OUR WEST COAST THRUSHES. 191 



is which. But when summer has come, and our 

 winter visitor the hermit has gone away, we know 

 the bird we see is not the hermit, but the russet- 

 back. We do not see him at all, perhaps, for a 

 long while, but just at nightfall, when the other 

 birds have mostly gone to bed, there comes a 

 liquid note, like the drip of water, from the thick- 

 est shrubbery. We know it is the russet-back, 

 and we smile, and keep very still, so we may hear 

 more of that liquid song -drip. Like all the 

 thrushes, it is a ground-bird, getting its living by 

 tilling the soil, like the farmer that it is. You 

 might find it nesting in the moist willow regions, 

 or in the canons, where the little streams have 

 not been all turned into iron pipes for city uses. 



The russet-back is a shy bird, not flying high 

 in plain sight, like the mockers and finches and 

 other birds. If you are out to find it, you would 

 better hunt in moist places, under the holly 

 bushes, where the loam is dark and rich. 



The thrushes make similar nests everywhere. 

 They seldom use mud, like their relatives the 

 robins, but you might take it for granted they do, 

 by the appearance of the nest when it is done. 

 You must learn to examine closely, if you are a 

 bird-student, for differences that do not speak in 

 very loud tones. The nests of the thrushes are 



