4 
BIRD LIFE IN WASHINGTON 
His song season is short. We may 
hear him talk almost any season. His 
conversational notes are sweet, too. 
If the tree swallow does not drive him 
away, he is glad to find a box in the yard 
waiting for him. 
Bluebirds come early and the mother 
bird may rear three sets of children. It 
t/ 
lias been known to lay six sets, but in- 
ft/ / 
stances of this kind are rare. Each set 
consists of from four to six pale blue eggs. 
If no welcome box awaits bluebird, lie 
may seek an abandoned woodpecker hole 
far from any human habitation. 
ft/ 
He is beautifully clothed in blue and 
rose. His manners are gentle and con¬ 
fiding. We welcome the joy he brings and 
are glad he is with us all the year. 
o *y 
Only a few sheltered valleys may know 
him in January, but I have met him quiet- 
ly feeding on the shores of Lake Wash- 
ington on the twenty-eighth day of Be- 
cember. By the twentieth of February 
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they are fairly common again. 
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VARIED THRUSH 
The Varied Thrush makes one think of 
the Robin. The two birds resemble each 
other in size, color and mannerisms. So 
Varied Thrush is often called Alaska 
Robin, Oregon Robin, or Swamp Robin. 
He is the more beautiful bird; his throat 
and breast are golden or orange; a bright 
