356 INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 



part of the forest, it utters, at intervals, a simple, long 

 reiterated note of Hsh'e tshe tshe tshe tshe, rising from 

 low to high and shrill, so as to give but little idea of the 

 distance or place from whence the sound proceeds, and 

 often appearing from the loudness of the closing cadence 

 to be much nearer than it really is. As soon as discov- 

 ered, like the Wood Thrush, it darts at once timidly into 

 the depths of its sylvan retreat. During the period of 

 incubation, the deliberate lay of the male, from some 

 horizontal branch of the forest tree, where he often sits 

 usually still, is a 'tshe te tshe te tshe te tshcc, gradually ris- 

 ing and growing louder. Towards dusk in the evening, 

 however, it now and then utters a sudden burst of notes 

 with a short agreeable warble, which terminates, common- 

 ly in the usual 'tshe te tshe. Its curious oven-shaped nest 

 is known to all the sportsmen who traverse the solitary 

 wilds which it inhabits. This ingenious fabric is sunk 

 a little into the ground, and generally situated on some 

 dry and mossy bank contiguous to bushes, or on an un- 

 cleared surface ; it is formed with great neatness of dry 

 blades of grass, and lined with the same ; it is then sur- 

 mounted by a thick inclined roof of similar materials, the 

 surface scattered with leaves and twigs so as to match the 

 rest of the ground, and an entrance is left at the side. 

 Near Milton hills, in this vicinity, the situation chosen was 

 among low whortleberry bushes, in a stunted cedar and 

 oak grove. The eggs, 4 or 5, white, are irregularly spot- 

 ted near the greater end, with reddish brown. When sur- 

 prised, the bird escapes, or runs from the nest with the 

 silence and celerity of a mouse. If an attempt be 

 made to discover the nest from which she is flushed, she 

 stops, flutters, and pretends lameness, and watching the 

 success of the manoeuvre, at length, when the decoy 

 seeras complete, she takes to wing and disappears. This 



