358 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY 



iii a direct line from its nest, seeming at every advance to be gain- 

 ing fresh strength; and when it thinks it has decoyed you to a 

 sufficient distance, it suddenly wheels off and disappears.-' 



The bird practiced no such deception in our case. Wilson also 

 states that the Cow bird frequently selects the nest of Siurus in 

 which to deposit its egg, " and leaves the result to the mercy and 

 management of the Thrush, who generally performs the part of a 

 faithful and affectionate nurse to the foundling." 



Swainson, the well-known naturalist, is responsible for the 

 name of this genus (Phil. Mag. I, May, 1827), and he wrote it 

 Seirus, from two Greek words, signifying to wave or wag the tail ; 

 but as Newton has pointed out, the more correct spelling is 

 Siurus, and this has been adopted here. 



In this country the genus likewise contains the Water-Thrush 

 (8. noveboracensis), Grinnell's water-thrush (8. n. notabilis), 

 and the Louisiana water-Thrush (8. motacilla). In the classifi- 

 cation adopted in the A. O. U. Check-List this genus is placed be- 

 tween two genera of warblers, where it by no means belongs. 

 As I have said, it comes much nearer the American dipper ( C In- 

 dus), the pipits (Anthus), and the true wagtails (Motacilla). 

 This was pointed out by me many years ago, when I examined 

 the skeletal structure of Siurus (Bull. Nutt. Ornitlio. Club* VII, 

 No. 4, October, 1882). 



In England there are a number of birds locally called oven- 

 birds, but the name is applied more particularly to the Willow- 

 wren, which, as in the case of the others, all build dome nests. 



But none of these birds, nor, for the matter of that, our own 

 Siurus auricapillus, are to be considered the true Oven-bird, as 

 strictly considered by ornithologists; for properly speaking* it 

 should be applied only to those South American species which 

 the genus Furnarius was created to contain. F. rufus is perhaps 

 the best known form of all these, and among the Spanish- 

 speaking people of that country it is known as the Hornero 

 (Baker), and also as the Casara. This bird I have never had the 

 opportunity of studying in its native haunts, but long ago, Dar- 

 win, in his famous Voyage of a Naturalist, wrote of it, and said: 



" The genus Furnarius contains several species, all small birds, 

 living on the ground and inhabiting open, dry countries. In 

 structure they cannot be compared to any European form. Or- 

 nithologists have generally included them among the creepers, 

 although opposed to that family in every habit. The best known 



