The Wheat-ear begins to make its nest in April, usually concealing it in some deep recess beneath a huge stone, and often far beyond the reach of the arm. Sometimes it is placed in old walls, and is usually large and rudely constructed, made of dried bents, scraps of shreds, feathers, and rubbish collected about the huts, generally containing four pale blue eggs, uniform in color, and without spots, which measure .81 of an inch in length by .69 in breadth.
Sialia, Swainson, Zoöl. Jour. III, Sept. 1827, 173. (Type Motacilla sialis, L.)
Sialia sialis.
1289
Gen. Char. Bill short, stout, broader than high at the base, then compressed; slightly notched at tip. Rictus with short bristles. Tarsi not longer than the middle toe. Claws considerably curved. Wings much longer than the tail; the first primary spurious, not one fourth the longest. Tail moderate; slightly forked. Eggs plain blue. Nest in holes.
The species of this genus are all well marked, and adult males are easily distinguishable. In all, blue forms a prominent feature. Three well-marked species are known, with a fourth less distinct. The females are duller in color than the males. The young are spotted and streaked with white.
Common Characters. Rich blue above, duller in the female. Beneath reddish or blue in the male, reddish or light drab in the female. Young with wings and tails only blue, the head and anterior parts of body with numerous whitish spots.
A. Breast reddish, or chestnut.
1. S. sialis. No chestnut on the back; throat reddish; abdomen and crissum white.
Blue of a rich dark purplish shade. Tail about 2.75. Hab. Eastern Province United States, Cuba, and Bermudas … var. sialis.
Blue of a greenish shade. Tail about 3.20. Hab. East Mexico and Guatemala … var. azurea.26
2. S. mexicana. Chestnut, in greater or less amount, on the back; throat blue; abdomen and crissum blue. Hab. West and South Middle Province United States, south to Jalapa, Cordova, and Colima.
B. Breast blue (light drab in ♀).
3. S. arctica. Entirely rich greenish-blue; abdomen white. Hab. Middle Province United States; Fort Franklin, British America.
Motacilla sialis, Linn. S. N. 1758, 187 (based on Catesby, I, pl. xlvii). Sialia sialis, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 222; Rev. 62.—Boardman, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1862, 124 (Calais, Me.; very rare).—Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 465 (Texas, winter).—Samuels, B. N. Eng., 175. Sialia wilsoni, Swainson, Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827, 173.—Cab. Jour. 1858, 120.—Gundlach, Cab. Jour. 1861, 324; Repertorio, 1865, 230.—Jones, Nat. Bermuda, 1859, 28, 66 (resident in Bermuda). Sylvia sialis, Lath.; Ampelis sialis, Nutt.; Erythraca wilsoni, Sw.
Figures: Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. II, pl. ci, cii, ciii.—Wils. I, pl. iii.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxiii.—Ib. B. A. II, pl. cxxxiv.—Doughty, Cab. I, pl. xii.
Sp. Char. Entire upper parts, including wings and tail, continuous and uniform azure-blue; the cheeks of a duller tint of the same. Beneath reddish-brown; the abdomen, anal region, and under tail-coverts white. Bill and feet black. Shafts of the quills and tail-feathers black. Female with the blue lighter, and tinged with brown on the head and back. Length, 6.75; wing, 4.00; tail, 2.90.
Young. Males of the year dull brown on head and back; and lesser coverts streaked, except on head, with white. Throat and fore part of breast streaked with white. Tertials edged with brown. Rest of coloration somewhat like adult.
Hab. Eastern United States; west to Fort Laramie, Milk River; north to Lake Winnipeg; resident in Bermuda; Cuba (rare), Gundlach.
A specimen from Guatemala (50,411 ♂, Van Patten) referrible to the var. azurea is undistinguishable in color from North American examples; the wings and tail are longer, however, measuring respectively 4.20 and 3.00.
Sialia sialis.
Habits. The Bluebird is abundant throughout the eastern portion of North America, breeding in nearly every part, from Georgia and Louisiana to the Arctic regions, with only this exception, that near the seaboard its migrations do not extend so far to the north as in the interior. It is very rarely to be met with beyond the Penobscot, although Professor Verrill mentions it as very common in the western part of Maine. It is found throughout the year in the Bermudas, and occasionally in Cuba. The Selkirk Settlement is the most northern locality to which it has been traced. It is not known to occur farther west than the highlands west of the Mississippi.
Through all the Eastern States the Bluebird is one of the most familiar and welcome of the earliest visitors of spring, usually making its appearance as early as the first of March. In mild seasons they come in the latter part of February, long before there is any apparent relaxation of the severity of winter. In 1857, in consequence of the unusual mildness of the season, Bluebirds appeared in large numbers as early as the 15th of February, and remained apparently without suffering any inconvenience, although the weather subsequently became quite severe. In 1869 their first appearance was observed as early as the 28th of January, the earliest period of which I can find any record.
In the Middle States, with every mild winter’s day, the Bluebirds come out from their retreats, and again disappear on the return of severer weather. Later in the season, or early in March, they return and make a permanent stay.
When well treated, as the Bluebirds almost universally are, they return year after year to the same box, coming always in pairs. The marked attentions of the male bird are very striking, and have been noticed by all our writers. He is very jealous of a rival, driving off every intruder of his own species who ventures upon the domain he calls his own. Occasionally the pair suffer great annoyance from vexatious interferences with their domestic arrangements by the house wren, who unceremoniously enters their homestead, despoils it of its carefully selected materials, and departs. At other times the wren will take possession of the premises and barricade the entrance, making the return of its rightful owners impossible.
The song of the Bluebirds is a low warble, soft and agreeable, repeated with great constancy and earnestness, and prolonged until quite late in the season. Just before their departure, late in October, the sprightliness of their song nearly ceases, and only a few plaintive notes are heard instead.
The food of the Bluebird consists principally of the smaller coleopterous insects, also of the larvæ of the smaller lepidoptera. In the early spring they are very busy turning over the dry leaves, examining the trunks and branches of trees, or ransacking posts and fences for the hiding-places of their prey. In the fall their food partakes more of a vegetable character.
The Bluebird selects as a suitable place for its nest a hollow in the decayed trunk of a tree, or boxes prepared for its use. Their early arrival enables them to select their own site. The nest is loosely constructed of soft materials, such as fine grasses, sedges, leaves, hair, feathers, etc. These are rarely so well woven together as to bear removal. The eggs are usually five and sometimes six in number. There are usually three broods in a season. Before the first brood are able to provide for themselves, the female repairs her nest and commences incubation for a second family. The young birds are, however, by no means left to shift for themselves. The male bird now shows himself as devoted a parent as in the earlier spring he had proved himself an attentive mate. He watches over the brood even after the second family appears and claims his attention. We often find him dividing his cares in the latter part of the season with two broods, and at the same time supplying his mate with food, and occasionally