Is there any sign of spring quite so welcome as the glint of the first bluebird unless it is his softly whistled song? No wonder the bird has become the symbol for happiness. Before the farmer begins to plough the wet earth, often while snow is still on the ground, this hardy little minstrel is making himself very much at home in our orchards and gardens while waiting for a mate to arrive from the South.

Birds that Every Child Should Know: the East, by Neltje Blanchan [pseud.]..sixty-three Pages of Photographs from Life (ed. 1907)