Blue Birds

“ Bird of Paradise whose feathers are really and truly blue, and I am quite sure that there is no other one—at least that we know of—which has so much blue about it, that you would think of it as a blue bird, or that has blue feather-fountains—those wonderful long silky plumes that grow out of each side under the wings.
That is what is most wonderful in the Blue Bird of Paradise. There is no other Bird of Paradise that can sit under a blue fountain or look out of a blue sunset. ”

“ Before the advent of the English Sparrow, the Blue Bird was sure to be the first to occupy and the last to defend the little box prepared for his return, appearing in his blue jacket somewhat in advance of the plainly habited female, who on her arrival quite often found a habitation selected and ready for her acceptance, should he find favor in her sight. And then he becomes a most devoted husband and father, sitting by the nest and warbling with earnest affection his exquisite tune, and occasionally flying away in search of food for his mate and nestlings. ”

“ Although my numerous efforts to find a blue-wing's nest were unavailing, I had the satisfaction of proving beyond doubt that these birds breed in northeastern Kansas. A quaint, squeaking call attracted my attention one day, and I found that it proceeded from the throat of a young blue-wing perched in the bushes, for presently the mamma came and thrust a morsel into the open mouth of the bantling. Some young birds sit quietly and patiently, waiting for their rations, and utter only a faint twitter when they are fed; but the youthful blue-wings are not of so contented and silent a disposition. ”

“ The Blue Bird rears two broods in the season, and, should the weather be mild, even three. His nest contains three eggs.
In the spring and summer when he is happy and gay, his song is extremely soft and agreeable, while it grows very mournful and plaintive as cold weather approaches. He is mild of temper, and a peaceable and harmless neighbor, setting a fine example of amiability to his feathered friends. In the early spring, however, he wages war against robins, wrens, swallows, and other birds whose habitations are of a kind to take his fancy. ”

“ The nest is a thick, soft, warm structure, securely fastened in the fork of a maple or an apple-tree.
None of our familiar birds endear themselves to us more than does the bluebird. The first bluebird in the spring is as welcome as the blue sky itself. ”

“ The males are practically all azure; but the females have a much more modest garb of reddish gray, or stone-olive, which flashes into blue on wings and tail, only as the bird flits from post to post.
In nesting, Mountain Bluebirds sometimes display the same confidence shown by the darker species; and their adoption into urban, or at least village life, would seem to be only a matter of time. They are a gentle breed, and it is an honor of which we may well strive to prove worthy, to be chosen as hosts by these distinguished gentlefolk. ”

“ Blue-birds and robins are far more numerous than they used to be, while on the other hand several birds are known to have deserted our neighborhood for regions more to their taste, such as the quail, the kill-deers, the crested woodpeckers, &c., &c. ”

“ As we return homeward, we soon find ourselves surrounded by the familiar birds that shun the forest and assemble around the habitations of men. Among them the Blue-Bird meets our sight, upon the roofs and fences as well as in the field and orchard. At the risk of introducing him into a company to which he does not strictly belong, I will attempt in this place to describe some of his habits. ”

“ It was a strain on their patience, however, to remain in their Nest and listen to the laughs, exultant shouts, and sounds of satisfaction coming from the carriage house.
116All things have an end, so Uncle Ben soon appeared at the wide doorway of the Publishing House and gave a shrill whistle for the Blue Birds. Instantly, seven little girls took flight down the steps and across the lawn, leaving Mrs. Talmage to assist Aunt Selina.
The Blue Birds ran in and looked about. The great, ugly, black machines with wheels, rollers and arms everywhere, did not impress them very favorably. ”

“ It is because the lad is original enough to fill a gap, and persistent enough to keep a good thing going. I haven’t the least idea but that the Blue Birds would never have been heard of outside of their little Nest if it hadn’t been for Ned and his Chirp,” commended Uncle Ben. ”

“ Why, in some way the Blue Birds have found a way to reach book stores, stationers, and similar business places. Then, too, the mention of needing thousands shows me they have found a mine of addresses that is worth a large price to a publisher.”
216“Ah, Uncle Ben, you’re wrong there! The Blue Birds haven’t gone anywhere, and no one has been here to tell them how to get such names,” said Ned. ”

