VARIED THRUSH (Ixoreus naevius) 



Lcngtli. aliout lo inclics. Its large size and 

 dark slate-colored upper parts, black breast col- 

 lar, orange brown stripe over eye, and orange 

 brown under parts mark this thrush apart from 

 all others. 



Range : Breeds on the Pa'ciiic coast from 

 \'akutat Bay, Alaska, south to Humboldt 

 County, California; winters from southern 

 Alaska to northern California. 



This, one of our largest and finest thrushes, 

 is limited to the west coast, where it finds a 

 congenial summer home in the depths of the 

 coniferous forests, the mystery and loneliness 

 of which seem reflected in its nature. Although 

 the varied thrush somewhat suggests our robin, 

 it is much shyer, and its habits and notes are 

 very different, making it more nearly akin to 

 the small olive thrushes. It nests in the coni- 

 fers, and its eggs, unlike those of the robin, 

 are heavily blotched with brown. Its song, a 

 single long - drawn note, has been greatly 

 praised and seems entirely in harmony with 

 the bird's surroundings, being weird and inspir- 

 ing. In winter the varied thrush abandons the 

 forest, and with it many of the habits of the 

 recluse, and visits more open districts, includ- 

 ing ravines and even gardens, where it becomes 

 quite familiar. 



This thrush, like its smaller brethren, feeds 

 chiefly on the ground, and its food is largely 

 of vegetable nature, but includes a fair propor- 

 tion of insects, with millepeds and snails. Un- 

 less its habits are greatly modified by the en- 

 croachment of civilization on its domain, it is 

 \v<t likely to be much of a factor in agricultural 

 affairs, but it will continue to make itself use- 

 ful by destroying the insect enemies of forest 

 trees. 



VEERY (Hylccichla fuscescens fuscescens) 



Length, about 7V2 inches. To be known from 

 the other small thrushes by its uniform cinna- 

 mon brown upper parts and its faint brown 

 breast markings. 



Range: Breeds from northern Michigan, cen- 

 tral Ontario, and Newfoundland south to 

 northern Illinois, northern Indiana, northern 

 Ohio, and New Jersey, and in the Alleghenies 

 south to North Carolina and northern Georgia; 

 winters in South America. 



Far more retiring than either the wood 

 thrush or the hermit, the veery must be sought 

 in the seclusion of the swamp or swampy 

 woodland, far from the recesses of which he 

 rarely ventures. Much of his time he spends 

 on the ground, for on or near it he finds his 

 chosen fare. Though trim in form and clad in 

 a garb of modest color as befits his nature, the 

 veery appeals less to the bird lover's eye than 

 to his ear. Though some of his relatives are 

 classed among the most famous of American 

 songsters, the veery may fairly claim place in 

 the front rank, and his wild, mysterious, and 

 all-pervading notes touch certain chords in the 

 human breast which respond to the song of no 

 other of our birds. 



The food of the veery does not differ essen- 

 tially from that of the other thrushes and in- 

 cludes a great variety of wild fruits and in- 

 sects. 



WOOD THRUSH (Hylccichla mustelina) 



Length, about 814 inches. To be distin- 

 guished among its fellows by its more bulky 

 form, by the golden brown head, bright cinna- 

 mon upper parts, and the large round black 

 spots beneath, sharply contrasting with the pure 

 white. 



Range: Breeds from southern South Dakota, 

 central Miimesota, central Wisconsin, southern 

 Ontario, and southern New Hampshire south 

 to eastern Texas, Louisiana, and northern 

 Florida; winters from southern Mexico to 

 Central America. 



The wood thrush finds its way to our hearts 

 and sympathies more through its voice than its 

 presence, and whoever has failed to hear its 

 clear flute-like tones rising from the woodland 

 depths as the mists of evening gather has 

 missed a rich treat. It is no doubt true that 

 the hermit thrush is a more finished performer, 

 but that chorister reserves his music chiefly for 

 the northern wilds, while our wood thrush 

 favors more southern lands. Moreover, the 

 hermit is a true recluse and must be sought in 

 the deeper forest, its chosen home, while its 

 more southern cousin lives in comparatively 

 open woodland and does not disdain to take up 

 its summer residence in parks and gardens. 

 The music of the one is for the favored few, 

 while the song of the other is almost as well 

 known as that of the brown thrasher. 



Like most of the tribe, the wood thrush ob- 

 tains its food chiefly from the ground, where 

 it spends much of its time searching among 

 the leaves. Insects with a small percentage of 

 fruit, chiefly wild varieties, compose its fare. 

 Among the insects are cutworms and other 

 caterpillars, ants, grasshoppers, and beetles, in- 

 cluding the Colorado potato beetle. Thus the 

 bird deserves a high place in our esteem for 

 l)Oth esthetic and economic reasons. 



BUSH-TIT (Psaltriparus minimus and 



subspecies) 



Length, from 4 to 4>{> inches. 



Range: Pacific coast from southern British 

 Columbia to the Cape Region of Lower Cali- 

 fornia, and eastward to the interior of Oregon 

 and California; nests generally throughout its 

 range. 



This pigmy among birds has many of the 

 characteristic habits of the chickadee family, 

 of which it is the smallest member. Extremely 

 sociable, bush-tits move about in large flocks, 

 occasionally in company with other birds, gen- 

 erally without. One moment you are alone, the 

 next moment the trees and bushes are full of 

 these diminutive little busybodies that scan you 

 with their curious bead-like eyes as they hurry 

 on in quest of food, keeping up the while a 

 constant calling and twittering. Their pendant 

 nests, often attached to oak trees, suggest the 

 well-known structure of our hang-bird or Bal- 

 timore oriole and are excellent specimens of 

 bird architecture. 



The few Western States favored by the pres- 

 ence of this bird are to be congratulated, as 

 more than half its animal food consists of in- 

 sects and spiders, nearlv all of which are harm- 

 ful. 



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