NORTHERN SMALL-BILLED WATERTHRUSH 481 



bird had eaten 40, were found in three stomachs. Water scavenger 

 beetles were found in two instances and a hister beetle {Hister sp.) 

 once. In one stomach were five water boatmen (Plea sp.) and another 

 aquatic bug, and two contained the remains of small crabs (in one 

 case of Uca). In single stomachs were found the jaw of an orthop- 

 teran, a lantern fly, and a bone from the head of a tiny fish." 



Stuart T. Danforth (1925) reports on the 95 percent of animal food 

 in four stomachs, also from Puerto Rico, "3 damselflies, 10 per cent ; 

 20 large fleabeetles {Ealtica jamaicensis) , 19 percent; 2 fleabeetles 

 {Systena hasalis), 1.3 per cent; Carabid beetles {Stenous sp.), 26.2 

 per cent ; pupa of a Sesban weevil {Tyloderma sp.) , 1.2 per cent; other 

 Colepterous fragments, 5 per cent ; 2 Noctuid caterpillars, 5 per cent ; 

 1 Syrphid fly {Volucella ohesa) , 2 per cent ; 3 caseworms [Tincola uter- 

 ella) , 6.1 per cent ; 1 slug, 2.5 per cent." He also reported a few seeds. 



Behavior. — Forbush (1929) describes the behavior of the water- 

 thrush, much better than I can, in the following words : "Though not 

 really a thrush, the Water-Thrush is well named. It is a large wood 

 warbler disguised as a thrush and exhibiting an extreme fondness for 

 water. 



"Like the Oven-bird it walks, and seems fond of walking on a log, 

 but prefers to pass down a slanting log, the lower end of which enters 

 the water. It is unlike the Oven-bird, however, in its almost continu- 

 ous teetering of the body and wagging of the tail, which it seems to 

 move up and down almost as unconsciously and regularly as it draws 

 the breath of life ; this action is accompanied by a springy motion of 

 the legs." 



Dr. Cones (1878) aptly refers to the timidity and retiring habits of 

 the waterthrush during the nesting season and adds : 



But this is only when he feels the cares and full responsibilities of home and 

 family. Later in the season, when these things are off his mind, he is quite 

 another fellow, who will meet you more than half-way should you chance to find 

 him then, with a wondering, perhaps, yet with a confident and quite familiar, air 

 of easy unconcern. Anywhere by the water's edge — in the debris of the wide- 

 stretched river-bottom, in the fiowery tangle of the brook, around the margins of 

 the little pools that dot the surface where tall oaks and hickories make pleasant 

 shade — there rambles the Water-Thrush. Watch him now, and see how prettily 

 he walks, rustling among the fallen leaves where he threads his way like a mouse, 

 or wading even up to his knees in the shallow miniature lakes, like a Sandpiper 

 by the sea-shore, all intent in quest of the aquatic insects, worms, and tiny mol- 

 luscs and crustaceans that form his varied food. But as he rambles on in this 

 gliding course, the mincing steps are constantly arrested, and the dainty stroller 

 poises in a curious way to see-saw on his legs, quite like a Titlark or a Spotted 

 Sandpiper. 



We always think of the waterthrush as living on or near the ground 

 and in the immediate vicinity of water, in such places as those men- 

 tioned, but there are excej)tions to the rule, especially during migra- 



