152 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



and western shores of Hudson Ray. and the Yukon 

 Valley in Alaska; west to eastern base of Rocky 

 Mountains in Colorado and Montana, accidentally to 

 British Columbia ; breeding southward at least to 

 Virginia, tlie Ohio Valley, and Kansas, probably much 



farther, and in the Bahamas; in winter. Gulf coast of 

 United States. Bahamas, Greater Antilles, Swan Island 

 and Old Providence Island, Caribbean Sea, and through 

 Mexico into Central America, and northern South 

 America (Colombia). 



Most land birds of terrestrial habits progress 

 on the ground by jumping or running. Com- 

 paratively few species walk, and the commoner 

 of these include the Crow, the Larks, the Star- 

 Hng, the Crackles, the Pipits, the Water-Thrushes 

 and the Oven-bird. Of these the Oven-bird is 

 easily the most accomplished walker ; indeed 

 there is something which approaches the tincon- 

 sciouslv comical in the |irecision of this bird's 

 gait as it promenades on its jircttv pink feet 



Photo by H. K. J"b Courtesy of Outing Pub. Co. 



OVEN-BIRD ON HER NEST 



over the leaves and along fallen logs. This im- 

 pression is heightened by its practice of bobbing 

 its tail during its frequent pauses, an operation 

 which is curiously at variance with its otherwise 

 rather over-dignified demeanor. The Water- 

 Thrushes also walk and bob their tails much 

 after the manner of the Oven-bird, which they 

 also resemble in size and coloration ; but there 

 are certain distinctive markings by means of 

 which the birds may readily be distinguished, 

 while the \\'ater-Thrushes' decided preference 

 for the banks of streams is not shared by the 

 Oven-bird. The tail-bobbing habit has given 

 the birds the popular name of " Wagtail " 

 (which is inaccurate in so far as it conveys the 

 idea that the movement is a lateral one) ; but 

 the Water-Thrushes' natural habitat is recog- 

 nized by the adjective, " water," which qualifies 

 the remainder of the popular designation, while 

 the Oven-bird is known as the Wood Wagtail. 

 The scientific family name of the Oven-bird and 



the Water-Thrushes, Sciiinis. means " to wave 

 the tail." 



Besides its walking and its tail-bobbing, the 

 bird has other distinctive peculiarities. The 

 most pronounced of these is the architecture of 

 its nest, from which it takes its name. Like 

 most birds which build on the ground, the 

 female, when forced by the near approach of an 

 intruder to leave her nest, flutters away, drag- 

 ging one wing as if it were broken, this ap- 

 parently being a deliberate ruse intended to dis- 

 tract attention from the nest. But the nest 

 usually is so cleverly hidden that it is by no 

 means easy to find, even when the observer 

 thinks he sees the precise point at which the 

 bird appeared. 



Again, the common song of the Oven-bird at 

 once challenges the attention. It consists of 

 several repetitions of a two-syllabled note uttered 

 rapidly, and in a quick crescendo. Mr. Bur- 

 roughs translates this utterance into, " Teacher, 

 Teacher, Teacher, TEACHER," and the note 

 does approximate the sound of the word. The 

 bird puts the accent invariably upon the last 

 syllable — as do some New England school- 

 children — so that what he says is, Tea-cher', 

 Tca-chcr', and so on, the series often ending 

 with the first syllable alone. This somewhat 

 monotonous chant is metallic and strident 

 rather than musical ; but, as Mr. Burroughs says. 

 " Wait till the inspiration of its flight-song is 

 upon it. What a change 1 Up it goes through 

 the branches of the trees, leaping from liinb to 

 limb, faster and faster, till it shoots from the 

 tree-tops fifty or more feet into the air above 

 them, and bursts into an ecstasy of song, rapid, 

 ringing, lyrical ; no more like its habitual song 

 than a match is like a rocket ; brief but thrilling; 

 emphatic but musical. Having reached its cli- 

 max of flight and song, the bird closes its wings 

 and drops nearly perpendicularly downward like 

 the .Skylark. If its song were more prolonged, 

 it would rival the song of that famous bird. The 

 bird does this many times a day during early 

 June, but oftenest at twilight." 



Ornithologists generally agree with Mr. Bur- 

 roughs that this song is most likely to be heard 

 when the bird is mounting, as he describes, and 

 in the late afternoon or early evening; but at 



