden, but the sumach and wild 
cherry. 
Unless the hospitality of man provides the blue- 
bird with lodgings, he resorts to hollow trees, where 
he shelters himself from the elements, and there, or 
in a house made for the purpose, the pair construct 
their nest; it is a short and easy process, for nothing 
is required but a lining of hay and feathers. The 
eggs are from four to six, of a pale blue. "Two 
broods, and sometimes more, are raised in the season, 
and, while the female sits on the second set of eggs, 
the male takes charge of the young. In defence of 
his family he is very courageous ; he has been known 
to attack a hen with chickens, who came too near 
his abode, and put her to a hasty flight. 
During winter, the blue-birds abound in the south- 
ern states, and particularly in the Floridas, which, 
however, they leave as early as possible. But they 
do not go very far to the north. In Maine they are 
not common, and in Labrador not one was seen by 
Audubon’s party. Towards autumn, their song is 
no longer heard, except one complaining note, in 
which they seem to lament the necessity of leaving 
their home. To the last moment they linger, and 
it is not till the trumpet of the storm indicates that 
the hosts of winter are upon them, that they will 
consent to bid us farewell. 
