24 The Birds of Albany County 



South, and even though the dates rarely agree, it is evident that 



he has a place in the afiections of all, although he may 



be only a symbol of the approaching resurrection of life. I 



have seen Bluebirds on the ice in February and they did 



not seem to mind their frosty surroundings. Ho^an says 



that "In southern Connecticut and Rhode Island, especially 



along the Sound, and in the lower Hudson Valley, small 



flocks of Bluebirds spend die Winter, feeding largely on 



berries." I have no doubt of this statement, as it was in 



central Connecticut that I saw Bluebirds in February. No 



writer, to my knowledge, has ever recorded their presence as 



far north as Albany County in midwinter, and I believe that 



the middle or the latter part of March is about the time their 



faint, lisping warble is first heard in this section. I am not 



going to repeat any of the complimentary things already 



written about Bluebird, but I wall try and typify him myself. 



Far more than a symbol of the coming recrudescence of 



nature, he is the type of perfect innocence. His attitude on 



limb or fence-post betokens confidence in all men. His 



movements are always gentle and devoid of any show of 



haste or alarm. He allows you to approach quite close to 



him and look upon his azure back and russet breast. If he 



finally flits away to some nearby perch his flight is calm and 



unflurried and his pose unostentatious. As I have said 



elsewhere he never betrays emotion and his serenity we may 



not always understand, but surely he is the optimist of the 



feathered world. One writer says that Bluebird's song 



breathes of love. Very true; but it is certainly an ethereal 



type, with no suggestion of the dross of the world. 



