WOOD THRUSH. 



of 'airdee, peculiarly liquid, and followed by a trill, re- 

 peated in two interrupted bars, is readily recognisable. 

 At times their notes bear a considerable resemblance to 

 those of Wilson's Thrush; such as eh rliehu 'vrliehu, then 

 varied to 'eA villla villia, 'eh villia vrhehu, then, 'eh vein 

 villu, high and shrill. 



The Wood Thrush is always of a shy and retiring dis- 

 position, appearing alone, or only in single pairs, and 

 while he willingly charms us with his song, he is content 

 and even solicitous to remain concealed. His favorite 

 haunts are low, shady glens by water-courses, often ren- 

 dered dark with alder bushes, mantled with the trailing 

 grape-vine. In quest of his insect prey, he delights to 

 follow the meanders of the rivulet, through whose leafy 

 shades the sun-beams steal only in a few interrupted rays 

 over the sparkling surface of the running brook. So 

 partial is this bird to solitude, that I have known one to 

 sing almost uniformly in the same place, though nearly 

 half a mile from his mate and nest. At times indeed he 

 would venture a few faltering, low notes in an oak near 

 his consort, but his mellowest morning and evening war- 

 ble was always delivered from a tall hickory, overtopping 

 a grove of hemlock firs, in which the dimness of twilight 

 prevailed even at noon. The Wood Thrush, like the 

 Nightingale, therefore feels inspired in darkness, but in- 

 stead of waiting for the setting sun, he chooses a retreat 

 where the beams of day can seldom enter. These "shady 

 retreats have also an additional attraction to our Thrush ; 

 it is here that the most interesting scene of his instinc- 

 tive labor begins and ends ; here he first saw the light, 

 and breathed into existence ; and here he now bestows 

 his nest in a sapling oak, or in the next thick laurel or 

 blooming alder, whose berries afford him an ample repast 

 in the coming autumn. Outwardly it presents a warm bed 



