204 SINGING BIRDS. 



citous to remain concealed. His favorite haunts are low, shady 

 glens by watercourses, often rendered dark with alder-bushes, 

 mantled with the trailing grape-vine. In quest of his insect 

 prey, he delights to follow the meanders of the rivulet, through 

 whose leafy shades the sunbeams steal only in a few inter- 

 rupted rays over the sparkling surface of the running brook. 

 So partial is this bird to solitude that I have known one to 

 sing almost uniformly in the same place, though nearly half a 

 mile from his mate and nest. At times indeed he would ven- 

 ture a few faltering, low notes in an oak near his consort, but 

 his mellowest morning and evening warble was always deliv- 

 ered from a tall hickory, overtopping a grove of hemlock firs, 

 in which the dimness of twilight prevailed even at noon. The 

 Wood Thrush, like the Nightingale, therefore feels inspired in 

 darkness ; but instead of waiting for the setting sun, he chooses 

 a retreat where the beams of day can seldom enter. These 

 shady retreats have also an additional attraction to our Thrush ; 

 it is here that the most interesting scene of his instinctive 

 labor begins and ends ; here he first saw the light and breathed 

 into existence ; and here he now bestows his nest in a sapling 

 oak, or in the next thick laurel or blooming alder, whose ber- 

 ries afford him ample repast in the coming autumn. Beetles, 

 caterpillars, various insects, and in autumn, berries, constitute 

 the principal food of the Wood Thrush. The young remain 

 for weeks around gardens in quest of berries, and are particu- 

 larly fond of those of the various species of cornel and vibur- 

 num. At this season they occasionally leave their favorite 

 glens, and in their devious wanderings, previous to their de- 

 parture, sometimes venture to visit the rural suburbs of the 

 city. The young are easily raised, and sing nearly as well in 

 the cage as in their native wilds. 



Nuttall made a mistake in giving to the Wood Thrush so ex- 

 tended a range, and must have confused this species with the 

 Olive-backed, of which he makes no mention. The Wood Thrush 

 has not been seen farther north than Massachusetts, southern 

 Ontario, and southern Michigan. It nests southward to Georgia 

 and westward to eastern Kansas, and winters south to Guatemala 

 and Cuba. 