“ Each time a great blue bird with well-filled gullet is seen sweeping downwards the young birds in all the nests are thrown into a great state of excitement, and greet the food-bearer with a storm of extraordinary sounds. ”

“ That “several weeks ago” makes me suspicious, and on following up the matter I discover that John and James have seen a large blue bird, larger than a robin, with some black and white on him—all white underneath—and wearing a tall crest or topknot. Then I know that they have mistaken a blue bird for a bluebird. They have seen a blue jay, a bird of a very different feather. He has been with us all winter, as he always is, and has been in sight from my windows daily. So easy is it for boys and men to guess at things, and guess wrong. ”

“ Everything else we have have such nice names,” complained Ruth.
“But, why do you children want a name for the valley and one for the children’s camps?” asked Aunt Selina.
“Doesn’t everything in the world have a name?” asked Dot.
The others laughed, but Ruth added, “Dot’s right; we have a name for our cherry-tree nest, 277and one for the new nest; and Mrs. Catlin is going to call her Blue Birds’ nest ‘Hill Top Nest’—‘Blue Birds of Hill Top Nest.’”
“But this is different,” argued Mrs. Talmage. ”

“ The Blue Birds will enjoy making the dummies, pasting 89in the pictures, and arranging the pages; and the Bobolinks can proceed to print the magazines. If you don’t expect to use this carriage house for anything it may as well be turned into a print-shop. With all these boys to work, the printing ought to be great sport and not much trouble to get out a magazine.”
The Blue Birds were clapping their hands in excitement while the Bobolinks jumped up, and in their eagerness, crowded about Uncle Ben, overwhelming him with so many questions that he was quite overcome. ”

“ As already stated, the blue of this species is greener, more smalt-like than in sialis. The females are distinguished from those of the other species by the greener blue, entire absence of rufous, and longer wings.
In autumn and winter the blue of the male is much soiled by amber-brown edges to the feathers, this most conspicuous on the breast, where the blue is sometimes almost concealed; the plumage of the female, too, at this season is different from that of spring, the anterior lower parts being soft isabella-color, much less grayish than in spring. ”

“ Whatever they were, the color of the backs would probably be enough to name them, and I returned to the car for breakfast and, first of all, to make sure of my new birds’ identity. A consultation of the handbook showed it to be reasonably certain that they were of the sub-species Sialia mexicana bairdi, the chestnut-backed bluebird; but I had failed to observe one important mark: the throat should have been “purplish blue.” ”

“ Our common bluebird has long been recognized as a descendant of the thrush family; this origin is evident in the speckled breast of the young birds and in the voices of the mature birds. I have heard a bluebird with an unmistakable thrush note. The transformation has doubtless been so slow that an analogous change taking place in any of the bird forms of our own time would entirely escape observation. The bluebird may have been as long in getting his blue coat as man has been in getting his upright position. ”

“ Male blue, tinged with verdigris-green, on the head approaching to ultramarine; quills and tail-feathers dusky, edged with greenish-blue. Female yellowish-brown above, paler beneath. Young like the female. Male, in the first autumn, of a lighter and duller blue than in the adult, the feathers of the upper parts tipped with brown, of the lower with yellowish, in the second year nearly as in the adult, but with the smaller coverts dull brown. ”

“ In winter he may be easily won with a little food; and when he joins the mixed company of sparrows, dunnocks, blackbirds, and starlings that come to the door for crumbs and scraps, he is by contrast among them a ‘winged jewel’—a small wanderer from the tropics. In works of ornithology you will find the blue tit described as a little acrobat and harlequin, droll and grotesque and fantastic in his ways ”

“ The little boy blue is one of the birds suffering under a bad name whom I have wished to know better, to see if perchance something might be done to clear up his reputation a bit. I am not able to say that he never steals the eggs of other birds, though during nearly a month of hard work, when, if ever, a few eggs would have been a welcome addition to his resources, and sparrows were sitting in scores on the place, I did not see or hear anything of the sort. ”

