238 LAND-BIRDS. 



XX. PASSBRINA. 



A. CYANEA. Indigo Bird. A common summer resident 

 in southern New England, but less so to the northward.* 



a. About 5-|- inches long. ^ , bright indigo blue, darker 

 on the head, reflecting green in the light. Wings and tail, 

 darker, with much blackish. 5 , above, a peculiar shade of 

 ■warm brown ; below, lighter, flaxen-tinted, sometimes streaky. 



b. The nest is built in bushes or open shrubbery, not in- 

 frequently near a house. It is composed outwardly of dead 

 leaves, dry weed-stalks, grasses, etc. ; and is lined with finer 

 materials of the same sort, or with hairs ; often being quite 

 bulky. In eastern Massachusetts four or five eggs f are laid 

 in the last week of May, or later. They average .75 X .55 of 

 an inch, and are white, often blue-tinged, and perhaps occa- 

 sionally marked. 



c. The Indigo Birds are common in New England as sum- 

 mer residents, occurring so far to the northward as Bethle- 

 hem among the White Mountains, ^ though, according to Dr. 

 Brewer, locally distributed through eastern Massachusetts. 

 They arrive at Boston in the second week of May, and during 

 their residence here, of about four months, frequent not only 

 the pastures, woodland of low growth, and the " scrub," but 

 shrubbery near houses, where they frequently build their nests, 

 one of which, says Dr. Brewer, was occupied by a pair for five 

 successive summers. They feed both upon insects and seeds, 

 but principally the latter, which they often search for on the 

 ground, even on the roadsides. They can fly quite rapidly, 

 and in summer, even when there is no necessity for such wan- 

 dering, often fly more than a mile at a considerable height, 

 moving from one pasture to another. They are rather shy, 

 and sometimes find this a convenient manner of escaping the 

 annoyance of intrusion. In autumn they are gregarious, and 

 associate in small fiocks with other Finches. The females 



* A common summer resident of very rare — if, indeed, they ever oconr. 



rather general distribution throughout — W. B. 



New England, — perhaps mosi numer- '^ Mr. Wm. Couper says that they 



ous in the northern portioiLS, — but not breed near Quebec, in Canada, where, 



known to occur on Cape Cod. — W. B. however, they are not common. 



t Sets of more than four eggs are 



