BLUE-BIRD. 
321 
never, indeed, explored the depths of caverns in search of him, 
because I would as soon expect to meet with tulips and butter- 
flies there, as Blue-birds, but among hundreds of woodmen, who 
have cut down trees of all sorts, and at all seasons, I have nev- 
er heard one instance of these birds being found so immured 
in winter; while in the whole of the middle and eastern states, 
the same general observation seems to prevail that the Blue-bird 
always makes his appearance in winter after a few days of mild 
and open weather. On the other hand, I have myself found 
them numerous in the woods of North and South Carolina, in 
the depth of winter, and I have also been assured by different 
gentlemen of respectability, who have resided in the islands of 
Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas and Bermudas, that this very 
bird is common there in winter. We also find, from the works 
of Hernandes Piso and others, that it is well known in Mexico, 
Guiana and Brazil; and if so, the place of its winter retreat is 
easily ascertained, without having recourse to all the trumpery 
of holes and caverns, torpidity, hybernation, and such ridicu- 
lous improbabilities. 
Nothing is more common in Pennsylvania than to see large 
flocks of these birds in spring and fall, passing, at considerable 
heights in the air; from the south in the former, and from the 
north in the latter season. I have seen, in the month of Octo- 
ber, about an hour after sun-rise, ten or fifteen of them descend 
from a great height and settle on the top of a tall detached tree, 
appearing, from their silence and sedateness, to be strangers, 
and fatigued. After a pause of a few minutes they began to 
dress and arrange their plumage, and continued so employed 
for ten or fifteen minutes more; then, on a few warning notes 
being given, perhaps by the leader of the party, the whole re- 
mounted to a vast height, steering in a direct line for the south- 
west. In passing along the chain of the Bahamas towards the 
West Indies, no great difficulty can occur from the frequency 
of these islands; nor even to the Bermudas, which are said to 
be 600 miles from the nearest part of the continent. This may 
seem an extraordinary flight for so small a bird; but it is never- 
VOL. II. — s s 
