BIRDS OF KANSAS. ■ 673 



Iris dark brown; bill — upper black, under pale flesh color, 

 witli end dusky; legs flesh color; feet and claws light brown. 



The following interesting description of the habits of this 

 bird is taken from "Birds of Illinois," by Ridgway: 



"The Golden-crowned Thrush, or Oven-bird, is one of the 

 most generally distributed and numerous birds of eastern North 

 America. It is almost certain to be found in any piece of wood- 

 land, if not too wet, and its frequently repeated song, which is 

 not musical, or otherwise particularly attractive, but very sharp, 

 clear, and emphatic, is often, particularly during noonday in 

 midsummer, the only bird note to be heard. It lives much upon 

 the ground, where it may be seen walking gracefully over the 

 dead leaves, or upon an old log, making occasional halts, during 

 which its body is tilted daintily up and down, much in the man- 

 ner of the Water-Thrushes (^S. moiacllla smd 7iovehoracensis)^ but 

 more like the Kentucky Warbler, often to be seen in the same 

 localities. Its ordinary note is a rather faint, but sharp 'Chip,' 

 prolonged into a chatter, when one is chased by another. The 

 usual song is very clear and penetrating, but not musical, and 

 is well expressed by John Burroughs, in 'Wake Robin,' as 

 sounding like the words, 'Teacher, teacher; teacher, teacher,, 

 teacher!' — the accent on the first syllable, and each word ut- 

 tered with increased force and shrillness. But, as Mr. Bur- 

 roughs truly says, 'He has far rarer song which he reserves for 

 some nymph whom he meets in the air. Mounting by easy 

 flights to the top of the tallest tree, he launches into the air with 

 a sort of suspended, hovering flight, and bursts into a perfect 

 ecstacy of song — clear, ringing, copious, rivaling the Goldfinch's 

 in vivacity, and the Linnet's in melody. This strain is one of 

 the rarest bits of bird melody to be heard. Over the woods, 

 hid from view, the ecstatic singer warbles his finest strains. In 

 the song, you instantly detect his relationship to the Water 

 Wagtail (^Seiu)'us novehoracensis) — erroneously called Water- 

 Thrush — whose song is likewise a sudden burst, full and ring- 

 ing, and with a tone of youthful joyousness in it, as if the bird 

 had just had some unexpected good fortune. For nearly two 

 years, this strain of the pretty warbler was little more than a 



