BLUEBIRD. 
175 
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 bluebird, forsake'n, 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 bluebird 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 bluebird, in summer and fall, is fond of fre- 
quenting 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. 
But whoever informed Dr Latham, that “ this bird 
is never seen on trees, though it makes its nest in the 
holes of them ! ” * might as well have said, that the 
Americans are never seen in the streets, though they 
build their houses by the sides of them. For what is 
there in the construction of the feet and claws of this 
bird to prevent it from perching ? Or what sight more 
common to an inhabitant of this country than the blue- 
* Synopsis, vol. ii, p. 446—40, 
