THE CANADA J A Y. 493 



with the Wood Thrush and the OHve-back and its alHes, nor 

 on a pile of brush or dried leaves near the ground, after the 

 manner of the Wilson; but it is sunken into the ground, 

 among the forest plants or ferns, the rim being about level 

 with the surface. It is somewhat bulky, and quite substan- 

 tially built of dried weeds and grasses, slightly intermixed 

 with moss. The lining is of similar but finer mxaterial, 

 sometimes brightened with the glossy red or black capsule- 

 stems of mosses. The eggs, of clear bluish-green, are 

 about .85-90 X .62-65. 



The alarm-note, or breeding-call of this species, is a soft, 

 quee-e-e-e-ck, somewhat resembling the call of the Vireos. 



All in all, this is about the most boreal of the Thrushes. 

 Wintering in the Southern — and occasionally, it would seem, 

 even in the Middle — States, it breeds from Northern Nev/ 

 England far to the north. The variety nanus seems pecul- 

 iar to the southern Rocky Mountains, as is auduboni to the 

 regions beyond. The Hermit breeds in the high altitudes 

 of the above mountains, even as far south as Colorado. 



Early in April, the russet form of this Thrush is seen, 

 frequently, on the ground, among the faded leaves of our 

 forests in Western New York, on its way to the north; and 

 again in October, or perhaps as late as November, when the 

 first snow falls, it appears again, quite commonly, on its way 

 south. Like the rest of the Thrushes, it feeds on the 

 ground, running briskly, and often dropping down from 

 the branches, between the strains of its song, to pick up 

 some favorite morsel, spied in the distance by those large, 

 dark eyes, so common to the family. 



THE CANADA JAY. 



On the 9th of June (1883), in a wild meadow in Lunen- 

 burg County, N. S., I w^as much amused watching a female 



