Alabama, ip 13. 33 



THE INDIGO BUNTING. 



RICH color is the chief attribute that sets the Indigo Bunting 

 apart from its kin of the tribe of Sparrows and Finches. 

 Blue that is decided in tone, and not a bluish gray, is one of the 

 rarest hues among the birds of temperate zones ; for one may count 

 the really blue birds of the eastern United States upon the fingers 

 of one hand. 



This Bunting belongs to the tree-loving and tree-nesting part 

 of his tribe, in company with the Grosbeaks and the brilliant yellow 

 American Goldfinch, whose black cap, wings and tail feathers only 

 enhance his beauty. The Sparrows, of sober stripes, nest on or 

 near the ground, and their plumage blends with brown grass, twigs 

 and the general earth coloring, illustrating very directly the theory 

 of color-protection, while the birds of brilliant plumage invariably 

 keep more closely to the trees. 



In size, the Indigo Bunting ranks with the small Sparrows, 

 coming in grade between the Field- and Song-Sparrows, and being 

 only slightly larger than the Chippie. The female wears a modifi- 

 cation of the Sparrow garb, the upper parts being ashy brown 

 without strikes, the under parts grayish , white washed and very 

 faintly streaked with dull brown, the wings and tail feathers having 

 some darker edges and markings. 



When it comes to painting the plumage of the male in words, 

 the task becomes difficult ; for to use simply the term indigo-blue 

 is as inadequate as to say that a bit of water that looks blue while 

 in shadow is of the same color when it ripples out into full sunlight, 

 and catches a dozen reflections from foliage and sky. A merely 

 technical description would read : Front of head and chin indigo- 

 blue, growing lighter and greener on back and underparts ; wings 

 dusky brown, with blue edges to coverts ; tail feathers also blue- 



3 BB 



