162 BLUE-BIRD. 



The slow lingering schoolboys forget they'll be chid, 



While gazing intent as he warbles before 'em 

 In mantle of sky-blue, and bosom so red, 



That each little loiterer seems to adore him. 



When all the gay scenes of the summer are o'er, 



And autumn slow enters so silent and sallow, 

 And millions of warblers, that charmed us before. 



Have fled in the train of the sun-seeking swallow ; 

 The Blue-bird, forsaken, yet true to his home, 



Still lingers, and looks for a milder to-morrow, 

 Till forced by the horrors of winter to roam, 



He sings his adieu in a lone note of sorrow. ^ 



While spring's lovely season, serene, dewy, warm. 



The green face of earth, and the pure blue of heaven, 

 Or love's native music have influence to charm, 



Or sympathy's glow to our feelings is given, 

 Still dear to each bosom the Blue-bird shall be f 



His voice, like the thrillings of hope, is a treasure ; 

 For, through bleakest storms if a calm he but see. 



He comes to remind us of sunshine and pleasure 1 



The Blue-bird, in summer and fall, is fond of frequenting open pasture 

 fields ; and there perching on the stalks of the great mullein, to look 

 out for passing insects. A whok family of them are often seen, thus 

 situated, as if receiving lessons of dexterity from their more expert 

 parents, who can espy a beetle crawling among the grass, at a consider- 

 able distance ; and after feeding on it, instantly resume their former 

 position. But whoever, informed Dr. Latham that " this bird is never 

 seen on trees, though it makes its neat in the holes of them !"* might 

 as well have said, that the Americans are never seen in the streets, 

 though they build their houses by the sides of them. For what is there 

 in the construction of the feet and claws of this bird to prevent it from 

 perching ? Or what sight more common to an inhabitant of this 

 country than the Blue-bird perched on the top of a peach or apple-tree ; 

 or among the branches of those reverend broadarmed chestnut trees, 

 that stand alone in the middle of our fields, bleached by the rains and 

 blasts of ages ? 



The Blue-bird is six inches and three-quarters in length, the wings 

 remarkably full and broad ; the whole upper parts are of a rich sky 

 blue, with purple reflections ; the bill and legs are black ; inside of the 

 mouth and soles of the feet yellow, resembling the color of a ripe per- 

 simmon ; the shafts of all the wing and tail feathers are black ; throat, 

 neck, breast, and sides partially under the wings, chestnut ; wings dusky 

 black at the tips ; belly and vent white ; sometimes the secondaries are 



* Synopsis, v. ii., pp. 446-40. 



