348 The Veery 



west, as Dr. Elliott Coues has described in his "Birds of the Colorado 

 Valley" a paragraph quoted because it suggests where many birds may 

 be living hardly suspected by prairie-dwellers. Doctor Coues says : 



"The heavy growth of timber that fringes the streams includes many 



nooks and dells, and broken ravines overgrown with thick shrubbery, 



from out the masses of which the tall trees tower, as if stretching forth 



their strong arms in kindly caressing of the humbler and weak vegetation, 



their offspring. In such safe retreats, where the sombre shade is 



brightened here and there with stray beams of 



sunlight, in the warmth of which myriads of insects 



bathe their wings and nutter away their little 



span of life, humming a quaint refrain to the gurgle of the rivulet, the 



Veery meets his mate the song rises the wooed is won the home is 



made. 



"Should we force our unwelcome presence upon the bird who is 

 brooding her newly-found treasures with the tenderest solicitude, she 

 will nestle closer still, in hope of our passing by, till we might almost 

 touch her; when, without a word of remonstrance or reproach, she 

 takes a little flight, and settles a few yards away, in silent appeal." 



Mr. E. H. Forbush, who has studied much the food-habits of this 

 bird, and who never permits his enthusiasm for a species to lead him 

 away from an accurate appreciation of its economic value, has this to say : 

 "The Veery feeds very largely on insects. Those which frequent 

 the ground and the lower parts of trees are commonly sought. Ants, 

 ground-beetles, curculios and grasshoppers are favorites. It goes to 

 the field sometimes at early morning, probably in search of beetles, cut- 

 worms, and earthworms. It has been seen, now and then to eat the 

 hairy caterpillars of the gipsy-moth. It feeds con- 

 Utility siderably in the trees, and so takes many caterpillars ; 

 but is not usually seen much in gardens or orchards, 

 except such as are situated near woods. In summer and fall it eats wild 

 fruit, but seldom troubles cultivated varieties." 



The Veery is not a very large bird even for a Thrush. Its total 

 length from bill-tip to tail-tip is about seven and one-half inches. As a 

 Robin is ten inches long, it will be seen that the Veery is decidedly a 

 shorter bird than our more common door-yard friend. When the wings 

 are spread to their greatest extent, the Veery measures about twelve inches 

 across and the Robin sixteen inches. As the English Sparrow is six 

 and three-tenths inches long, it would not be far wrong to say that in 

 size the Veery is about halfway between an English Sparrow and a Robin. 



Classification and Distribution 



The Veery belongs to the Order Passeres and the Family Turdidce (Thrushes). 

 Its scientific name is Hylochichla mustelina. It breeds in the northern border of the 

 United States and throughout southern Canada, southward in the Alleghany 

 Mountains to North Carolina, and westward to the eastern valleys of the Rocky 

 Mountains. It winters in the West Indies and northern South America. 



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