378 INDIGO BIRD. 



The Indigo Bird is an active and lively little fellow, possesses much 

 elegance in his shape, and also a certain degree of firmness in his make, 

 which renders him equally a favourite with the Painted Finch, although 

 he does not possess the variegated plumage of the latter. When the male 

 of the species now before you is in full plumage, the richness of his ap- 

 parel cannot fail to attract and please the eye of any observer. It is highly 

 glossy, and changes from the brightest azure to green, when placed in a 

 strong light. It requires three years to attain this perfect state. The 

 female continues in the same very humble vesture which nature first ac- 

 corded to her. The males, in the first spring, and not unfrequently du- 

 ring the first autumn, are mottled with duU light blue, interspersed among 

 the original deep buff of their earlier stage. The blue increases in extent, 

 and acquires a deeper tint, as the age of the bird advances. I have often 

 seen males two years old which were still much inferior in the beauty of 

 their plumage to those which had passed through three springs. Should 

 the birds be caught when in full plumage, they gradually lose their brilliant 

 tints, which at length become extremely dull. A similar alteration is 

 observed to take place in Painted Finches which have been kept in cages 

 for a certain period, as well as in the Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, and 

 in the Bulfinch, Chaffinch, and other European birds. 



The nest of the Indigo Bird is usually fixed amongst the rankest 

 stalks of weeds or grass, now and then amongst the stems of a briar, or 

 even in a small hoUow in a decayed tree. In all cases its composition is 

 the same ; but when amongst grass, clover, or briars, it is attached to two 

 or three of the stalks by its sides. It is formed of coarse grasses, hemp 

 stalks, and flax, and is lined with slender grasses. The female lays from 

 four to six eggs, which are blue, with a spot or two of purple at the lar- 

 ger end. 



Towards fall, the young congregate into loose flocks or parties of eight 

 or ten individuals, and proceed southward. I think their migration, at 

 both periods of the year, is performed during night. Two broods are ge- 

 nerally raised in a season. The food of the Indigo Bird consists of small 

 seeds of various kinds, as well as insects, some of which it occasionally pur- 

 sues on wing with great vigour. They are fond of basking and rolling them- 

 selves in the roads, from which they gather small particles of sand or gravel. 

 I have frequently seen live birds of this species offered for sale in Europe. 



I have represented an adult female, two young males of the first and 

 second year, in autumn, and a male in the full beauty of its plumage. 



