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Indigo-bird; Indigo Bunting
Adult male--Intense blue on the head; other parts rather lighter.
Adult female--Upper parts plain brownish; under parts grayish, the breast being indistinctly streaked. Length--5.59.
Breeding Range--Throughout the Eastern States.
The nest is composed of grass, leaves, downy seeds, and fine roots, lined with fine grass and hair. It is usually near the ground (sometimes within one foot), in a low bush or weeds; if in a bush, it is placed in a crotch; if in weeds, such as the Joepye weed, nettle, or others of a similar nature, it is hung from the stems, with practically no support from beneath. 3 to 4 white eggs are laid; they are slightly tinged with blue and rarely marked with fine dots. Size--.75 x .55.
While the male Indigo-bird perches on the telegraph pole--a blue spot against a blue sky--and sings throughout the summer day, his sparrow-like mate is attending to her household duties in the scrub below. She attracts no attention; her dusky colour and quiet manner will never draw any person to her carefully hidden nest. During the tedious duties of incubation she is visited repeatedly by her mate, but he goes to and from the nest in such an erratic manner that it is most difficult to follow him. The nest, which is not at all a neat structure, requires from two to four days to build. The eggs hatch after ten days of incubation, and in a surprisingly short time the young are ready to leave the nest and hide themselves in the tangle of vines and bushes.
In the neighbourhood of New York the breeding season begins towards the end of May.