22 WOOD THRUSH 



with a homesick air, as if they were only waiting 

 till time to start home again. When they do 

 come back, what good cheer they bring with 

 them ! I remember one long winter spent in the 

 country when it seemed that spring would never 

 come. At last one day the call of a Robin rang 

 out, and on one of the few bare spots made by 

 the melting snow there stood the first redbreasts ! 

 It was a sight I can never forget, for the intense 

 delight of such moments make bright spots in a 

 lifetime. 



Wood Thrush : Turdus mustelinus. 

 (See Fig. 220, p. 361.) 



Upper parts warm brown, brightest on head ; under parts white, 

 heavily spotted with black. Length, about 83- inches. 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. Eastern United States ; breeds 

 as far north as Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Ontario ; win- 

 ters in Central America. 



The Wood Thrush is probably the best known 

 and the most familiar of the thrushes. In Nor- 

 wich, Connecticut, I have seen it nesting close 

 by the sidewalk of a village street. 



Its large size, heavily spotted breast, and the 

 rich golden brown of its back, brightest on its 

 head, distinguish it from the other thrushes. 



Its nest is sometimes near the ground, but 

 usually fifteen to twenty-five feet above it. The 

 nest is made largely of leaves, and has an inner 

 wall of mud, like that of its cousin the Robin, and 

 its eggs are similar to the Robin's. 



