82 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



yellow. Throat and breast thickly spotted with very dark 

 brown. " Feet dark." 



(6). The nest is usually built on or near the ground, in a 

 swamp or at least the neighborhood of water. The eggs of 

 each set are usuall}' four, average 'SoX'G? of an inch, though 

 variable in size, and in coloration closel}' resemble those of the 

 Golden-crowned "Thrush" (C, b). A nest, which I found 

 near Boston, contained fresh eggs in the first week of June. 



(c). The Water "Thrushes" are to be found in northern 

 New England as summer-residents, but, though a ver}'- few 

 pass the summer in Massachusetts, they are common in this 

 State, or at least parts of it, onlj'^ during their migrations — in 

 the third and fourth weeks of May, and the first or second of 

 September. While in the neighborhood of Boston, they remain 

 near streams and bodies of water or in wet woodland, and pick 

 up the little insects, and other things upon which thej^ feed, 

 almost exclusively from the ground, often wading, however, in 

 shallow water. When sojourning here, they are not ver}'^ shy, 

 and it is easy to approach them so as to watch their peculiar 

 motions, which recall those of the sandpiper, and are yet 

 partially characterized by a constant jerking of the tail — a 

 habit which belongs to several other common birds, such as the 

 Pewee, who depresses the tail, however, instead of jerking it 

 upwards. The Water " Thrushes " are, on the other hand, 

 very shy in their delightful summer-homes, and would almost 

 escape notice, but for their verj'^ charming song. As it is, they 

 are rarely seen, for the}^ are very nimble on the ground, and on 

 man's approach leave their paddling in the mountain-brooks, 

 and their pleasant labors on the banks, to hide in thickets or 

 underbrush. Imagine a forest, which man has never invaded, 

 and through it flowing a cool, clear stream, whose course is 

 broken b}' the rocks, round which it bends," or over which it 

 falls into some foaming pool, and you will know the haunts of 

 these birds ; imagine music, which can hardly be excelled, and 

 you can faintly realize the charms of such places, if you do 

 not already know them. 



(d). "The Water 'Thrushes' song is loud, clear, and ex- 



