Reading Notes: Southwestern and California Legends, Part B

Southwestern and California Legends:

How Bluebird and Coyote Got Their Colors: This story is part of the Southwestern and California Legends unit. Story source: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson (1912).

• A very long time ago, the bluebird was an extremely ugly color
• But, the bluebird knew of a lake that wasn't connected to a river or had a source that flowed into or out of it
• For four mornings, the bluebird would bathe in the lake four times
• While he bathed, he would sing a magic song like this:
• There is a blue water
• It lies there
• I went in 
• I am all blue
• After bathing on the fourth morning, shed all of his ugly feathers and came out of the lake with just his skin
• After bathing and singing the next morning, however, the bird emerged from the lake with bright blue feathers

(Mountain bluebird. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

• During this entire time, the Coyote was watching the bluebird closely
• He wanted to eat her, however was afraid of the water (much like in the story before)
• On that last morning when the bluebird emerged with her beautiful feathers, the coyote asked her how she lost all of her ugly colors and now was a beautiful blue
• He continued saying that she was the most beautiful thing, even more beautiful than anything that flies in the air
• He said that he wanted to be blue too
• At this time, the Coyote was a bright green color (green with envy)
• The bluebird explained to the coyote that she only went into the lake on four different mornings four times
• The bluebird also taught the coyote the song that she sang
• So, the coyote did as the bird has described
• He bathed four times and on the fifth time, he came out of the lake as blue as the bird was
• This color change made the coyote very proud
• He walked along and looked around him on every side to see if anybody was admiring his bright blue color and his beauty
• He even looked to see if his shadow was blue
• The coyote was so concerned with others seeing and admiring his beauty that he didn't pay attention as he walked on the trail
• So, he ran into a stump in the ground and it threw him into the dirt, covering him with dirt and dust
• This is why coyotes are the color of dirt