THE VARIED THRUSH. 251 



matters of no consequence. The prettiest compliment that Nature can pa_\' to 

 the genuine wildness of Ravenna Park, in Seattle, or Defiance Park, in Tacoma. 

 is the continued presence of the Varied Thrush in nesting time. Run a survey 

 line across any timbered valley of western Washington, or up an\- limbered 

 slope of the Cascades or Olympics, and the bird most certainly encountered, 

 without reference to local to])ograi)hy or presumed preference, will be the 

 X'aried Thrush. The bird may likewise be found aniou^- the larches and 

 cedars of the Calispell Range. 



The \'aried Thrush is known b_\' a \ariety of names, none more persistent 

 or fitting than \\'inter Roljin. It is a Robin in size, prevailing color, and 

 general make-up: and it appears in the lowlands in large numbers only in the 

 winter time, when the deep snows have driven it out of the hills. The Thrush 

 is nuich more shy than the Robin, and altho it moves about in straggling com- 

 panies, and does not shun cit\' ])arks, it keeps more to cover. It also feeds 

 largely upon the ground, and when startled by a passer-by it flutters up sharply 

 into the trees with a wing-sound whose quality may soon be recognized as dis- 

 tinctive. At such times the bird makes off thru the branches with a low chuck, 

 or tsook, or else tries the air by low notes which are like the song, only very 

 much more subdued. This is manifestly an attempt to keep in touch with 

 companions, while at the same time attracting as little hostile attention as 

 possible. This note is, therefore, barel_\- audible, and has \-ery Htlle nnisical 

 f|ualitv. aanic, or iiiir. 



The nesting of the \'aried Tlu'ush was most fully brought to light by 

 Mr. D. E. Brown, at Glacier, in the season of 1905. Like some tireless re- 

 triever, this ardent naturalist (juartered the mazes of the dense spruce forest 

 which covers the floor of the Xorth Fork of the Nooksack, and in a range of 

 some fifteen miles up and down that stream succeeded in locating forty-five 

 nests of this, till then, little-understood s])ecies. Of these, twentv-five con- 

 tained full sets of eggs, while the remainder fell before such accidents as 

 desertion, robbing by Jays. Owls, etc. The first set taken was on May 5th, 

 and the eggs were slightly incubated. The last, with fresh eggs, was taken 

 June 19th, — probably the second nesting of some bird robbed earlier in the 

 season. Among the nests examined, three contained sets of four each, and 

 the remainder three. Of the entire numlier. all were ])laccd in evergreen trees, 

 save two. Of these last, one was set in ilie spHniers in the broken top of a 

 willow, about fifteen feel u]): and the oiher was ]3laced in an u])righl crotch 

 of an elderberr\- busli ;il four feel from the ground. 



Mere are the woods that abound in moss-bunches, — great balls of thrifty 

 green which grow, without apparent excuse, alike from the flimsiest and from 

 the most substantial su])ports. It is in view of the abundance of these, that 

 the N'aried Thrush builds as it does, right out in the open of the underwood, 

 near the top, or at least well uj), in a small fir tree. The searcher has only the 



