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."