“ Young birds somewhat resemble the adult female but the [255] blue is restricted to flight-feathers and rectrices, that of the male being brighter and bluer, that of the female duller and greener. In both sexes the back and scapular areas are brownish heavily and sharply streaked with white and the breast (jugulum, sides of breast, and sides) is dark sepia brown so heavily streaked with white as to appear “skeletonized.” ”

“ Adult male in winter: Blue somewhat duller and feathers skirted more or less with brownish above and below, notably on hind-neck, upper back, breast and sides. Adult female: Like male but paler blue, clear on rump, tail and wings only, elsewhere quenched in gray; pileum, hindneck, back and [260] scapulars mouse-gray tinged with greenish-blue; outer edge of first primary and outer web of outermost rectrix, basally, white; a whitish orbital ring; underparts tinged with pale brownish gray fading to white posteriorly. Young birds somewhat resemble the adult female but are even duller ”

“ They do not come about the flower-garden like the humming-bird, nor about the lawn like the robin; neither can they be hunted with a dog like the grouse and the [Pg 145] woodcock. Hence, for all their gorgeous apparel, they are mainly left to students and collectors. Of our common species the most beautiful are, perhaps, the blue yellow-back, the blue golden-wing, the Blackburnian, the black-and-yellow, the Canada flycatcher, and the redstart; with the yellow-rump, the black-throated green, the prairie warbler, the summer yellow-bird, and the Maryland yellow-throat coming not far behind. ”

“ Young males in late summer are very similar to adult females, but are purer white below, and less uniform greenish-blue above, the dark stripes on sides of the crown and black centres to scapulars being quite conspicuous; the young female, at the same season, is similar in pattern to the adult, but is dull green above, without any tinge of blue, and light buffy-yellow below. ”

“ If we start a movement called Bobolinks we can demand help from the grown-ups just as the girls have done. We can manage to do something as big as the Blue 53Birds ever did, besides having our outings and games at a club-room. ”

“ They have a right to the name of blackbird, for they are quite black. At least they look so a little way off, but if one gets near and sees the sunshine on them, he will see that they reflect blue or green or purple, from their feathers. ”

“ The blue above replaced by dark umber-brown with a plumbeous cast, and showing more or less distinct darker shaft-lines; these on the head above very broad, giving a streaked appearance; white spots on inner webs of primaries more ochraceous than in the male. Tail dark plumbeous-brown, shading into blackish toward end, with five rather narrow ochraceous or soiled white bars, the first of which is concealed by the upper coverts, the last terminal. White beneath, less tinged with reddish than in the male, the tibiæ not different from the other portions; markings beneath as in the male. ”

“ Head and neck all around, and back, sooty black, touched with streaks of cerulean blue on forehead, and pale gray on chin and throat, this color passing insensibly into dull blue on breast and rump and richer blue on wings and tail; terminal portion of tail and wings crossed with fine black bars, sharply on secondaries and tertials, faintly or not at all on greater coverts. Bill and feet black; iris brown. Young birds are more extensively sooty, and wing-bars are faint or wanting. Length of adults about 12.00 ”

“ A thin line of deep blue running through the eye and over the ear-coverts in a narrow collar rouud the nape; remainder of head pale vinous blue or blue-grey; back pale blue-grey; upper tail-coverts briglit dark blue, tipped with white; outermost tail-feathers white, with the basal third of the inner web black; on each succeeding pair the white decreases and the black increases and becomes more blue, especially on the outer web, until the central rectrices are all dark blue, except for broad white tips. ”

“ But as soon as one was laid, one of the birds would jump into the nest and kick and scratch till it was thrown out and broken. They seemed to think the pretty blue eggs were playthings. When the weather grew hot, Bobby, the singer, showed his sense by spending most of his time lying in his bathing-dish, covered with water up to his ears. He would lie there an hour [10] at a time, too comfortable to get out even to eat.
HERMIT THRUSH
Birds who are not brought into the house often become tame when well treated. ”