70 OUR FRIENDS, THE BIRDS. 
holds the clothes line, gently lifting its wing and call- 
ing cheerily to its mate. 
“Artist” observed that “the male bird wears the 
brightest colors,” and Laura said “I learned when I 
‘was a little girl’ (which made them all laugh) that the 
fashion in bird land was different from ours, for there 
the men always wear the prettiest clothes.” 
A whole week was spent on the Bluebird, and 
every day something new was reported. 
The weather was still unusually pleasant for bleak 
and windy March, and Bluebirds could be seen every- 
where, for many had arrived, and had already begun 
their yearly house hunting, and every pupil was able 
to report something new and interesting as the days 
went by. Some pairs would look about in a very in- 
quisitive and inquiring manner, investigating every 
possible place for a nest, while others were quite saucy, 
and even quarrelsome, with their cousins, the Robins, 
who had begun to appear. 
This state of things continued un- 
til the Swallows began to arrive. The 
WS Bluebirds considered the 
~ at Swallows undesirable 
neighbors, but 
it was not long 
before most of 
the Bluebirds 
went away to 
distant fields, 
