How The Bluebird Got Its Color

: Myths And Legends Of California And The Old Southwest

Pima (Arizona)



A long time ago, the bluebird was a very ugly color. But Bluebird knew

of a lake where no river flowed in or out, and he bathed in this four

times every morning for four mornings. Every morning he sang a magic

song:



"There's a blue water. It lies there.

I went in.

I am all blue."



On the fourt
morning Bluebird shed all his feathers and came out of the

lake just in his skin. But the next morning when he came out of the lake

he was covered with blue feathers.



Now all this while Coyote had been watching Bluebird. He wanted to jump

in and get him to eat, but he was afraid of the water. But on that last

morning Coyote said,



"How is it you have lost all your ugly color, and now you are blue and

gay and beautiful? You are more beautiful than anything that flies in

the air. I want to be blue, too." Now Coyote at that time was a bright

green.



"I only went in four times on four mornings," said Bluebird. He taught

Coyote the magic song, and he went in four times, and the fifth time he

came out as blue as the little bird.



Then Coyote was very, very proud because he was a blue coyote. He was so

proud that as he walked along he looked around on every side to see if

anybody was looking at him now that he was a blue coyote and so

beautiful. He looked to see if his shadow was blue, too. But Coyote was

so busy watching to see if others were noticing him that he did not

watch the trail. By and by he ran into a stump so hard that it threw him

down in the dirt and he was covered with dust all over. You may know

this is true because even to-day coyotes are the color of dirt.



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