288 XORTIT AMEHICAN BlftDS. 



paroiitly distinct Sciurifs, now known as the Louisiana Wator Thriisli. Tins 

 l>ir(l lias a very close resenil dance to the noirhontnusis, (liHerinLf chictiv in 

 size an<l in liavin*' a larLjcr hill. Altliouiih its distrilivition is not yet fuUv 

 (leterniined, it seems to l^'loni; lather to the South an«l Soutliwcstrrn States, 

 and only accidentally to be found north of the Middle States. Still a sin<,de 

 .specimen has lieen ol)tained in Massachusetts, and it has heen several times 

 found in Michi^^an and Missouri. Specimens of this hird have also been 

 procured in rennsylvania, CJeorgia, Taniaulipas, Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, and 

 Guatemala. 



Its recopiition as a distinct species from the common "Water Thrush is 

 so recent, and the two species so closely resend)le each other, that as yet its 

 habits and history are imperfectly known. Wilson refers to the birds he 

 luul met with in Mississippi and Louisiana, which we ]>resume to have been 

 the same, as being there in abundance, and eminently distinguished by the 

 L>udness, sweetness, and ex])ressive vivacity of their notes. These he de- 

 scrilies as l>eginning very high and clear, and as falling with an aluKtst im]>er- 

 ceptible gradati(»n until they are scarcely articulated, — a descriittion that 

 woaia also answer very well for the sonuj of the true Water Thrush. During 

 their sont^ he adds, they are perched on the middle branches of a tree over 

 th-^ l;rook or river-bank, ])ouring out a charming melody, so loud and distinct 

 that it mav be heard at the distance of nearly half a mile. The voice of this 

 bird appeared to him so ex(|uisitely sweet and expressive that he wixs never 

 tired of listening to it. 



It is also (piite probable that nearly all of Audubon's accounts of the habits 

 of the AVater Thrush were derived from his observation of this species, and 

 not of its Xorthern congener. He describes its song as fully e<tual to that 

 of the Xightingale, its notes as jjowerlul and mellow, and at times as varied. 

 He states that it is to be found at all seasons in the deepest and most swamj»y 

 of the canebrakes of Mississipj)i and Louisiana. Its song is to be heard even 

 in the winter, when the weather is calm and warm. 



He describes its llight as easy and continued, just above the brakes, or 

 ch)se to the ground. When on the ground, it is ccmtinually vibrating its 

 body, jerking out its tail and then closing it again. It walks gracefully along 

 the branches or on the ground, but never hops. He states that it feeds on 

 insects and their larvie, and often pursues the former on the wing. 



He describes the nest as placed at the foot and among the roots of a tree, 

 or by the side of a decayed log, and says they are often easily discovered. 

 They are commenced the first week of A]>ril. The outer portions are formed 

 of dry leaves and mosses, the inner of line gmsses, with a few hairs or the 

 dry fibres of the Spanish moss. 



The eggs, four in number, are described as flesh -colored, sprinkled with 

 dark red at the larger end. They are hatched in fourteen da vs. The young 

 leave the nest in alxuit ten days, and follow the parent on the ground from 

 place to place. When disturbed on her nest in the earlier periods of incu- 



