352 BIRDS 



a few seconds, and then launch into the air, continuing to 

 sing as he descends obhquely to a lower brier or sapling. 

 The males seem to prefer conspicuous places, and seldom 

 alight except on the outermost branches of trees and shrubs. 

 They are seed eaters, also partaking of small berries and 

 insects, so are beneficial to the agriculturists. 



They do not arrive from the South until well into May, 

 when the foliage is advanced. Though breeding as far 

 north as Minnesota and Nova Scotia, two broods are reared 

 in a season. The first nest contains eggs about June 1st. 

 Low situations, particularly brier bushes and haw, are 

 favorite nesting sites. The three or four eggs are pale 

 bluish-white. The nest is constructed outwardly of dead 

 leaves and sometimes bits of paper are used. The lining 

 is of fine grass and a little horse hair. The abodes are well 

 hidden in dense places, and the males often retire fifty or 

 one hundred yards from the nesting site, thereby sparing 

 the female any uneasiness because of her mate's conspicu- 

 ous plumage. The edges of timber tracts, roadsides, and 

 pastures overgrown with shrubbery are usually haunts of 

 the indigo bird, whose company is shared by the towhee 

 and little field sparrow. Sometimes the indigo bird becomes 

 very familiar and decides to nest in the little berry patch 

 just back of the dwelling on a quiet street in our smaller 

 towns ; " the female indigo is so suspicious that it is not hard 

 to be vexed with her." More than formerly, they are now 

 seen along the hedges and lanes in the country, sitting on 

 telephone wires. 



The cowbird frequently deposits her eggs in the nests of 

 this blue finch. 



