BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. ' 441 



to build nests overflow with the ebullition of fervid melodies. 

 I have often listened to the delicious notes which to my ear are 

 in no way inferior to those of the Wood Thrush. I am not 

 surprised that those who have heard him for the first time 

 should be ready to exalt him higher than the other in the scale 

 of song, when I remember the associations amid which they 

 found him. The silence, the delicious solitude of his choristry 

 underneath the shadows of the grand, leaf- canopied forest, 

 awaken feelings, sentiments and inspirations eminently calcu- 

 lated to lend enchantment to his liquid, silvery, bell-toned notes 

 which as they cease are instantly repeated by another, 

 responding from the uncertain shadows in the distances 

 beyond. His beautiful crescendo, begun so low and soft as to 

 seem far away, and swelling upward progressively and evenly 

 into its rounded sweetness and fullness, till he seems to be 

 near enough to touch, yet all the time unseen, may well secure 

 an appreciation of his powers to one for comparisons. This 

 characteristic is a keynote to his identity while yet undis- 

 covered, as the song of the Wood Thrush is diametrically 

 opposite in being an equally perfect diminuendo. 



This thrush cannot be said to be common in the middle and 

 southern portions of the State except in its migrations, yet 

 numbers enough remain through the summer to make it no 

 difficult matter to find a nest with due patience, when its habits 

 are well understood. 



I have found them within the limits of the corporation of 

 Minneapolis and in the vicinity of Minnetonka in the "Big 

 Woods, " a large belt of deciduous forest stretching diagonally 

 from northeast to southwest through the State. I recall the 

 discovery of one in the dark forest about a mile west of the 

 Falls of Minnehaha. The Rev. J. A. Laurie, formerly residing 

 at Duluth, informed me many years since of its presence near 

 that city. He was a careful observer and has on many oc- 

 casions contributed to me facts of interest in this department 

 of natural history. It does not build its. nest till near the first 

 of June, which is uniformly directly on the ground, and under 

 low thick brushes bordering, but not in the dense woods. 



It is generally quite near swampy localities. It is composed 

 of coarse grass, twiggs, moss and leaves externally, without 

 mud, and internally of soft, pliable grasses, fine roots, and a 

 few lichens quite artistically arranged. It is rather deeply 

 hollowed. 



