BIRDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
183 
good character by the mischief which they commit upon our fruit-trees 
while in blossom. Not so with the Bluebird. He disdains such meanness, 
and labors solely for man’s interests. 
Arrived in our midst, he does not foolishly waste his time in riotous 
living, and worse than bacchanalian riot, but goes directly to the work 
which has called him North. Consequently, from many a field and forest- 
border may be heard the soft, plaintive notes of the male. These notes 
are singularly pleasing and touching, and are well calculated to arouse a 
feeling of sympathy in the bosom of the most inhuman of men. At this 
period, wdiich marks the incipient stages of courting, he is heard to the 
best advantage, although occasionally through the summer, and in the fall 
when pre]3aring to leave us, he is known to descant somewhat similar 
strains, hut with less of ]3athos and effort. The following syllabic lan- 
guage is as accurate a representation of the song as it is possible to 
express it by human vocal characters: tur-r-r-7'-wa, tin'-ivvh-tur-r-r-iva, 
tur-r-r-K weet. While engaged in its rendition from the topmost bough 
of a cedar, or the uppermost rail of a fence, his attitude shoAvs such 
complete absorption in the subject, and such obliviousness to place and 
surroundings, as to aAvaken the profoundest wonder. The approach of 
footsteps is unheeded, and many a time Ave have made our way to within 
a few paces of one of these famous minstrels, without producing momentary 
sur]Arise, or the least disarrangement of the harmony. All the Avhile the 
concert is going on, the female is in the immediate vicinity, silent and 
motionless, and apparently drinking in its full imjjort. But after a little 
the music ceases. The performer now leaves his post, flies toAvards the 
listening and solitary auditor, hangs on quivering wings suspended before 
her, and thus having made obsequious obeisance, alights a short distance 
away to ascertain the effects of all these efforts to please. Again and 
again, at regular intervals, the performance is rejAeated, and at last the 
female succumbs to the magnetic influence, and becomes a bride. All this 
is accomplished in less than a Aveek from the time of arrival, long before 
most other small birds have thought of conjugal responsibilities. 
