226 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



and pine-needles is hidden, and so well is it con- 

 cealed that a most laborious search is often neces- 

 sary to find it. The pretty spotted eggs number 

 from three to six. 



The male Solitaire has a most pleasing song. 

 From the top of some tree far on the heights it 

 rings out bold and clear with a vividness of ex- 

 pression that harmonizes perfectly with the wild 

 surroundings. At other times, when near the 

 nest or late in the evening, its notes are usually 

 subdued, and these minor strains are wonderfully 

 appealing as one sits alone in these mountain 

 solitudes where few birds are to be heard. 



Visitors to the Yellowstone National Park or 



the Glacier National Park often see these birds 

 along the mountain roads or trails. The Solitaire 

 is about the size of the Wood Thrush, but is of 

 more slender build. Its form, color, and move- 

 ments suggest a lazy Mockingbird, and the re- 

 semblance is heightened by the white wing-bars 

 that traverse the gray wings. The approach of 

 winter early drives it to lower levels in quest of 

 food. T. Gilbert Pearson. 



Since this little fellow avoids civilization and 

 makes his main habitation in the inaccessible 

 mountain gorges of the West, his food consists 

 largely of wild berries. 



WOOD THRUSH 



Hylocichla mustelina ( Giiielin) 



A. O. U. Number 755 -"^fe Color I'latf 105 



Other Names.— Song Thrush: Wood Robin; Bell 

 Bird ; Swamp Robin. 



General Description.— Length. 7'4 inches. Upper 

 parts, brown : under parts, white, spotted. Bill, about 

 J J length of head, slender, curved downward at the 

 tip ; wings, long and pointed ; tail, not more than ^ 

 length of wing, even, the feathers slightly sharpened at 

 the extreme tip ; legs, long and slender. 



Color. — Crozvn, tinvity-brozcti I'assiiig into cinnamoit- 

 brozi.'!! r)» back and shoulders, this into grayish-olive on 

 rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail ; wings, similar in 

 color to back but slightly less cinnamon ; a distinct eye- 

 rin.g of white; lores whitish. sulTnsed with dusky 

 grayish in front of eye; sides of head, dusky grayish- 



brown, narrowly streaked with white; cheeks, white 

 flecked with dusky; under parts, white tinged with 

 buff on chest; a broad streak below cheeks of black 

 or dusky along each side of throat; chest, sides, and 

 fla)iks, marked zvith large roundish or broadly drop- 

 shaped spots of broziniish-black; bill, dusky horn color, 

 the basal half below pale flesh color; iris, dark brown. 

 Nest and Eggs. — Nest ; Usually in thickets, placed 

 in the crotch or on horizontal limbs of saplings, six 

 lo twelve feet from ground ; composed externally of 

 leaves, grasses, small twigs, and stems placed when 

 damp and cemented with mud, the whole quite firm 

 and solid when dry; bits of paper or rag are fre- 

 iiuently added as a sort of decoration ; the lining formed 



Courtesy of Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 



WOOD THRUSH 

 He frequently makes his home 



' human habitations 



