I 



BIRCH BROWSINGS. 235 



long time eluded my eye. I passed to and 

 fro several times, and it seemed to break out 

 afresh as I approached a certain little bend 

 in the creek, and to cease after I had got 

 beyond it ; no doubt its nest was somewhere 

 in the vicinity. After some delay the bird 

 was sighted and brought down. It proved 

 to be the small, or Northern, water-thrush 

 (called also the New York water-thrush) 

 a new bird to me. In size it was noticeably 

 smaller than the large, or Louisiana, water- 

 thrush, as described by Audubon, but in 

 other respects its general appearance was 

 the same. It was a great treat to me, and 

 again I felt myself in luck. 



This bird was unknown to the older orni- 

 thologists, and is but poorly described by the 

 new. It builds a mossy nest on the ground, 

 or under the edge of a decayed log. A cor- 

 respondent writes me that he has found it 

 breeding on the mountains in Pennsylvania. 

 The large-billed water-thrush is much the 

 superior songster, but the present species 

 has a very bright and cheerful strain. The 

 specimen I saw, contrary to the habits of 

 the family, kept in the tree-tops like a war- 

 bler, and seemed to be engaged in catching 

 insects. 



