OF NEW ENGLAND. 39 



more resemblance to the notes of that bird than to those of 

 any other. Though, as I have said, less varied than those of 

 the other "Avood thrushes," they are sweet, clear, and liquid, 

 and possess great charm. 



The other notes of the Olive-backed Thrushes, are a cJmch 

 of alarm, a feeble tsip quite uncharacteristic, and a cry of 

 cJiicJc, chick-a-sit, etc., like that of the Snow-bird, to which I 

 have heard them give utterance in spring, when chasing one 

 another through the brauclies, or when slightly alarmed. They 

 have also a feebly whistled peejy, heard chiefly in autumn. 



The "New Hampshire Thrushes," though they correspond to 

 the Wood Thrush of Massachusetts, are yet inferior to that 

 bird. How then would they be ranked by Buffon, who wrote 

 of the latter, says Wilson, " that the Song Thrush of Europe 

 had, at some time after the creation, rambled round by the 

 Northern ocean, and made its way to America ; that advancing 

 to the south it had there (of consequence) become degenerated 

 by change of food and climate, so that its cr}' is now harsh and 

 unpleasant, 'as are the cries of all birds that live in wild coun- 

 tries inhabited by savages.' " ? 



(E) ALICIA. Gray-cheeked Thrush. Alice's Thrush. Arctic 

 Thrush. 



(In New England a rare migrant.) 



(a). 7^-8 inches long. Above soft, subdued olive-green. 

 Sides of the head gray. Beneath white, with little or no buff; 

 breast and sides of the throat spotted with dark brown. It is 

 said that specimens of this species grade inseparably into 

 others of Sioainsoni {D). But distinctions are not to be based 

 wholly on coloration. 



(6). The Gray-cheeked Thrushes build their nests in Arctic 

 countries, most often on the ground. The only egg of this 

 species in my collection is like that of the Swainson's Thrush, 

 but more thickly and minutely marked. (See D, h.) 



(c). The Gray-cheeked Thrush is thought by some ornithol- 

 ogists not to be a valid species, but, if not a species distinct 

 from the Swainson's Thrush, it is a very distinct variety or 



