. Animal snapshots and how made . uringthe whole year. His note awakens within us theassurance of the quick return of the spring beauty,and wake robin, and a whole troop of songsters. In a day or two Lady Bluebird will arrive, a verymodest little woman, with less brightly colored plu-mage, and more retiring manners, than her , if you are patient, you will have an opportunityto observe a most interesting courtship; for Mr. Blue-bird is an attentive lover, exhibiting to his lady allthe charms of his beautiful plumage, singing to herhis sweetest songs, and feeding her with the choicestbi
. Animal snapshots and how made . uringthe whole year. His note awakens within us theassurance of the quick return of the spring beauty,and wake robin, and a whole troop of songsters. In a day or two Lady Bluebird will arrive, a verymodest little woman, with less brightly colored plu-mage, and more retiring manners, than her , if you are patient, you will have an opportunityto observe a most interesting courtship; for Mr. Blue-bird is an attentive lover, exhibiting to his lady allthe charms of his beautiful plumage, singing to herhis sweetest songs, and feeding her with the choicestbits of food to be found. In actual bird life it some-times happens that a rival appears upon the scene,and then many are the contests with voice and beak,until one or the other is vanquished. After thisthe courtship proceeds smoothly, and before long The Bluebird 195 the birds begin to look about for a suitable placefor housekeeping. The bird-boxes and small cavities in trees arecarefully inspected, xrntil a spot is found to their. The Bluebird Box liking. If the birds are not interfered with, the workof nest building progresses rapidly. But when thebluebirds are once settled they are very determined,usually succeeding in maintaining their own against 196 The Bluebird tHeir enemies, of which the house wrens, and especiallythe Enghsh sparrows, are chief. However, owing tothe continuous warf-are waged against them by thesepugnacious foes, the bluebirds are, year by year,becoming less numerous about our dwellings. In my bird note book I find a sketch of the blue-bird families that have, for several years in succession,occupied my bird-box. This artificial home con-sisted . of a hollow limb, about twenty inches longand eight in diameter, closed at top and bottom, andhaving an entrance for the birds on one side, whileon another: side was a door, through which the nestand its contents could be inspected. In the wallopposite to the birds entrance a microphone wasarranged, and a line jo
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectani, booksubjectbirds
