BLUEBIRD. 79 
Usually the birds are very silent near the nest; they approach it only in a peculiarly 
stealthy manner, so as not to betray its whereabouts. Should the nest be robbed of 
the eggs or the young by squirrels, snakes, or other enemies, it is affecting to see with 
what sadness, for many days to come, the parents fly around the old nesting place, 
All their notes are indescribably plaintive. Sometimes the same cavity is chosen again 
for the following brood, especially if there is a scarcity of suitable nesting places; but 
often, after such a disaster, the pair leaves for another district. 
As soon as the young of the first brood are on the wing, then follows, even before 
these have become entirely independent, a second or third one. After the young are able 
to care for themselves, they congregate with others of the neighborhood to form flocks, 
sometimes to the number of fifty or more. In fields, pastures, fallow grounds, usually 
where the long stalks of the mullen are abundant, such companies may be observed in 
July, August, and September. In easy, but slow, often rather high, wavering, lingering 
flight, they move about, uttering constantly a sad melancholy tone which resembles 
the sounds ‘‘Du-ee” or ‘““Du-way-way.” These flocks are joined, generally in September 
and October, by the parent birds and the young of the-last brood. They all remain in 
loosely scattered companies in the neighborhood till about the middle of October, when, 
at the approach of cold weather, they depart for the South, bidding ‘‘Adieu” to the 
old homestead in sorrowful tones. Many spend the winter in the Middle States; the 
majority, however, choose the South Atlantic and Gulf States for their winter quarters. 
Here one meets them in large flocks, usually in cotton, corn and sugar-cane fields and 
on the borders of woods. I observed them in great numbers from November to Febru- 
ary in southeastern Texas. In the South they comport themselves in an entirely different 
manner from what is observed in the breeding range: being very timid and mistrustful, 
and rarely uttering a note. 
The food of our charming and beautiful Bluebirds consists at all times and every- 
where almost entirely of insects, for which they search the ground. Grasshoppers, crickets, 
all kinds of worms, caterpillars, moths, spiders, etc., are devoured in immense numbers, 
especially when the old birds are caring for the young. When on the ground, the Blue- 
bird does not hop about like a Thrush, but remains on one spot till it has examined it 
thoroughly, when it hops to another, where the same process is repeated. When an 
insect happens to fly past, it runs and flutters after it. 
The Bluebird possesses only good qualities. When the Pilgrim fathers came to 
New England, this attractive bird was one of the first that greeted them with tender 
and friendly warblings. Its character and movements reminded them of the beloved 
Robin Redbreast of their native country; therefore they named it the “Blue Robin.” 
It is but just to say that none of our feathered summer guests, excepting perhaps 
the Robin, enjoys the same degree of popularity as the Bluebird, which the old German 
settlers of Pennsylvania and the Mohawk Valley called the ‘Cottage Warbler’’ because 
it preferred to make its home near the log-cabins and other habitations of man. True, 
the far-famed Mockingbird, the brilliant Cardinal Redbird, the glowing Baltimore Oriole, 
the poet of the meadows our Bobolink, the gallant Kingbird, and the brave Martin, 
are all favorites, but none of these seem to be so attractive as the Bluebird. This ad- 
miration is due to its harmless confidence in man, to its elegant and pretty ways, and 
