Identifier: natureneighborse61914bant (find matches)
Title: www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/tags/book...
Year: 1914 (1910s)
Authors: Banta, Nathaniel Moore, 1867- Schneider, Albert, 1863- Higley, William Kerr, 1860-1908 Abbott, Gerard Alan
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: Chicago, American Audobon association
Contributing Library: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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and the bird also displays considerable powersin imitating other species. The nests are usually well hidden among the crevices ofrocks and boulders, sometimes in an old well, a quarry, agravel pit, in excavations made by sand martins, or even indeserted rabbit burrows. The nest is merely an accumula-tion of grass, moss, hair, and other soft material, in whichfour to six pale blue eggs are laid in May and June. BLUEBIRD The common and familiar Bluebird is an inhabitant ofall the States east of the Rocky Mountains, from the Gulfnorthward into Canada. It winters as far north as south-ern Illinois in the Mississippi Valley and Pennsylvania inthe east, thence south to the Gulf. In the spring it is oneof the first migrants to arrive in the Northern States, and isalways welcomed as an indication of the final breaking upof winter. The upper parts of the plumage in both sexes are blue,darker in the male, but the shades vary greatly in bothsexes. The breast of the male is a rich chestnut brown;
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21 BLUE BIRD.Life-size. CO^VWKiMT I «T A. <M. uuuro THRUSHES 4)68 that of his mate is several shades paler. In America wehave no other member of the family, save the Western formof the bluebird, where brown is not the predominating coloramong the thrushes. The notes of the bluebird are as sweet as they aresimple. There is something in the character of the notesthat reminds one of the wood pewees song, if such the lat-ter may be called. Their sweet carols convey the idea thatthe birds take life seriously. As the bluebirds are passingoverhead late in October, their sad notes bring a realizationthat the days of blossoms and verdure are past, and bleak,wintry weather is in store. At no season of the year does this species appear over-demonstrative. The actions at all times are modest andreserved, seeming to show the result of good breeding. Hehas neither the cunning of the jay, the aggressiveness ofthe kingbird, nor the cherry-stealing habit of his near rela-tive, the robin. The blueb

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