lt)0 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



from the nest. Externally this nest is made of wood- mosses, 

 lichens, and drj' leaves, with a few stems and hroken fragments of 

 plants. The entrance is strongly built of stout twigs, and its upper 

 ])orlion is composed of a strong framework of line twigs, roots, stems, 

 mosses, dry plants, etc., all lirmly interwoven and hned with finer 

 materials of the same." 



Seiurus motacilla (Vieill.) 



LOUISIANA WATEK THBUSH. 

 Popular lynonTnu. Large-billed Wutur-llirusli; Wiiter Wagtail; WiiBiail. 



Ti'rdii!' inottii-ilUi ViEILL. Ola. Am. Sept. ii. 1807.9, pi. 65. 

 Siuruf motacilla CouEs.Bull. Niitt. Orn. Club. 11. 1877.33; B. Col. Val. 1878.299; 2d Chock 

 List. 1882. No. 138.— KiDow. Nora. X. Am. IJ. Isxl.Xo. 117. 

 Tufdua liidovicianus XvD. Orn. Blot;. 1.1832.99. pi. 19. 

 Seinnis Indovicianiin Bonap.— Uaibb. B. N. Am. 18B8, 262; ed. 1860, pi. SCHb. 2; Cot, N. 

 Am. B. 1809, No. 188; Revli>\v.l8<«.217.— Coi-E8.Key.lST2.1()6; Check List. 1873. No. 91; 

 B. N. W. 1874.-2.-B. B. Jk K. Hist. N. Am. B. 1.1874.287.1.1. U.flg. 13. 



H.\B. Eastern United States, north to Michigan and (rarely) Massifhusetts. west to 

 Kansas. Indian Territory and Texas; breeding north to Connecticut and lo>ver Hudson 

 Kiver Valley, southern Michigan, etc.. but chietly west of the .Mleghttnii's. Winters lu 

 eastern Mexico, Guatemala, and south to Veragua, also in Cuba and Jamaica. 



"Sp. Chab. Bill longer than the skull. Upper parts olive-brown with a shade of green- 

 ish. A conspicuous white superciliary line from the bill to the nape. Involving the upper 

 lid. with a brown one from the bill through the eye. widening behind. Under parts white, 

 with a very faint shade of jialc bull behind, especially on the tail-covers. A dusky max- 

 illary line; the forepart of breast and siiles of body with arrow-shaped streaks of the 

 same color. Chin, throat, belly, and under tall-coverts, usually immaculate. Length, 6.33, 

 wlng.3.25; t«il.2.1»; bill, from rictus, ,76. Soxes similar. Young not seen. 



"Autumnal specimens have a more or less strong wash of ochra- 

 ceous over the Hanks and crissum, and the brown above rather 

 darker and less grayish than in spring birds. 



"This species is very similar to S. noveboracensis, although readily 

 distinguishable by the characters given in the diagnoses." (Hist. X. 

 Am. B.) 



The Large-billed or Louisiana Water-thrush, is an abundant 

 bh"d in all swampy wooded locations thi-oughout the State, although 

 much less numerous in the extreme northern than in the more 

 southern counties. From Mount Carmel southward it occasionally 

 remains during mild winters, and even in cold and backward 

 springs sometimes makes its appearance long before leaves and 

 blossoms begin to unfold. Its fiuorite resorts are the borders of 

 creeks and larger streams, and the margins of swamps or ponds in 

 the woods, and it is always to be found in those places most fre- 

 quented by the Prothonotary ^Yarbler, nests of the two being some- 



