028 LOUISIANA WATEIi TUiafSlI, 



small l)ircls niiniinji; iiLoiit ainoiiLi' the roots, apparuntly sua.rchiiig for -uiuatic insects, wliicli 

 were left by the tide, that llowed over that iilace at hi<i:Ii water. They were (ixtreiuely 

 shy and it was only with great dilHeulty that I could obtain a shot at one, wdiich wlien 

 taken proved to be the coininon Water Thrush. Although I saw them occasionally on 

 other parts of the key, a-inong tlie mangroves, yet they were particularly alumdant in 

 this idace, and I always found them there, even after nearly all the other liirdshad left 

 the island. [ The foreg<Mng a.ccoinit of Key West wa.s written aftei' a, \ isit to tlie island in 

 the winter of 1S87. Now much of Hie territory of which 1 have spoken as being covered 

 with shrubbery is built over. ] I think they remained all winter, fori saw them as late as 

 the latter i)art of Deceml)er ; 1 did not, hov/ever, meet with tliem at Miami initil Mai'cdi 

 l^th. One was picked up dead in Indian River, and brought to me. on April 1st. but 

 they did not become common until the 2()th of that month. 



Thev pi^sis Ma.ssachusetts during the middle of May when they frcfjuent the swamps- 

 I found them connnon in June, at Lake Undjagog, Maine, in the tliick woods along the 

 ed"es of water courses, where they generally remain concealed beneath the mass of fal- 

 len trees and thick underbrush. Indeed, they are so shy, and so seldom leave these inac- 

 cessil)le places, that were it not for the song of the males, one would scarcely believe that 

 they were at all conunon there. They l)reed in these swampy localities. The nest is 

 placed beside a decaying, moss-covered log, or at tlie foot of some tree, generall\- in the 

 everlasting shadows of the thick evergreens. It is seldom covered like that of the Oven 

 Bird. While the female is sitting the male is ever near, and the angler who invades this 

 wilderness, so seldom trodden by man. in search of the si)eckled trout, hears its mde.^crib- 

 alily sweet warbling st)ng, sounding all the more melodious because his curious eye fails 

 to detect its author. So all thnmgh the long sunnner davs, amiil the mountain valleys, 

 this bird melody is mingled with the s[)la.sh of cool waters, and the gentle sighing of 

 breezes, wdiich come laden with the fi'agrance of hemlock and spruce. 



These l)irds are remavka!)le for their love of water, and are seldom .seen far from it 

 They are exceedingly active, and run very rapidly; on this account they resenilile the 

 SandiiiiJers, esi)ecially when they are feeding by the side of a pool or stream. They also 

 have the habit of jerking their tails in a nervous manner. By the l.st of Septemljcr they 

 connuence their southern Hight. While passing Massachusetts at this season they may be 

 usually f(mnd searching the bottom ot recently dried up [)ools and ditches for insects, es- 

 pecially if these places are overhung with bushes. They are but little tamer then than at 

 other times, and upon the slightest alarm will instantly dart into the nearest thicket. I 

 found this species to occin- sparingly on the Bahamas about Nassau, and on Andros in 

 March and A])ril, 1884, and rather commonly on Cayman Brae the last week in March, 



1888. 



SEIURUS LUDOVICIANA. 



Louisiana Water Thrush. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sr. Cii. Size, siriiilar til that ijf the preceding species. Tlic bill is not as lon.t; as the hcail Imt is? 

 propurtionately stout. UoLOK. Above, including wiiii^s and tail, dark olivaceous bmwn, slightly rulescent 



