THE RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH. 233 



nifiit witlidut recourse to sight. Quit, or Ir^'it, is a soft wiiistled note of inquir)' 

 and greeting, bv wliicii the birds keep in constant toucli with each other, and 

 wliicli tliey are nowise disinclined to use in conversations with strangers. 

 Hzvootnylyoclityl is tiie nanie which tlie Ouillayute lad gives the bird, the 

 first syllable being whistled rather than spoken, in imitation of the bird's note. 

 At the friendly call the Thrush comes sidling o\er toward vou tin-u tiie brush, 

 until you feel that you could put your hand on it if you woukl ; but the bird 

 remains invisible, and says, (/////. qtiU. with some asperity, if vou disregard 

 the convenances. 



A longer call-note, of sharper quality, qttcee, may be as readily imitated, 

 altho its meaning in the bush is uncertain. The bird has also a spoken note, 

 a sort of hap])y inirring, which I call the coordaddy cry. In this the dadd\ 

 notes are given in from one to six syllaliles, and are spoken "trippingly on the 

 tongue." 



Recalling again tJie qncec note, we arc surprised to find that it is the 

 commonest sound heard during migrations. At midnight when a solemn hush 

 is over all besides, this weird note comes down from the sky at any height, 

 from every angle, a greeting en passant from the voyageurs, the tenderest, 

 the most pathetic, the most mysterious \oice of Nature. There are a dozen 

 variations of pitch and tone, qiiece, qiiee, kooo, etc., but the theme is one, and 

 the quality is that of the Russet-backed Thrush. Now it is incredible that any 

 one species should so abound to the exclusion of all others, or that one alone 

 should speak, while others flit by silently. Moreover, the intermittent utter- 

 ance of a single bird ]M-oclaims the rate at which that bird is moving, and 

 oftener argues for the passing of the smaller species. Warblers and the like. 

 Repeated observation would make it appear certain that this qitcc note is the 

 common possession of many, perhaps of all species of migrant song birds, a 

 sort of Esperanto for "Ho, Comrade!" by which the thing legions of the 

 night are bound together in a great fellowship. 



Much of the apparent difference in the call-notes of these niglit-birds is 

 explained when we remember that they are reaching us from different angles. 

 Thus, the qiiee of a rapidly apjiroaching bird is raised sharply and sliortened. 

 qncc; while the same voice, in passing, falls to a ghostly kzvoo, at least a musi- 

 cal third below. It is, pcrha])s. needless to add that practiced lips may join 

 this mystic chorus and hold delightful converse with these brothers of the 

 air — may, indeed, provoke them to trebled utterance in passing. 



But only the Russet-backed Thrush may repeat this cabalistic note, by 

 day. He is the bugler in that greatest of all armies and he must needs keeji 

 in practice while on furlough. 



Russet-backs are tardy migrants, seldom arriving before the first week 

 in May; and they are ofif again for the Southland by the first week in Sejjt em- 

 ber. Two instances are on record, however, of the bird's wintering here- 



