( 84 )
T H E B L U E B I R D .
SYLVIA SIJLIS, LATH.
P L A T E C X I I I . MALE, FEMALE, AND YOUNG.
THIS lovely bird is found in all parts of the United States, where it
is generally a permanent resident. It adds to the delight imparted by
spring, and enlivens the dull days of winter. Full of innocent vivacity,
warbling its ever pleasing notes, and familiar as any bird can be in its natural
freedom, it is one of the most agreeable of our feathered favourites.
The pure azure of its mantle, and the beautiful glow of its breast, render
it conspicuous, as it flits through the orchards and gardens, crosses the
fields or meadows, or hops along by the road-side. Recollecting the littlebox
made for it, as it sits on the roof of the house, the barn, or the fencestake,
it returns to it even during the winter, and its visits are always
welcomed by those who know it best.
When March returns, the male commences his courtship, manifesting
as much tenderness and affection towards his chosen one, as the dove itself.
Martins and House-wrens ! be prepared to encounter his anger, or
keep at a respectful distance. Even the wily cat he will torment with
querulous chirpings, whenever he sees her in the path from which he
wishes to pick up an insect for his mate.
The Blue Bird breeds in the Floridas as early as January, and pairs
at Charleston in that month, in Pennsylvania about the middle of April,
and in the State of Maine in J une. It forms its nest in the box made
expressly for the purpose, or in any convenient hole or cavity it can find,
often taking possession of those abandoned by the Woodpecker. The
eggs are from four to six, of a pale blue colour. Two and often three
broods are raised in the year. While the female sits on the second set of
eggs, the male takes charge of the first brood, and so on to the end.
The food of this species consists of coleóptera, caterpillars, spiders,
and insects of various kinds, in procuring which it frequently alights
against the bark of trees. They are also fond of ripe fruits, such as figs,
persimons, and grapes, and during the autumnal months they pounce on
grasshoppers from the tops of the great mullein, so frequent in the old
fields. They are extremely fond of newly ploughed land, on which,
BLUE BIRD. 85
especially during winter and early spring, they are often seen in search of
the insects turned out of their burrows by the plough.
The song of the Blue Bird is a soft agreeable warble, often repeated
during the love-season, when it seldom sings without a gentle quivering
of the wings. When the period of migration arrives, its voice consists
merely of a tender and plaintive note, perhaps denoting the reluctance
with which it contemplates the approach of winter. In November most
of the individuals that have resided during the summer in the Northern
and Middle Districts, are seen high in the air moving southward along
with their families, or alighting to seek for food and enjoy repose. But
many are seen in winter, whenever a few days of fine weather occur, so
fond are they of their old haunts, and so easily can birds possessing
powers of flight like theirs, move from one place to another. Their return
takes place early in February or March, when they appear in parties
of eight or ten of both sexes. When they alight at this season, the joyous
carols of the males are heard from the tops of the early-blooming sassafras
and maple.
During winter, they are extremely abundant in all the Southern States,
and more especially in the Floridas, where I found hundreds of them on
all the plantations that I visited. The species becomes rare in Maine,
still more so in Nova Scotia, and in Newfoundland and Labrador none
were seen by our exploring party.
My excellent and learned friend Dr RICHARD HARLAN of Philadelphia,
told me that one day, while in the neighbourhood of that city, sitting
in the piazza of a friend's house, he observed that a pair of Blue
Birds had taken possession of a hole cut out expressly for them in the end
of the cornice above him. They had young, and were very solicitous for
their safety, insomuch that it was no uncommon thing to see the male
especially fly at a person who happened to pass by. A hen with her brood
in the yard came within a few yards of the piazza. The wrath of the
Blue Bird rose to such a pitch that, notwithstanding its great disparity
of strength, it flew at the hen with violence, and continued to assail her,
until she was at length actually forced to retreat and seek refuge under a
distant shrub, when the little fellow returned exultingly to his nest, and
there carolled his victory with great animation. At times, however, matters
take a very different course, and you'may recollect the combats of a
Purple Martin and a Blue Bird, of which I gave you an account in my
first volume.