350 INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 



the close, in the first phrase ; but from high to low, and 

 terminating slender and slow, in the latter ; another ex- 

 pression seems to be, 've vcd vehurr, ascending like a 

 whistle. The song of another individual was expressed in 

 the following manner , 've 'villdl 'villill 'tuIluU 'fiillul. It 

 was then repeated with variation, 've villillil villlll villill ; 

 then viUiilUl villillitl, tiillilill tulUlUl ; the whole agreea- 

 bly and singularly delivered in a shrill, hollow voice, 

 almost like the sound of liquor passing through a 

 funnel into a bottle. I have also heard several of these 

 sounds, sometimes occasionally prefaced by a mewing or 

 chirping warble. These sounds, though monotonous, 

 are possessed of greater variety than is at first imagined, 

 the terminating tone or key changing through several 

 repetitions, so as to constitute a harmony and melody, 

 in some degree approaching the song of the more 

 musical Wood Thrush. From this habit of seren- 

 ading into the night, the species is sometimes here digni- 

 fied with the nickname of the Nightingale. Occasion- 

 ally he utters an angry, rather plaintive mew, like the 

 Cat-bird, or a quivering bleat, almost similar to that of a 

 lamb, and, when approached, watches and follows the 

 intruder with an angry or petulant quedh quedh ; at other 

 times, a sort of mewing, melancholy, or complaining 

 y'eoio 'y'eow is heard ; and then, perhaps, a hasty and 

 impatient yeut pent follows. The food of this species, 

 at least during the early part of summer, appears to be 

 shelly insects of various kinds, particularly ChrysomelaSy 

 or lady-bugs, and those many Idgged hard worms of the 

 genus lulus. 



A good while after the commencement of the period 

 of incubation, I have observed the males engaged in ob- 

 stinate quarrels. On the 4th of June (1830) I observed 

 two of these petulant Thrushes thus fiercely and jeal- 



