ORNITHOLOGY 



387 



A Study of the Louisiana Water 

 Thrush. 



BY IDA E. EICHIIORX, liARNESVILLE, OHIO. 

 (Photograph by C. C. Steele.) 

 Last summer we had a splendid oppor- 

 tunity for studying among picturesque 

 surroundings, the home life of this wild, 

 thrush-like bird, where a cool stream 

 helps to make an ideal location. It wades 



A YOUNG LOUISIANA WATER THRUSH SOON 

 AFTER LEAVING THE NEST. 



about in the shallow water in search of 

 food and seems to have some of the traits 

 of sandpipers, especially the habit of 

 "tipping up," and making serious bows, 

 very much emphasized by pert, little calls 

 of "chink!" The male birds flies up and 

 down the glen every ten or fifteen min- 

 utes, giving his familiar call as he dashes 

 back and forth. 



One beautiful morning in May, we 

 were watching and waiting for birds, 

 when suddenly a bird flew up on a fence 

 post and sang a song, wild and clear, but 

 sweet. Going closer we saw four or five 

 more birds of the same kind wading 

 about getting an early breakfast. One 

 pair of them decided to locate their home 

 on the bank of this pretty stream, giving 

 us an unusual opportunity to study them. 



Wandering down the stream one day, 

 we suspected from the actions of this pair. 



that we were in the vicinity pf their nest. 

 We searched, but in vain. If we went up 

 stream they went down : when we went 

 down, they darted through the bushes 

 and we would hear their "chink ! chink X' 

 behind us, and see them standing in the 

 water, bowing us a polite but most em- 

 phatic good-bye. The next day we re- 

 turned and hid in a clump of high weeds, 

 but neither of the birds seemed to be at 

 home. Suddenly we heard the now fainil- 

 iar call of "chink ! chink !" We remained 

 very quiet and motionless, and were re- 

 warded by hearing a chorus of little 

 fellows calling lustily for their lunCh, 

 After the parent birds had flown down 

 the glen again we started to search where 

 we thought the nest must be, but what a 

 hunt it was, for by this time the young 

 birds had heard us and were as still as 

 mice. Finally we found the nest under 

 an overhanging bank of the stream. It 

 was a rounded-out place, lined with 

 grasses and leaves, and contained five 

 almost grown birds. The day before we 

 had passed it a dozen times and had 

 stood on the path not a yard above it. 



We could not return for several days be 

 cause of the heav}- rains. On Decoration 

 Day the rain ceased and we went back, 

 but the birds had flown. However, we 

 pulled away the over-hanging grasses and 

 photographed the nest. Mr. Dawson in 

 his "Birds of Ohio," makes the statement, 

 "There be those who claim to know the 

 nest of the Louisiana water thrush, but 

 the author is not one of them." So we 

 wanted some proof of actually having 

 found the nest. 



By the time the photograph of the nest 

 was secured the parents had returned and 

 by their comduct we decided that the 

 little birds were very near. After search- 

 ing we found only two of them and by 

 this time the old birds were frantic with 

 fear. They tried to draw us away by 

 feigning broken wings, flying down the 

 stream dragging their tail and wings in 

 the water, and making pitful calls and 

 pleadings. 



One young bird we found perched on 

 a branch, on a very steep bank. After 

 the camera had been placed near this 

 bird, as the other one was not in a desir- 

 able location, the mother bird changed her 

 tactics, and darted up the bank, endeavor- 

 ing to brush the little bird off the branch 

 with her wing; then she flew up into the 

 woods dragging her apparently broken 



