Hints to Audubon Workers. 



225 



by De Kay as "sky blue, showing in some 

 lights a greenish tint;" by Baird in his 

 ''Birds of North America," as "bright ultra- 

 marine blue;" by Ridgway in the "History 

 of North American Birds," as "blue, tinged 

 with ultramarine on the head, throat, and 

 middle of breast; elsewhere with verdigris- 

 green;" and by Coues as "indigo blue, in- 

 tense and constant on the head, glancing 

 greenish with different lights on other 

 parts." To this Coues adds more details, 

 with a description of the female. He says: 

 "Wings and tail blackish, glossed with 

 greenish-blue; feathers around base of bill, 

 black; bill dark above, rather paler below. 

 * * * Female above plain warm brown, 

 below whity-brown." * * * gj^g j^^g 

 a very pretty tinge of blue on her shoulders 

 and tail feathers, but if the light is not right 

 to bring this out, the peculiarly warm 

 brown, which is almost burnt sienna, is 

 enough to distinguish her from the ordinary 

 brown birds whom she approaches in size 

 and build. Her habit of jerking her tail 

 from side to side is also characteristic. 



The indigo bird is one of our most ener- 

 getic and untiring songsters. He is usu- 

 ally seen on the top of a bush or a small 

 tree not more than twenty or thirty feet 

 from the ground; sometimes in the edge of 

 the woods, or in a clump of bushes beside 

 the road, but oftener, Nuttall says, in the 

 garden, where his breezy, sunny song shows 

 that he is making the most of all the light 

 and air that are to be had. He revels in 

 sunshine, and like the scarlet tanager and 

 red-eyed vireo, sings as loudly through the 

 noonday heat as in the cooler hours. His 

 vivacious roundelay has been variously syl- 

 labified, but the rhythm and tone may be 

 suggested by che-ree' che-ree' che-ree' che-ree' 

 che-rah' rah-i-up' . The last half varies 

 greatly, sometimes being che-rah' rah-ah- 

 rup, or che-rah' che-rip' cherup' . Very often 

 the song ends with an indescribable, rapid 

 flourish of confused notes. Nuttall says 

 that during the nesting, the father bird 



shortens his song, but this is not always 

 so, as I hav« heard the full song from the 

 beginning till the end of the season. 



This June a pair of indigo birds built in 

 the edge of the woods only a few rods from 

 the house, but I think they never ceased to 

 regret their temerity. The nest was a 

 pretty little bunch of dry leaves and grass, 

 its deep, narrow cavity lined with hair. It 

 was wedged into the fork of a tiny beech, 

 only six inches from the ground, and not 

 more than three feet from the carriage 

 drive. The mother would sit perfectly 

 quiet when wagons passed, but as soon as 

 she found that I had discovered her nest 

 she would fly off in distress whenever I hap- 

 pened to be walking by. To verify the 

 apparently conflicting statements concern- 

 ing the color of the eggs, and satisfy myself 

 that in some lights the pure white changed 

 to a beautiful greenish-blue, I went several 

 times before they were hatched; and when 

 the birds appeared, went still oftener to 

 watch their growth. But unlike the vireos 

 and sparrows, the mother never got used to 

 me, and to the last suspected me of — I don't 

 know what murderous intentions — darting 

 off into the low bushes with her metallic 

 cheeps cheeps as soon as she caught sight of 

 me, and almost refusing to feed her babies 

 till I had gone back to the house. Her 

 husband, though of rather a suspicious 

 temperament, could not share her alarm; 

 he chirped and jerked his tail about, but his 

 anxiety had a perfunctory air. 



""Earlier in the season I saw a very marked 

 instance of this difference in temperament. 

 I was walking through the edge of a clear 

 ing when I started up a mother indigo bird, 

 apparently looking for a good site for her 

 nest. She was much excited, and flew about 

 hither and thither, crying cheep, cheep, and 

 twitching her tail nervously. She made so 

 much noise that her husband heard her, 

 and came flying home to find out what was 

 the matter. He did not think either my 

 dogs or I looked belligerent, but he followed 



