INDIGO BUNTING. 217 



ever after be a more trustworthy observer — for his brilliant coat is unmistakable. 

 Having made sure of your birds, watch them to their nest — a compactly made cup — 

 too cleverly hidden in the dense thicket to be easily discoverecl. The color of the eggs 

 will again test your accuracy of observation; in varying lights they look green, blue, 

 and white. The female Indigo is so suspicious that it is hard not to be vexed with 

 her, but the primary virtues of an observer are conscientiousness and patience, so take 

 your hard cases as a means of grace. However distrustfial the poor mother bird is, her 

 mate's cheery song makes up for it all. After most birds have stopped singing for the 

 year, his merry voice still gladdens the long August days. I well remember w^atching 

 one Indigo-bird who, day after day, used to fly to the lowest limb of a high tree and 

 sing his way up from branch to branch, bursting into jubilant song when he reached 

 the topmost bough. I watched him climb as high into the air as he could, when, against 

 a background of blue sky and rolling w^hite clouds, the blessed little songster broke out 

 into the blithest round that ever bubbled up from a glad heart." 



The nest is found in the bushy edges of woods, along roadsides, in neglected fields, 

 in old pastures, and in orchards and gardens. Usually it is built in the center of a dense 

 shrub, preferably a blackberry, hazel, or snowberry bush, sometimes also in climbing 

 roses, in young black-jack oaks and in orchard trees, often quite close to the ground, but 

 sometimes ten to twelve feet high. It is generally built in an upright crotch of a bush, 

 and the material used is of a rather miscellaneous character, weed-stalks, grasses, root- 

 lets, strings, bits of paper, etc., forming the outside of the structure, while the cavity is 

 lined w^ith finer grasses and rootlets. It is a rather large structure for such a dainty 

 little bird. The eggs, usually four in number, are very pale blue or bluish- white and 

 unmarked. Occasionally a set is found with eggs having a few dots. The eggs are laid 

 in south-western Missouri by the end of May and in Wisconsin by the beginning of 

 June, and a second set is deposited early in July in south-western Missouri. In Wisconsin 

 only one brood is raised annually. 



The nest is usually so well hidden among the shrubbery that even the friend of 

 birds does not discover it very' often. The male rarely sings in close proximity to 

 his nest, and the plain-colored female, occupied chiefly with household cares, is perfectly 

 safe under the canopy of dense foliage. Although little danger threatens to the hidden 

 domicile by feathered robbers, the parasitic Cowbird seems to know exactly where to 

 look for it, in order to drop its egg into it. When w^e are approaching the nest the 

 female leaves it quietly, disappearing on the opposite side of the shrub. We can scarcely 

 get a glimpse of her, so quickly does she leave the place. The female hatches the eggs 

 alone, but she is assisted by her mate in feeding the young. The breeding time averages 

 twelve days, and in twelve days more the young are able to leave the nest. Very small 

 insects form the diet of the young and later they also receive small seeds. The food of 

 the old birds consists almost entirely of all kinds of insects during spring and summer, 

 but later in the season they greatly jelish.the half-ripe seeds of millet and the seeds of 

 weeds, which they often search for on the ground, even in gardens and in company with 

 other Finches. 



"Being of little hardihood, this representative of a decidedly southern genus takes 

 early departure in the fall, scarcely remaining through September." As it is one of the 



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