136 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



more properly to the entomologist, I shall only, in the 

 course of this work, take notice of some of the most re- 

 markable ; and occasionally represent them in the same plate 

 with those birds on which they are usually found. 



The usual spring and summer song of the Blue-bird is a 

 soft, agreeable and oft-repeated warble, uttered with open 

 quivering wings, and is extremely pleasing. In his motions 

 and general character he has great resemblance to the Robin 

 Red-breastof Britain; and had hethebrown olive of that bird 

 instead of his own blue, could scarcely be distinguished 

 from him. Like him he is known to almost every child; 

 and shows as much confidence in man by associating with 

 him in summer, as the other by his familiarity in winter. 

 He is also of a mild and peaceful disposition, seldom fight- 

 ing or quarrelling with other birds. His society is courted 

 by the inhabitants of the country, and few farmers neglect 

 to provide for him, in some suitable place, a snug little sum- 

 mer house, ready fitted and rent free. For this he more 

 than sufficiently repays them by the cheerfulness of his 

 song, and the multitude of injurious insects which he daily 

 destroys. Towards fall, that is, in the month of October, 

 his song changes to a single plaintive note, as he passes over 

 the yellow, many-coloured woods; and its melancholy air 

 recals to our minds the approaching decay of the face of 

 nature. Even after the trees are stripped of their leaves, he 

 still lingers over his native fields, as if loth to leave them. 

 About the middle or end of November few or none of them 

 are seen; but with every return of mild and open weather, 

 we hear his plaintive note amidst the fields, or in the air, 

 seeming to deplore the devastations of winter. Indeed he 

 appears scarcely ever totally to forsake us; but to follow 

 fair weather through all its journeyings till the return of 

 spring. 



The Blue-bird, in summer and fall, is fond of frequenting 

 open pasture fields; and there perching on the stalks of the 

 great ■mullein, to look out for passing insects. A whole 

 family of them are often seen, thus situated, as if receiving 

 lessons of dexterity from their more expert parents, who 

 can espy a beetle crawling among the grass, ataconsiderable 

 distance; and after feeding on it, instantly resume their 

 former position. But whoever informed Dr. Latham that 

 " tiiisbird is never seen on trees, though it makes its nest 

 in the holes of them!" miglit as well have said, that the 

 Americans are never seen in the streets, though they build 

 their houses by the sides of them. For what is there in the 

 construction of the feet and claws of this bird to prevent it 

 from perching? Or what sight more common to an inhabit- 

 ant of this country than the Blue-bird perched on the top 

 of a peach or apple-tree; or among the branches of those 

 reverend broad-armed chesnut trees, that stand alone in the 

 middle of our fields, bleached by the rains and blasts of 

 asses? 



The Blue-bird is six inches and three-quarters in length, 

 the wings remarkably full and broad; the whole upper parts 

 are of a rich sky blue, with purple reflections; the bill and 

 legs are black; inside of the mouth and soles of the feet 

 yellow, resembling the colour of a ripe persimmon; the 

 shafts of all the wing and tail feathers are black; throat, 

 neck, breast, and sides partially under the wings, chesnut; 

 wings dusky black at the tips; belly and vent white; some- 

 times the secondaries are exteriorly light brown, but the 

 bird has in that case not ^I'rived at his full colour. The 

 female is easily distinguished by the duller cast of the back, 

 the plumage of which is skirted with light brown, and by 

 the red on the breast being much fainter, and not descend- 

 ina: near so low as in the male; the secondaries are also more 

 dusky. This species is found over the whole United States; 

 in the Bahama islands where many of them winter; as also 

 in Mexico, Brazil, and Guiana. 



Mr. Edwards mentions that the specimen of this bird 

 which he was favoured with, was sent from the Bermudas; 

 and as these islands abound with the cedar, it is highly pro- 

 bable that many of those birds pass from our continent 

 thence, at the commencement of winter, to enjoy the mild- 

 ness of that climate as well as their favourite food. 



As the Blue-bird is so regularly seen in winter, after the 

 continuance of a few days of mild and open weather, it has 

 given rise to various conjectures as to the place of his re- 

 treat. Some supposing it to be in close-sheltered thickets, 

 lying to the sun; others the neighbourhoodof the sea, where 

 the air is supposed to be more temperate, and where the 

 matters thrown up by the waves furnish him with a constant 

 and plentiful supply of food. Others trace him to the dark 

 recesses of hollow trees, and subterraneous caverns, where 

 they suppose he dozes away the winter, making, like Ro- 

 binson Crusoe, occasional reconnoitcring excursions from 

 his castle, whenever the weather happens to be favourable. 

 But amidst the snows and severities of winter, I have sought 

 for him in vain in the most sheltered situations of the mid- 

 dle States; and not only in the neighbourhood of the sea, 

 but on both sides of the mountains. I have never, indeed, 

 explored the depths of caverns in search of him, because I 

 would as soon expect to meet with tulips and butterflies 

 there, as Blue-birds, but among hundreds of woodmen, who 

 have cut down trees of all sorts, and at all seasons, I have 

 never heard one instance of these birds being found so im- 

 mured in winter; while in the whole of the middle and 

 eastern States, the same general observation seems to pre- 

 vail that the Blue-bird always makes his appearance in 

 winter after a few days of mild and open weather. On the 

 other hand, I have myself found them numerous in the 

 woods of North and South Carolina, in the depth of winter, 

 and I have also been assured by diflerent gentlemen of re- 



