THE RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH. 233 



ment without recourse to sight. Quit, or Im'it. is a soft wiiistled note of inquiry 

 and greeting, b}' wliich the birils i^eep in constant touch with each other, and 

 which they are nowise disincHned to use in conversations witii strangers. 

 Hzvootaylyochtyl is the name which the Ouiliayute lad gi\'es the bird, the 

 first S}'llable being whistletl rather than spoken, in imitation of the bird's note. 

 At the friendl}' call the Thrush comes sidling over toward vou thru the brush, 

 until }'0u feel that you could put your hand on it if you would; but the bird 

 remains in\'isible, and says, quit. (juit. with some asperitv, if vou disregard 

 the roiifcnanccs. 



A longer call-note, of sharper quality, queer, may be as readily imitated, 

 altho its meaning in the bush is uncertain. The bird has also a spoken note, 

 a sort of happy purring, which I call the euordaddy cry. In this the daddy 

 notes are given in from one to six syllables, and are spoken "trippingh' on the 

 tongue." 



Recalling again the qiieee note, we are surprised to hntl that it is the 

 commonest sound heard during luigrations. At midnight when a solemn hush 

 is o\-er all besides, this weird note comes down from the sky at any height, 

 from every angle, a greeting en passant from the voyageurs, the tenderest, 

 the most pathetic, the most mysterious voice of Nature. There are a dozen 

 \-ariali(ins of pitch and tone, queee, quee, kooo, etc., but the theme is one, and 

 the quality is that of the Russet-backed Thrush. Now it is incredible that any 

 one species should so aboiuid to the exclusion of all others, or that one alone 

 should speak, while others tlit b}- silently. Moreover, the intermittent utter- 

 ance of a single bird proclaims the rate at which that bird is moving, and 

 oftener argues for the passing of the smaller species, A\'arblers and the like. 

 Repeated obser\-ation would make it appear certain that this quee note is the 

 common possession of man}-, ])erhaps of all species of migrant song birds, a 

 sort of Esperanto for "Ho, Comrade!" b}- which the flying legions of the 

 night are bound together in a great fellowship. 



Much of the apparent difference in the call-notes of these night-birds is 

 explained when we rememlier that they are reaching us from different angles. 

 Thus, the quee of a rapidly approaching bird is raised sharply and shortened. 

 quci: : while the same voice, in passing, falls to a ghostly kwoo, at least a musi- 

 cal third below. It is, perhaps, needless to add that practiced lips may join 

 this mystic chorus and hold delightful converse with these brothers of the 

 air — may, indeed, provoke them to trebled utterance in passing. 



But only the Russet-backed Thrush :nay repeat this cabalistic note, by 

 day. He is the bugler in that greatest of all armies and he must needs keep 

 in practice while on furlough. 



Russet-backs are tardy migrants, seldom arriving before the first week 

 in May : and they are off again for the Southland by the first week in Septem- 

 ber. Two instances are on record, however, of the bird's wintering here- 



