186 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 7-No. 24 



color, and their songs differ — diifer in tone, 

 compass, voliime, theme and duration. 



The Tawny and the Hennit always build 

 on the ground in this country, and though 

 then- nests and its location are quite simi- 

 lar yet they are not identical ; both nests 

 are loosely and roughly piit together, but 

 Veery's is the most compact and the neat- 

 est. They are usually placed in an inden- 

 ture, either natural or formed by the birds, 

 and screened by an oyerhanging branch, but 

 while the Veeiy prefers a di-y knoll in a 

 damp sj5ot. ^-ithin a wood, the Hermit usu- 

 ally selects the margin of a groye or a 

 patch of trees in a dry and i^artially over- 

 grown open ; neither build in a dense 

 thicket of trees or shnibbery. Under the 

 nests is jjlaced a cushion or jilatform com- 

 posed of dried grass or moss. The nest 

 projoer is built of di-ied grass and small 

 twigs, unmixed with mud, and is lined with 

 fine grass ; sometimes fine fibrous roots 

 and vines are added to the lining. 



The Olive-backed builds in a tree, and, 

 like all tree-builders, makes a substantial 

 structm-e. It is usually f)laced in the 

 crotch of a limb some six or eight feet 

 from the ground, generally in a moist place, 

 and occasionally in a really wet swamp. 

 In a 8i3ecimen of this nest before me coarse 

 grass is the predominating material in the 

 external parts, but in the walls twigs of 

 spruce, bits of lichens and dried leaves are 

 mixed vrith the grass and all are woven 

 into a solid mass, very firm and strong. 

 The lining is formed l>y a layer of fine 

 grass interwoven with j^ieces of a black, 

 vine-like root, all neatly laid : over these, 

 at the bottom, is a layer of skeleton leaves. 

 The measurements are: Depth, uiside, 1^ 

 inches : width at mouth, 2| inches : out- 

 side the diameter is irregular, vaiying from 

 4^ to 5 inches. Mr. J. W. Banks tells me 

 that of some fifty nests of the Olive-backed 

 Thrush that he has examined all Avere lined 

 with skeleton leaves : but Mr. Harold Gil- 

 bert foimd one in 1878 that was lined with 

 moose hair. This nest was built in a war- 



den, in the suburbs of St. John, within 

 twenty feet of the house and but an arms- 

 length from one of the main walks. The 

 moose hair was fiu-nished by a tame animal 

 kept on the grounds. The three species 

 usually lay four eggs, but it is i\Ir. Banks' 

 opinion that in extremely wet or cold sea- 

 sons three more frequently complete the 

 clutch. So eminent and excellent an au- 

 thority as Di-. CoTies gives four and five as 

 the numlier of eggs, but we have never 

 seen more than four in any nest obtained 

 in this country. 



The Tawny and the Hermit lay immacu- 

 late eg'gs of a greenish-blue color, but the 

 eggs of the Hermit are much the paler and 

 are also the longer and more pear-shajied. 

 The eggs of the Olive-backed are of a 

 bright greenish-blue ground color, not so 

 dark as the Veery's, and irregularly marked 

 with puii^lish-brown spots. In some ex- 

 amples these spots are so large and numer- 

 ous they almost entirely hide the ground 

 color. The average measurements of the 

 eggs are : Tawny, .86X.67 : Olive-backed, 

 .92X.69: Hermit, .89X.64. Few of our 

 country-people are acquainted with the ap- 

 pearance of these birds liut are familiar 

 with their songs which they attribute to 

 one species called by them the " Swamj) 

 Robin ;" for as in their appearance so in 

 their song, there is to some degree a super- 

 ficial resemblance : all have peculiar metal- 

 lic voices and sing somewhat similar melo- 

 dies. Their songs resemble each other 

 much more than they resemble that of any 

 other species. The Tawny ranks first in 

 classification but the Herinit takes prece- 

 dence as a vocalist. His song is the grand- 

 est : it is the finest musical composition and 

 displays the most artistic execution, as well 

 as the greatest compass and power of voice. 



One is surprised to find so little about 

 the songs of these Thrushes in the writ- 

 ings of the older ornithologists. Wilson 

 says the Tawny has "no song" and calls 

 the Hermit " a silent bu-d." Audubon never 

 heard the song of the Hermit, and NuttaU 



