266 AN OWL'S HEAD HOLIDAY. 



guage, in its present rudimentary state, cannot 

 begin to take account of them. 



The other warblers at Owl's Head, as far as 

 they came under my notice, were the black-and- 

 white creeper, the blue yellow-backed warbler, 

 the Nashville, the black-throated green, the 

 black - throated blue, the yellow -rumped, the 

 chestnut -sided, the oven-bird (already spoken 

 of), the small-billed water thrush, the Maryland 

 yellow-throat, the Canadian flycatcher, and the 

 redstart. 



The water thrush (I saw only one individual) 

 was by the lake-side, and within a rod or two of 

 the bowling alley. What a strange, composite 

 creature he is! thrush, warbler, and sandpiper 

 all in one ; with such a bare-footed, bare-legged 

 appearance, too, as if he must always be ready 

 to wade ; and such a Saint Vitus's dance ! His 

 must be a curious history. In particular, I 

 should like to know the origin of his teetering 

 habit, which seems to put him among the beach 

 birds. Can it be that such frequenters of shal- 

 low water are rendered less conspicuous by this 

 wave-like, up-and-down motion, and have actu- 

 ally adopted it as a means of defense, just as they 

 and many more have taken on a color harmoniz- 

 ing with that of their ordinary surroundings?^ 



1 This bird {Siurus ncevius) is remarkable for the promptness 

 with which he sets out on his autumnal journey, appearing in 

 Eastern Massachusetts early in August. Last year (1884) one wan 



