Wilson's Thrush 15 



the wood thrush, whose range is more southerly. 

 During its spring and fall migrations only is it 

 at all common about the elms and maples that 

 men have planted. Take a good look at its 

 tawny coat and lightly spotted cream buff 

 breast before it goes away to hide. Like 

 Kipling's "cat that walked by himself," the 

 veery prefers the *' wild, wet woods, " and there 

 its ringing, weird, whistling monotone, that is so 

 melodious without being a melody, seems to 

 come from you can't guess where. The singer 

 keeps hidden in the dense, dark tmdergrowth. 

 It is as if two voices, an alto and a soprano, were 

 singing at the same time: Whee-you, whee-you : 

 — the familiar notes might come from a scythe 

 being sharpened on a whetstone, were the sound 

 less musical than it is. The bird is too wise to 

 sing very near its well-hidden nest, which is 

 placed either directly on the damp ground or 

 not far above it, and usually near water. 

 Throughout its life the veery seems to show a 

 distrust of us that, try as we may, few have 

 ever overcome. 



If you have thought that the thrush-like, cin- 

 namon brown, speckle-breasted bird, with a long 

 twitching tail like a catbird's, and a song as fine 

 as a catbird's best, would be mentioned among 

 the robin's relations, you must guess again, for 

 he is the brown thrasher, not a thrush at all. 

 You will find him in the Group of Lively Singers. 



