374 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



Genus SEIURUS Hwaixsox. 

 SEIURUS AUROCAPILLUS (Lixx.). 



-^^2. Oven Bird. ((574) 



Crown, orange-brown, bordered with two black stripes, no siiijeiciliary 

 line ; above, bright olive-green ; below, pure white, thickly spotted with dusky 

 on breast and sides ; a narrow maxillary line of blackish ; under wing coverts, 

 tinged with yellow; a white eye ring; legs, flesh color. Sexes alike. Yoini;/ : — 

 Similar. Length, .")i-6i ; wing, 3 ; tail, 2^. 



H.4B. — Eastern North Ameiica, north to Hudson's Bay Territory and 

 Alaska, breeding froin^ Kansas, the Ohio Valley and Virginia northward. In 

 winter. Southern Florida, the West Indies and Central America. 



Nest, on the ground, usually on a sloping bank, fretpiently loofeii over 

 with an entrance at the side; composed of twigs, leaves and moss, and liiu'c] 

 with fine grass and haii-. 



Eggs, four or five, creamy-white, spotted with red<li.sh-brown and lilac-giay. 



The Oven Bird, so called from its habit of building its nest some- 

 what in the form of an oven, is a summer resident in Ontario, and is 

 very generally distributed, being found in suitable places all over the 

 country, from the early part of May till the beginning of September. 

 To see it walking gingerl}^ on the ground, jerking its tail after the 

 manner of the Tit Lark, conveys the impression that it is a quiet, 

 retiring little bird, with clear, hand.some markings : but should it 

 mount to one of the middle branches of a tree, it is astonishing 

 to ob.serve with what emphasis and energy it delivers its notes. 

 With a little help from the imagination, its song resembles the word 

 teacher, fre(|uently repeated with increasing emphasis. This loud, 

 clear call may often be heard in the moist woods during the month 

 of May, but the bird is said to have also another .song, more soft and 

 musical, which must be reserved for special occasions, for I have n()t 

 met with anyone who has heard it. 



In Alaska it is known to breed from F(jrt Yukon some distance 

 down the river, where the natives call it the Grandfather of the 

 Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 



SEirRUS \<)VEP.OI{ACEN.SI8 (G.mel.). 

 •2h:]. Water-thrush. (675) 



Entire njipei paits, deep olivaceous-l)rown ; conspicuous superciliary line, 

 yellowish ; below, white, more oi- less tinged with pale yellowish, thickly and 

 sharply spotted with the color of the back, except on lower belly an<l crissuin ; 

 feet, dark. Length. ."i.^-Ci; wing, 2.^; tail, 2} ; bill, aliout L 



