66 THE BIRDS ABOUT Us. 



those hazy, golden, dreamy days, such as our grand- 

 fathers talk of, as Indian summer and a feature of 

 November. We have such days now, but they usu- 

 ally come a month earlier, and while the ripening 

 chestnuts are being scattered by the squirrels I have 

 heard the lingering oven-birds singing, but with no 

 such ardor as characterizes their evening song in 

 June; for the tsee-tsee-tsee-tsee-tsee t fae. or six times 

 repeated, has a good deal of music in it, when all we 

 hear is the chirps and twitters of lazy resident birds 

 or the chatter of blue-jays. The occasional splendid 

 burst of song, first described, I believe, by John Bur- 

 roughs, I have sometimes heard. It is as described, 

 " clear, ringing, copious, rivalling the goldfinch's in 

 vivacity and the linnet's in melody." 



" Its nest is placed on the ground, usually among dead leaves on 

 an inclined surface, and though usually arched over with a lateral 

 opening, is often of a simpler construction." 



The two Water-thrushes are migratory birds, ap- 

 pearing in the Middle States in spring and autumn. 



Let us consider these birds as we see them tripping 

 along, either in May or September. Here we have, 

 according to ornithologists, a warbler, but our eyes 

 tell us it is a curious combination of a thrush and a 

 sand-piper. They delight not only in the more quiet 

 inland waters, but seem to have a fancy for the wind- 

 tossed ripples of tide-water streams. I have watched 

 them rush in and out, as the waves came and went 

 along the river-shore, with all the dexterity and grace 

 of a sand-piper. There was the same apparent un- 

 steadiness of the legs ; the same dipping of the tail 



