THE INDIGO BUNTING 



By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 



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EDUCATIONAL LEAFLET NO. 27 



Rich color is the chief attribute that sets the Indigo Bunting apart 

 from its kin of the tribe of Sparrows and Finches. 



Blue that is decided in tone, and not a bluish gray, is one of the 

 rarest hues among the birds of temperate zones; for one may count the 

 really blue birds of the eastern United States upon the fingers of one hand. 

 This Bunting belongs to the tree-loving and tree-nesting 

 His Family part of his tribe, in company with the Grosbeaks and the 

 brilliant yellow American Goldfinch, whose black cap, wings 

 and tail feathers only enhance his beauty. The Sparrows, of sober stripes, 

 nest on or near the ground, and their plumage blends with brown grass, 

 twigs, and the general earth coloring, illustrating very directly the theory of 

 color-protection, while the birds of brilliant plumage invariably keep more 

 closely to the trees. 



In size, the Indigo Bunting ranks with the small Sparrows, coming in 

 grade between the Field- and Song-Sparrows, and being only slightly larger 

 than the Chippie. The female wears a modification of the Sparrow garb, the 

 upper parts being ashy brown without stripes, the under parts grayish white 

 washed and very faintly streaked with dull brown, the wings and tail 

 feathers having some darker edges and markings. 



When it comes to painting the plumage of the male in words, the task 

 becomes difficult; for to use simply the term indigo -blue is as inadequate as 

 to say that a bit of water that looks blue while in shadow is of the same 

 color when it ripples out into full sunlight, and catches a dozen reflections 

 from foliage and sky. A merely technical description would read : Front of 

 head and chin rich indigo-blue, growing lighter and greener on back and 

 underparts; wings dusky brown, with blue edges to coverts; tail feathers 

 also blue-edged; bill and feet dark; general shape rounded and canary-like, 

 resembling the Goldfinch. 



The last of May, one of these Buntings came to a low bush, outside 

 my window, and, after resting awhile, for the night before had been stormy, 

 dropped to the closely cut turf to feed upon the crumbs left where the 

 hounds had been munching their biscuits. I have never seen a more 

 beautiful specimen, and the contrast with the vivid green grass seemed to 

 develop the color of malachite that ran along one edge of the feathers, 

 shifting as the bird moved like the sheen of changeable silk. 



(179) 



