THRUSHES 



(33 



This 'Jliru>h di-scrNL-s to l)c much Ijclter 

 known. To be sure he breeds chiefly in the 

 Canaihan forests and when seen in the central 

 and eastern States (about the middle of May) 

 is likelv to be on his way to the northern wilder- 

 ness ; but his breeding range extends as far 

 southward as the Catskills, in New York, and 

 he is not an uncommon s|)ring and summer resi- 

 dent on Greylock Mountain in northwestern 

 ilassachusetts, in the White ^Mountains, and in 

 the lower peninsula of Michigan. In these 

 regions he may be seen and heard fre(|uently 

 — bv those who know what to look and to listen 

 for.' 



Octilar identification of the bird may be a 

 puzzling operation for the unpracticed or careless 

 observer, since there really is considerable re- 

 semblance between the Olive-backed, the Gray- 

 cheeked, the \'eery. the Wood, and the Hermit 

 Thrushes; yet the j)lumage of each bird shows 

 one or more individual peculiarities by which 

 each may be certainly and quickly identified. Be- 

 sides, each species has a distinctive song, or pecu- 

 liar call notes which the careful listener soon 

 detects. 



.Stewart Edward White, who. besides being a 

 mighty hunter of both the timid and the danger- 

 ous game animals of .\merica and Africa, is an 

 accurate and sympathetic observer of bird-life, 

 has recorded a careful analysis of this Thrush's 

 song, as he heard it on Mackinac Island : together 

 with some ingenious and amusing statistics con- 

 cerning the industry and persistence of the 

 singer. Analyzing the song ]Mr. White says that 

 it " begins low and ascends bv two regular step-; 

 of two notes each, and ends with several sharj) 

 notes. The first note of each step is higher than 

 the second, and the second of the next is about 

 the same as the fir.t note of the first step." To 

 Mr. White the song said gurgle, gurgle ting, chee 

 chec dice. Then come his statistics, wdiich are 

 astonishing as well as amusing. 



Holding his watch on one Thrush, he noted 

 that the bird sang, with extreme regularity, on 

 an average nine and a half times a minute. The 

 recital began commonly at about 3:15 a. >r. and 

 the song was repeated at the usual intervals until 

 about 9 .\. M. wdien an intermission began which 

 lasted until about noon. Then the recital was 

 resumed and the song delivered as before, but at 



longer intervals than during the morning ])er- 

 formancc. At about 4:,^o the singer gut into his 

 ])ace again, and ke])t it up steadily until about 

 7:.^;). Therefore. Mr. \\hite estimates, if this 

 Thrush sang but eight times a minute fur eight 

 hour., and forty-five minutes, plus occasional 

 songs for about twenty minutes, he must have 

 sung 4360 songs a day, or in, s.ay six weel<s, his 

 iioi"nial singing ]ieriod, no less than 168,000 

 s.mgs ! 



The food of the Olive-back is similar to that 

 of other small Thrushes, and, the larger part of 



OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH (' nat. size 

 According to one count he sang 4360 songs a day 



the animal food at least, C(jnies fri)m the ground, 

 where the birds search busily for it, turning over 

 the leaves, probing the moss and decayed vegeta- 

 tion and picking up worms, snails, and insects of 

 various kinds, jiarticularlv beetles and ants. Dr. 

 .'Sylvester D. Judd in his rejiort to the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Birds of a Maryland 

 Farm, said that he had examined the stomachs of 

 two Olive-backed Thrushes collected in May and 

 found that they had eaten ants, wasps, ground- 

 beetles, darkling-beetles, and ground-spiders. 

 This bird is fond of wild fruits of all kinds and 

 eats large quantities. Being an inhabitant of 

 woodlands rather than orchards or gardens, it 

 does no damage to the horticulturist, but on the 

 other hand renders him little service. 



