172 COMMON BLUE-BIRD. 



for it, as it sits on the roof of the house, the barn, or the fence-stake, it 

 returns to it even during the winter, and its visits are always welcomed by 

 those who know it best. 



When March returns, the male commences his courtship, manifesting as 

 much tenderness and affection towards his chosen one, as the dove itself. 

 Martins and House Wrens! be prepared to encounter his anger, or keep at a 

 respectful distance. Even the wily cat he will torment with querulous 

 chirpings, whenever he sees her in the path from which he wishes to pick 

 up an insect for his mate. 



The Blue-bird breeds in the Floridas as early as January, and pairs at 

 Charleston in that month, in Pennsylvania about the middle of April, and in 

 the State of Maine in June. It forms its nest in the box made expressly 

 for the purpose, or in any convenient hole or cavity it can find, often taking 

 possession of those abandoned by the Woodpecker. The eggs are from 

 four to six, of a pale blue colour. Two and often three broods are raised in 

 the year. While the female sits on the second set of eggs, the male takes 

 charge of the first brood, and so on to the end. 



The food of this species consists of coleoptera, caterpillars, spiders, and 

 insects of various kinds, in procuring which it frequently alights against the 

 bark of trees. They are also fond of ripe fruits, such as figs, persimons, and 

 grapes, and during the autumnal months they pounce on grasshoppers from 

 the tops of the great mullein, so frequent in the old fields. They are 

 extremely fond of newly ploughed land, on which, especially during winter 

 and early spring, they are often seen in search of the insects turned out of 

 their burrows by the plough. 



The song of the Blue-bird is a soft agreeable warble, often repeated during 

 the love-season, when it seldom sings without a gentle quivering of the 

 wings. When the period of migration arrives, its voice consists merely of 

 a tender and plaintive note, perhaps denoting the reluctance with which it 

 contemplates the approach of winter. In November most of the individuals 

 that have resided during the summer in the Northern and Middle Districts, 

 are seen high in the air moving southward along with their families, or 

 alighting to seek for food and enjoy repose. But many are seen in winter, 

 whenever a few days of fine weather occur, so fond are they of their old 

 haunts, and so easily can birds possessing powers of flight like theirs, move 

 from one place to another. Their return takes place early in February or 

 March, when they appear in parties of eight or ten of both sexes. When 

 they alight at this season, the joyous carols of the males are heard from the 

 tops of the early-blooming sassafras and maple. 



During winter, they are extremely abundant in all the Southern States, 

 and more especially in the Floridas, where I found hundreds of them on all 



