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BLUE BIRD. 
The ploughman is pleased when he gleans in his train, 
Now searching the furrows — now mounting to cheer him ; 
The gard’ner delights in his sweet, simple strain, 
And leans on his spade to survey and to hear him ; 
The slow ling’ring schoolboys forget they’ll be chid, 
While gazing intent as he warbles before them, 
In mantle of sky-blue, and bosom so red, 
That each little loiterer seems to adore him. 
When all the gay scenes of the summer are o’er, 
And autumn slow enters so silent and sallow. 
And millions of warblers, that charm’d us before, 
Have fled in the train of the sun-seeking swallow ; 
The Blue Bird, forsaken, yet true to his home, 
Still lingers, and looks for a milder to-morrow, 
Till forced by the horrors of winter to roam, 
He sings his adieu in a lone note of sorrow. 
While spring’s lovely season, serene, dewy, warm, 
The green face of earth, and the pure blue of heaven, 
Or love’s native music have influence to charm, 
Or sympathy’s glow to our feelings are given, 
Still dear to each bosom the Blue Bird shall be ; 
His voice, like the thrillings of hope, is a treasure ; 
For, through bleakest storms, if a calm he but see, 
He comes to remind us of sunshine and pleasure ! 
The Blue Bird, in summer and fall, is fond of frequenting 
open pasture fields ; and there perching on the stalks of the 
great mullein, to look out for passing insects. A whole family 
of them are often seen thus situated, as if receiving lessons of 
dexterity from their more expert parents, who can espy a 
beetle crawling among the grass, at a considerable distance ; 
and, after feeding on it, instantly resume their former position.* 
* The very habits of our European Saxicolce are here described ; they 
invariably seek the summit of some elevation, a hillock, a stone, bush, or 
some of the taller wild plants, and if occasionally on a tree, the topmost branch 
is always preferred ; there they perch, uttering their monotonous call, which 
increases in anxiety and frequency as we approach the nest, or the young 
before they are able to fly ; or they alight at intervals, run for some dis- 
tance, and again remount to a fresh station. When not annoyed, they retain 
