26 
TWENTY-SIX COMMON BIRDS. 
on their arrival the site for the nest is chosen, — generally the bough 
of some apple, spruce or maple near the house, though nests may 
be found in almost any tree. The nest, made of grass and mud, 
is too familiar to need description. The young are out by the end 
of May, when the excited calls of the parents are too often evidence 
of the destruction by cats of their young. The young are heavily 
spotted on the breast. In July and August the young of the first 
brood and the males resort, sometimes by thousands, to groves in 
low ground where they spend the night. The females are mean¬ 
while brooding a second time. The Robin has often irritated fruit¬ 
growers by his pilfering; strawberries, cherries aud raspberries are 
carried off or damaged, but these fruits form, taking the whole year 
together, but a small part of the bird’s food, for beside earthworms 
and wild berries, the Robin consumes vast numbers of cutworms 
and caterpillars. Even supposing the damage done by the Robin 
was not offset by these benefits, the world can better spare a little 
fruit, than the presence of this cheerful, handsome and musical bird. 
BLUEBIRD. 2 U 
[SIALIA SIALIS.] 
The Bluebird winters from southern Connecticut southward, and 
his first appearance in March has come to have for New Englanders 
a special significance. The soft call-note characteristic of both sexes 
and the rich warble of the male, combine with its exquisite color¬ 
ing and confiding disposition, to win for the Bluebird a peculiar 
place in the hearts of all that are fortunate enough to know the bird. 
The Chickadee alone holds a warmer place in our hearts. The 
Bluebird frequents, on his arrival, orchards and open fields, where 
from fence-posts, bushes or low trees, he scans the ground, for some 
evidence of insect life. The flight to the ground, the fluttering of 
his wings as he seizes his prey, are very characteristic. The colors 
of the female are much duller than the males, and the young show 
but little blue and chestnut. The nest is placed in a hole, commonly 
