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Sydney Porter—Bermudan Notes



The Blue Bird takes the same place in these islands and also

in America as the Bobin does with us at home. When one sees him

in his native state it is easy to see that he belies his English

nomenclature and bears no affinity to the true Robins : in fact it seems

the practice of most people to call any type of small confiding bird a

Robin, especially if it possesses a red or chestnut breast. I have seen

the Blue Birds busy on the freshly ploughed fields searching amongst

the newly ploughed turf for insects : in this the bird rather resembles

a Robin but its general demeanour and flight resemble that of a Fly¬

catcher.


In Bermuda the bird is resident and does not migrate. It has

been classified as a distinct species and called Sialia sialis bermudensis,

but the difference between this and the American bird is very

slight.


It will ever be a charming combination of memory to associate

my visit to the sylvan isles of Bermuda with my first acquaintanceship

with that glory of American avifauna, the Blue Bird.


Another surprise awaited me in making my first introduction to

another prime favourite of British aviculturists, namely the Virginian

Cardinal. How gorgeous this fiery scarlet bird looks amid the sombre

greenery of the cedar trees. After the introduced sparrow this is

perhaps the most conspicuous if not the commonest of the native birds.

The glowing plumage of this bird is fittingly matched in the scarlet

of the hibiscus and a hundred and one other tropical blossoms which

grow so profusely in these glamorous isles.


I have often watched these birds searching for insects in the crevices

in the bark of the cedar trees and also, like the Blue Bird, looking for

insects in the newly turned earth in the gardens and fields. The birds

are very tame and allow a very close approach. What an asset this

bird would be to the English countryside if it could be established, but

I am afraid that it would be unable to withstand the onslaught of

game-keepers’ guns or village boys’ catapults.


This Cardinal has also been separated from the mainland species

but only by scientists whose hobby it is to find microscopic differences

between different sub-species of birds.


In a wild state this bird lives far more on insects than on seeds and



