OF THE UNITED STATES 305 



been done by one so young, it is the best drawing of a cyclone 

 that I have ever seen." 



One of the most extraordinary things about young thrushes is 

 to observe the rapidity with which they grow. Those which I 

 have kept and there have been many of them and fed upon in- 

 sects and bird food, have thriven marvelously. They by^ a_week's 

 growth double their bulk, and from not handsome, pinfeather- 

 bedecked younglings, they pass into a stage when they become 

 very trim and pretty little fellows. One at about this period of 

 its existence I have likewise made a photographic picture of, 

 and its reproduction is well shown in Fig. 76. About this time 

 they require not a little care and attention, being hearty eaters, 

 and but slowly become accustomed to cage life. Once reared, 

 however, a wood thrush is an elegant bird for a pet beautiful 

 in plumage, graceful in demeanor, and rich in vocal powers. 



The supreme admiration in which I held the Wood Thrush, as 

 a boy, has by no means diminished with advancing years. In- 

 deed, I believe my appreciation of him is greater now than it was 

 then. Prince of thrushes, he has no peer in all this land, save the 

 Mocking bird; and, for one, I must believe that in reality he is a 

 handsomer bird even than old Mimus himself. Plump in form, 

 and with fluffy feathering; delicately fashioned legs, of a clear 

 flesh color; an unusually broad tail; dainty, yet dignified in car- 

 riage; and with an extremely attractive general contour, made 

 the more so by the possession of such large and expressive brown 

 eyes surely, he stands without a rival amidst all the Turdidce. 

 Above, his feathers take on a rich fulvous color, that passes to 

 a bright reddish on the crown, and to a fine brown olivaceous on 

 rump and tail. Beneath he is white, the throat and breast being 

 tinged with a cream buffy. Upon either side, from the angles of 

 the mouth, pass down a chain of blackish flecks; these becoming 

 gradually larger, spread out finally over all the breast as an ele- 

 gant array of rounded or subtriangular spots. The white belly 

 is only in part similarly ornamented, and they cease entirely be- 

 fore arriving at the vent. Inside, the mouth is a clear, fine yel- 

 low, while the beak is a dusky brown, being much higher colored 

 at the base of the lower mandible. On top of the head the feath- 

 ers are inclined to be a little longish, and these, as well as those 

 of the rump, he has a way of elevating when anything especially 

 interests him, and that in a manner quite fascinating to the ad- 

 mirer of the behavior of birds of this kind. Withal, he is an un- 



