194 BIRCH BROWSINGS. 



and found that as usual the stream wound leisurely 

 through marshy ground. The water being much colder 

 than in the outlet, the trout were more plentiful. As 

 I was picking my way over the miry ground and 

 through the rank growths, a ruffed grouse hopped up 

 on a fallen branch a few paces before me, and, jerking 

 his tail, threatened to take flight. ' But as I was at that 

 moment gunless and remained stationary, he presently 

 jumped down and walked away. 



A seeker of birds, and ever on the alert for some 

 new acquaintance, my attention was arrested, on first 

 entering the swamp, by a bright, lively song, or warble, 

 that issued from the branches overhead, and that was 

 entirely new to me, though there was something in the 

 tone of it that told me the bird was related to the wood- 

 wagtail and to the water-wagtail or thrush. The strain 

 was emphatic and quite loud, like the canary's, but very 

 brief. The bird kept itself well secreted in the upper 

 branches of the trees and for a 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 Lou- 

 isiana, 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. 



