448 
INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 
his devoted mate. All his energy is poured out into this 
simple ditty, and with an ecstatic feeling of delight he 
often raises and quivers his wings like the Mocking Or- 
pheus ; and, amidst his striving rivals in song, exerts his 
utmost powers to introduce variety into his unborrowed 
and simple strain. On hearkening some time to his notes, 
an evident similarity to the song of the Thrush is observ- 
able, but the accents are more weak, faltering, and in- 
clining to the plaintive. As in many other instances, 
it is nearly impossible to give any approximating idea of 
the expression of warbled sounds by words, yet their re- 
semblance to some quaint expressions, in part, may not 
be useless, as an attempt to recall to memory these pleas- 
ing associations with native harmony ; so the Blue-Bird, 
often, at the commencement of his song, seems tenderly 
to call in a whistled tone ’ hear — J htar bitty , bitty ? or 
merely hear — bitty , and instantly follows this interrogato- 
ry call with a soft and warbling trill. So much is this sound 
like that which they frequently utter, that on whistling 
the syllables in their accent, even in the cool days of au- 
tumn, when, they are nearly silent, they often resume the 
answer in sympathy. During the period of incubation, 
the male becomes much more silent, and utters his notes 
principally in the morning. More importantly engaged, 
in now occasionally feeding his mate as well as himself, 
and perhaps desirous of securing the interesting occupa- 
tion of his devoted consort, he avoids betraying the resort 
of his charge by a cautious and silent interest in their 
fate. Gentle, peaceable, and familiar, when undisturb- 
ed, his society is. courted by every lover of rural scenery, 
and it is not uncommon for the farmer to furnish the 
Blue-Bird with a box as well as the Martin, in return for 
the pleasure of his company, the destruction he makes 
upon injurious insects, and the cheerfulness of his song. 
