154 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



Photo ot liabitat groii|) C' ■ 



LOUISIANA WATER-THRUbHbb 



those of any of the Thrushes, and it is much 

 smaller than the smallest member of this species. 

 Its characteristic movements are very quick and 

 nervous ; it is seldom at rest ; and its normal 

 timidity is increased during the breeding season, 

 when it is exceedingly wary about approaching 

 its nest (which usually is very cleverly hidden) 

 in the presence of an intruder. 



In its striking exuberance and singularly 

 weird and ringing quality, this Warbler's song 

 is a true voice of the wild. The listener whose 

 ear recognizes and whose heart responds to such 

 utterances is thrilled by it. The emotions which 

 it conjures up are perfectly tangible to him, yet 

 it would be difficult to analyze them, and vir- 

 tually impossible to describe them in words. 

 One appreciative listener speaks of the song as 

 " loud, clear, and exquisitely sweet, beginning 

 with a burst of melody which becomes softer and 

 more delicate until the last notes die away, lost in 

 the ripple of the stream, above which the birds 

 are generally perched." Like the Oven-bird, this 

 Warbler has a flight-song, described by Dr. 

 Chapman as " a thrilling performance which 

 carries the bird above the tree-tops in uncon- 

 trollable musical ecstasy." 



" This bird frequents wet ground always, but 

 is by no means confined to running streams, since 

 it is a regular inhabitant of more or less stag- 

 nant swamps, and is not infrequently found in 

 bushy marshes at some little distance from large 

 woods. It usually nests among the up-turned 

 roots of a prostrate tree, but also hides its nest 

 under the edges of a fallen log or in the sloping 

 bank of a small stream, or even among the 

 tangled roots at the edges of a cut, where a 

 stream has washed away the soil at a bend. In 

 other cases it nests on the ground in an ordinary 

 swamp, placing the nest under the roots of a tree 

 or otherwise hiding it from view." (Barrows.) 



A singular feature of its nest-building is the 

 pathway of leaves leading from the nest and 

 formine a doormat sometimes a foot lonsf. 



WATER-THRUSH 

 Seiurus noveboracensis noveboracensis (Gmclin) 



A. CI. r. Nv 



nber 



Other Names. — New York Warbler ; Small-billed 

 Water-Thrush : Northern Water-Thrush : Wagtail : 

 Water W'agtail : -Aquatic Wood Wagtail : Aquatic 

 Thrush; New York Water-Thrusli. 



General Description. — Length, 554 inches. Upper 



See Color Pl.ite gj 



parts, olive : under parts, yellow streaked and spotted 

 with sooty-oHve. Bill, shorter than head, slender, 

 tapering gradually to the tip ; wings, long and pointed ; 

 tail, even or slightly notched. 

 Color. — Adults (sexes alike) : Above, plain olive; 



