THE WOOD THRUSH. 9 



had been sat upon, and on June 4, another similar one ; the 

 following day an unfinished nest was found ; fi-om this time 

 constant search met with no wood thrush's nest until the 21st, 

 when another was found, containing four fresh eggs, which I 

 then considered a second brood, not seeing why this pair should 

 have delayed their building until all their neighbors' young 

 were hatched. This trip furnished another curious note. On 

 June 5, I found a nest of the wood thrush, nearly finished, on 

 the lower limb of a large oak. Visiting it again on the i8th, 

 it contained three eggs only slightly addled. Did these eggs 

 belong to the original bui4ders who were so dilatory ; or had 

 the nest been abandoned and afterward taken possession of 

 by another pair? In eastern Pennsylvania, Mr. Gentry has 

 recorded nests with eggs, discovered as late as July 15 ; but he 

 thinks these the labor of birds whose early efforts had been 

 frustrated, and that only one brood is raised. I am certain that 

 along Lake Erie, in New Jersey and on western Long Island, 

 two broods are brought out : but there is much irregularity 

 as to time, young birds, old eggs and new nests being found 

 side by side. 



The eggs are usually four, but sometimes only three in num- 

 ber. They are uniform deep blue, not inclining to green so 

 much as the robin's, than which, also, they are one-fifth smaller, 

 more slender and pointed ; average dimensions are .98 by ,78 

 of an inch. The female alone sits upon the eggs, which hatch in 

 thirteen days, the male meanwhile paying devoted attention to 

 her wants. Their behavior when the nest is approached is very 

 different in different individuals. If the female is sitting, she 

 will usually remain upon the nest, watching you intently, until 

 you reach out your hand to touch her, when she will suddenly 

 slip away and cannot be induced to show herself while you re- 

 main in the vicinity ; but sometimes, with an unnatural cour- 

 age born of her terror, she stands her ground, bristles up, and 

 whistling, screaming and hissing, repeatedly darts at your head 

 with the utmost fury. 



The parent birds manifest much solicitude for their offspring, 

 and assist by turns in supplying them with food. Mr. Gentiy 

 mentions a long list of insects probably on their bill of fare, 



