The Birds and Poets 29 



The gray-cheeked thrushes were a mystery to 

 me for one long season. They so closely resemble 

 the Bicknell's thrush and the olive-backed thrush, 

 and the Wilson's thrush or veery, that they can 

 be readily distinguished only by an experienced 

 observer. During my first summer at our sub- 

 urban home they appeared upon the lawn late in 

 April, in their trim olive-drab gowns, stealthily 

 hopping about in the grass, and quietly and some- 

 what anxiously watching any one who approached 

 near them. Their coyness was emphasized by 

 the light ring about the eye, which gave them an 

 alert, inquiring expression. Their song resembled, 

 as much as anything that could be suggested, the 

 musical twanging of a guitar. I was unable to 

 identify them with certainty until one day, after 

 a severe storm, I found a dead bird near the walk, 

 bordering a neighbor's premises, and readily iden- 

 tified it as a gray-cheeked thrush. Among the 

 little groups that have visited us each season since 

 that time, during the spring and fall migrations, 

 there has been an occasional olive-backed thrush, 

 but aside from the veery, which is common espe- 

 cially during migration, the gray-cheeked is per- 

 haps the most abundant. 



Their modest appearance, their silent, coy man- 

 ners, and their beautiful and unique song combine 

 to make their semi-annual visits of unusual interest. 



The flickers are always numerous with us in 

 April, and indeed all through the summer. Their 

 loud spring calls of "wick! wick! wick! wick!" 



