FAMILY Turdide. 
all else, and ready to believe that the little song is notof 
earth, but a wandering strain from the skies.” John 
Burroughs, in Wake, Robin, calls it ‘‘ golden and 
leisurely.” Certainly one is hypnotized by such music 
as that, and even circumspect Mr. Torrey is captured 
and writes admiringly about the surprising ‘‘ drop to 
a deep contralto,” calls it ‘the most glorious bit of vocal- 
ism to be heard in our woods,” and records, apparently 
with the delight of a musician, ‘‘ the tinkle or spray 
of bell-like tones at the other extreme of the gamut” *; 
and for my own part I think the rest of us must agree 
with him! 
Veery. Wil- This Thrush is very easily distinguished 
son’s Thrush = fyom all the others by the unique charac- 
Tawny Thrush 1 of both its coloring and song; the 
Hylocichla Avph : 
fuscescens former is a peculiar tan-brown, the latter 
L.7.40 inches is a strange combination of slurred over- 
May ioth tones, The bird is shy and has been popu- 
larly dubbed ‘‘ the skulking Veery.” His markings as 
well as his colors are in strong contrast with those of the 
Wood Thrush. Upper parts including wings and tail a 
light golden brown like raw sienna; under parts inclu- 
ding the throat white, with a delicate tinge of buff on 
the sides of both throat and breast; small wedge-shaped 
sienna spots also define the borders of throat, and are 
sprinkled over the upper breast; sides white with a light 
tint of gray. Femalesimilarly marked. Nest on or very 
near the ground; it is built of dead leaves, shreds of 
bark, and roots, and lined with finer rootlets and dried 
grasses. Egg like that of the Wood Thrush, light green. 
blue. This bird is common in eastern North America as 
far north as Newfoundland and Manitoba; it breeds 
from northern New Jersey northward, and southward 
along the Alleghanies to North Carolina; it winters in 
Central America. The situations preferred by the Veery 
are the thick damp woods beside the river’s brink, and 
the dense undergrowth of low woodlands; sometimes 
the bird chooses a high, wooded knoll, but it is generally 
very near the water. 
* Vide, Roving it in Franconia, page 118. 
244 
