626 
A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
I heard him talk a hundred times, yet he always brought a feel- 
ing of gladness and a laugh. 
Our friend has come back again this spring. About May 
1st I heard the same endearing compliment as before. 
Several of my friends whom I have told about him have 
asked, “ Does he say the words plainly ? Do you mean that he 
really talks? ” My reply is, “ He says them just as plainly as 
a bird ever says anything, so plainly, that even now I laugh 
whenever I hear him.” 
He is not very easily frightened, and sometimes talks quite 
a while when I am standing under the tree where he is. 
— Emily B. Pellet, Worcester, Mass., in Bird-Lore. 
Indigo Bunting: Passerina cyanea. S. R. 
Length: 5.50 inches. 
Male: Deep blue (in some lights, having a greenish cast), deepest on 
head ; rump, wings, and tail washed thinly with brownish. Bill 
dark above, lighter below. 
Female: Above, warm brown, whitening on breast. 
Song: Sweet but weak — “Tshe — tshe — tshe — tshay ! ” 
Season: Middle of May to third week in September. 
Nest: In bushes, bulky and rude, of leaves and grass. 
Eggs: Bluish or pure white, with brown spots. 
Beautiful plumage and a very small voice is the sum of 
the Indigo Bunting’s attractions. It comes about the middle 
of May with the Scarlet Tanager, and if you should chance 
to find these birds in company, as sometimes happens, rest- 
ing on the same rough fence rail, while a Goldfinch swings 
near them among the wayside grasses, you will have seen the 
primary colors as illustrated in bird life. 
Everyone admires the beauty of the Indigo bird — its plum- 
age of dark blue, with green reflections when in a certain 
light. 
Its color is not that of the Bluebird, but more nearly re- 
sembles a piece of indigo. Though it never comes very near 
to our windows it does not appear to be shy, and it prefers 
the bushes of our garden enclosures to those of the forest. — 
Wilson Flagg. 
