78 BIEDS OF NEW ENGLAND AND EASTERN NEW YORK 



quality to the Veery's, though perhaps a trifle thinner, with 

 a marked upward inflection at the close. It may be written 

 thus : te-dee', dee^a, te-dee^ee, with a slurring effect on all 

 the long syllables. On Mount Mansfield, in Vermont, the 

 hotel is in the midst of the breeding-ground of the Bick- 

 nell's Thrushes, and is an excellent place to observe them. 

 Much remains to be learned about their nesting habits. 



To distinguish the Gray-cheek from the Olive-back, one 

 must see the side of the head in strong light. If there is 

 no difference in shade between the top of the head and the 

 cheek, — if both are gray, — and if there is no tawny color 

 on head or tail, then the bird is a Gray-cheeked Thrush. 



Wilson's Thrush ; Veery. Hylocichla fuscescens 



7.52 



Ad. — Upper parts brown, with a distinct, though often not a 

 strong, tawny tinge; under parts white; breast and sides of throat 

 washed with yellowish-brown, lightly spotted with tawny-brown. 



Nest^ on or near the ground, in wet woods. Eggs, greenish-blue. 



The Veery is a common summer resident all through 

 New York and Kew England, wherever the ground is moist 

 and there are trees. On the higher mountains it rarely as- 

 cends above a level of 1500 feet, and in northern New Eng- 

 land is not common away from the river valleys. It comes 

 in early May, but does not sing for a week or ten days after 

 its arrival ; then it sings freely till July. During August it 

 is rarely seen, and probably leaves during that month or 

 early in September. It may often be seen feeding in any 

 shaded road that passes through its haunts, its quick run 

 suggesting the Robin. 



The song of this thrush, from which one of its names 

 is derived, consists of three or four phrases, the last two 

 lower than the preceding and ending with a strong vibrat- 

 ing chord, suggesting a sound muffled by a tube. The song 

 proceeds from the recesses of swampy woodland, or ceasing, 



