THE
BLUE BIRD.
Winged lute
that we call a blue bird,
You blend in a silver strain
The sound of the laughing waters,
The patter of spring's sweet rain,
The voice of the wind, the sunshine,
And fragrance of blossoming things,
Ah! you are a poem of April
That God endowed with wings. E. E. R.
| LIKE a bit of sky
this little harbinger of spring appears, as we see him
and his mate househunting in early March. Oftentimes he
makes his appearance as early as the middle of February,
when his attractive note is heard long before he himself
is seen. He is one of the last to leave us, and although
the month of November is usually chosen by him as the
fitting time for departure to a milder clime, his
plaintive note is quite commonly heard on pleasant days
throughout the winter season, and a few of the braver and
hardier ones never entirely desert us. The Robin and the
Blue Bird are tenderly associated in the memories of most
persons whose childhood was passed on a farm or in the
country village. 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. 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. A celebrated naturalist says: "This bird
seems incapable of uttering a harsh note, or of doing a
spiteful, ill-tempered thing." Nearly everybody has his anecdote to tell of the Blue Bird's courage, but the author of "Wake Robin" tells his exquisitely thus: "A few years ago I put up a little bird house in the back end of my garden for the accommodation of the wrens, and every season a pair have taken up their abode there. One spring a pair of Blue Birds looked into the tenement, and lingered about several days, leading me to hope that they would conclude to occupy it. But they finally went away. Late in the season the wrens appeared, and after a little coquetting, were regularly installed in their old quarters, and were as happy as only wrens can be. But before their honeymoon was over, the Blue Birds returned. I knew something was wrong before I was up in the morning. Instead of that voluble and gushing song outside the window, I heard the wrens scolding and crying out at a fearful rate, and on going out saw the Blue Birds in possession of the box. The poor wrens were in despair and were forced to look for other quarters." |