Page:LA2-NSRW-1-0280.jpg



BLUEBIRD

231

BOA

Bluebird, also called Blue Robin, an early spring bird of the United States, belonging to the thrush family. Some individuals pass the winter in sheltered places as far north as southern Connecticut. it appears very early in the spring, and in New England begins nesting in April. By the middle of the month about five bluish white eggs are laid. It is a little longer than the English sparrow, has feathers of a rich bright blue above and reddish chestnut on the throat and breast, and white below. The female is duller in color than the male. It is of a happy social disposition, and builds its nest in orchards and near houses, and will take advantage of a box, a deserted woodpecker's nest or a hole in a fence post. A pair raise from two to three broods a summer, at first the young birds being almost black. One of the first birds to come, they are one of the last to leave, remaining until the frostc. of November.

"Ah, now that you are gone, I know The summer's gone!"

The voice is soft and musical, the temper of the bird most amiable. Its beauty and also its usefulness as an insect destroyer make it a very desirable neighbor; one whom it were well to invite close by building for it a tiny house.

Blue Books or Parliamentary Papers are the official reports, returns and documents printed for the British government, and laid before the houses of Parliament for the use of members. They are uniformly stitched up in dark-blue paper wrappers (in France they are yellow; in Germany and Portugal they are white; in Spain red; and in Italy green); and are called from the color of their covers Blue Books include, besides statistics of the home trade in England, consular reports from abroad; bills presented to and acts passed by parliament; reports of committees of both houses; and aB papers and returns moved for by members or granted by government on particular subjects.

Blue'fish, a salt-water fish of blue color merging into greenish, widely distributed in temperate seas. Its ordinary size is from two to three feet, weighing four to ten pounds, but larger sizes are taken It is highly prized as a table fish and also as a game fish. It is very destructive, and appears to eat nearly everything that swims Bluefish go in large schools, like a pack of hungry wolves, killing fish not much inferior to themselves in size, and more than is required for their support.

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta Aristatd). Of the jay family, birds that are common in the Old World, the American blue jay will be familiar to most bird lovers. It is smaller than its European kin, but, like its foreign cousin, it has a fine crest and a beautiful

purple blue plumage, though its song is harsher, and it is a great depredator, and sometimes devours the eggs and young of other birds, especially after the breeding season. It is also a fighter, though its courage is not of a high order, attacking owls and squirrels at times; while its food consists of anything it can obtain in winter, and in summer feeding on insects, nuts, seeds and fruits. It is found along the coast of North America from Newfoundland and the Canadian maritime provinces south to Florida and the Gulf, and inland as far as the plains. The long-tailed blue jay is an inhabitant of Central and South America.

Blue Laws, a name sometimes given to the early laws of the New England states, especially of the New Haven colony. The appellation probably came from the strictness and severity of the early rules of the Puritans. No such distinct system of laws as the blue laws, however, existed in New Haven.

Blue Ridge, the range of the Alleghe-nies which lies nearest to the Atlantic Ocean, and extends in a northeast and southwest direction through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. The spur in Pennsylvania is called South Mountain. From the James River to the line of North Carolina the ridge is called the Allegheny Mountain. Blue Warbler. See BLUE BIRD. Boa, a name loosely applied to large serpents that crush their prey in coils of their bodies. The name properly belongs to the boa constrictor and the anaconda, both natives of tropical South America. The former lives in dry bushy regions and the latter in damp places; it is often called the water boa. The boa constrictor attains a length of twelve feet and upward, but the anaconda is much larger. It is difficult to get trustworthy measurements, but it is doubtful that it exceeds twenty feet in length. They are both to be distinguished from the pythons, which are residents of the tropical regions of the old world. The boas have no poison fangs, but their powers of crushing are great. They are able to swallow whole animals the size of a small dog, or, perhaps, even a goat. After feeding in this way, they remain torpid for several weeks to complete

BLUE JAY