BLUEBIRDS 361 



yard of Mr. Cobbs all the Summer and were still there in Octo- 

 ber, as was reported to me on inquiring. This is the first in- 

 stance known to me of the robins nesting so far South.* 



The species is not known to have nested again in Montgomery 

 until 1921, in which year, according to Peter A. Brannon, at 

 least a dozen instances of nests and eggs in or near the city 

 were reported. 



General habits. — This race of the robin is entirely similar 

 in habits to the northern form (migraiorvm) the two sub- 

 species often being found in one flock during the winter 

 season. The nest of the robin, composed of dry grasses and 

 rootlets with an inner wall of mud and a lining of fine grasses, 

 is placed in a variety of situations, usually in a crotch or on 

 a horizontal limb of a tree, from 5 to 50 feet from the ground, 

 sometimes on a projecting plate or rafter of a porch, out- 

 building, or bridge. 



BLUEBIRD: SiaMa sialis sialis (Linnaeus). 



State records. — The bluebird is a common bird in all parts 

 of the State and at all seasons. By reason of the influx of 

 migrants from farther north, it is somewhat more numerous 

 in winter than in summer. During severe winters, bluebirds 

 sometimes suffer considerably, and many are frozen or die of 

 starvation. The winter of 1894-95 was particularly hard on, 

 them in some sections, and for a year or two after that many 

 observers reported a marked reduction in their numbers. Ap- 

 parently the cold weather of January, 1912, did not seriously 

 affect the species in the South, for in the following spring it 

 was observed at various places in the State in moderate num- 

 bers. McCormack records eggs found at Leighton, March 29, 

 April 7, and May 6 ; Saunders found nests with eggs at Wood- 

 bine, April 2 and June 5, and saw numerous broods of young 

 from April 30 to May 4. Fresh eggs were found at Prattville, 

 April 15 (Holt), in Bear Swamp, May 31 (Golsan), and at 

 Ardell, June 25 (Holt). It has been seen in the breeding 

 season on Dauphin Island. 



General habits. — ^Bluebirds are found most frequently about 

 fields, roadsides, and the borders of woodland, and are par- 



•Avery, W. C, Amer. Field, vol. 35, p. 55, 1891. 



