THE THRUSHES 



627 



and black head of the aduh. Females are inclined to be 

 somewhat duller than males, but this difference is more 

 one of age than of sex, and vigorous, mature females 

 are brighter than young males. The western robin dif- 

 fers from the eastern bird principally in the absence of 

 the white tips to the outer tail feathers. 



Another aberrant memlier of the thrush family is the 

 familiar bluebird. With its blue back and chest'iut 

 breast, it is indeed one of the most beautiful birds of the 

 countryside and well worth every effort to increase its 

 numbers. It is quick to respond and in many localities 

 has greatly increased because of the nesting boxes which 

 have been put up for it. Indeed, in most places, it has 

 now^ regained the numbers lost in the devastating storms 

 of the winter and spring of 1911 and 1912 when thou- 

 sands were starved and frozen, and is once more a fa- 

 miliar bird. A similar catastrophe occurred also in 1895 

 when so many were killed that they did not regain their, 

 hold for over ten years. 



The female blueliird is nuich duller than the male and 

 the young are grayish, obscurely spotted above and be- 

 low, and showing blue only in the wings and tail. 



The blue eggs, so typical of the thrush family, have, 

 with the bluebird, become very pale, perhaps owing to 

 its hole-nesting habit, for the majority of birds that nest 

 in holes lay pure white eggs. 



The most suitable nesting box for the bluebird is one 



P.oth the robin and the bluebird spend the winter in 

 southern LJnited States and are among the first birds to 

 push northward in the spring, arriving in northern 



MORE Sl'UT^ 

 The wood thrush has more conspicuous spots nn its breast than any other 

 thrush in this country. Notice the paper napkins with which this bird has 

 endeavored to disguise its nest — "camouflage" in birdland! 



that measures 5x5x8 inches inside with a two-inch hole 

 four inches from the bottom on one side. It is best 

 placed on a pole in the garden or above a fence post, six 

 to ten feet from the ground, in bright sun or light shade. 



AN EGG IS AN EGG TO A VEERY 

 The speckled egg. that of tlie parasitic cowbird, is cared for with equal 

 soiicitude to one of its own. The veery nests on or near the ground in 

 moist woodlands. 



United States early in March or even in late February. 

 Occasionally individuals of each species find food and 

 shelter and spend the winter in protected spots as far 

 north as New York or New England. 



The western bluebird differs from the eastern in hav- 

 ing the throat blue, instead of chestnut, and in having 

 a brownish spot on the back. The mountain bluebird 

 of Alaska and the higher Rocky Mountains has the en- 

 tire underparts light blue, but is quite similar in habits 

 to the other species. 



After the robin and bluebird, the next thrush to arrive 

 in the spring, while the leaves are still bare, is the her- 

 mit thrush. Being of a retiring disposition and frequent- 

 ing woodlands rather than gardens, it is less often seen, 

 although during cold wet spells, when food is scarce, 

 they venture close about the house and come to feeding 

 shelves with the chickadees and juncos. The hermit is 

 a typical thrush with uniform dark brown upperparts 

 and whitish underparts with dark spots on the fore 

 l)reast. The breast is less spotted than that of the wood 

 thrush and more so than that of the veery, and it is easily 

 distinguished from all of them by its rufous tail which 

 it has the habit of lifting slightly when it alights or when 

 it utters its call, a low chuck. It nests in the hills and 

 mountains of northern United States and Canada above 

 an altitude of 1,500 feet, placing its nest of mosses and 

 grasses on the ground beneath a sheltering branch. 



It is only on its nesting ground that its full song is 

 heard and there usually early in the morning, toward 

 dusk, or even in the dead of night. Then, when the 



