1861. 



KEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



171 



Notwithstanding the many amiable character- 

 istics of the American Robin, and the endearing 

 title by which he is known, he is often accused, 

 and, undoubtedly, not without some reason, of 

 robbing our gardens and orchards of their choice 

 fruits, he being particularly fond of strawberries 

 and cherries -, hence the aggrieved gardener, 

 forgetting or ignoring his many virtues, declares 

 extermination against him ; he sees nothing in 

 him but what is despicable, and rejoices in his 

 destruction ; the little losses the Robin occasions 

 by far outweigh, in his estimation, the esteem 

 in which he is held by the mass of people, to 

 which his obvious virtuous traits so well entitle 

 him; his songs, and the destruction of great num- 

 bers of offensive grubs, though valuable to the 

 general farmer, are nothing to him. 



The Robin measures about nine and a half 

 inches in length, and about fifteen in alar extent. 

 Color above, dusky ash, deepening into black on 

 the head and tail ; beneath a dark orange, fading 

 into white towards the vent ; throat white, with 

 black streaks ; bill yellow, black near the tip. 



The Wood Thrush, {Turdus mustelinus, 

 Gmel.,) sometimes called the Swamp Robin or 

 Wood Robin, like the preceding species, inhabits 

 a very extensive region, ranging, it is said, from 

 Mexico to the country around Hudson's Bay. It 

 is a quite shy and retiring bird, generally select- 

 ing the darkest and most secluded sylvan situa- 

 tions for its retreat, often a hollow, overgrown 

 with grapevines and alders, through which a rip- 

 pling stream meanders ; here in peace and soli- 

 tude he rears his young, and from whence he 

 pours his melodious strains, that in the clear, still 

 mornings and evenings of May and June, as well 

 as in the long, gloomy days of lowery weather 

 that occur, may be heard at a considerable dis- 

 tance. His notes, however, are not startling 

 or very conspicuous, being i-epeated slowly, with 

 considerable intervals of rest between, yet they 

 appear unequalled in sweetness and soothing ef- 

 fect by any of our native song birds ; and a re- 

 cent writer has truthfully observed, "It is certain 

 that any one who stops to listen to this bird will 

 become spell-bound, and deaf to almost every 

 other sound in the grove, as if his ears were en- 

 chained to the song of the Siren." The Wood 

 Thrush is exceedingly shy ; and, as it is seldom 

 seen outside of the shade of the forest, is not 

 generally known to our rural population, as v/hile 

 he charms us with his song, he seems solicitous 

 to remain concealed. It is generally seen singly 

 or in pairs, and is not numerous. The nest is 

 placed in a bush or small tree, not far from the 

 ground, in his favorite shady glens; it is composed 

 outwardly of withered leaves, lined with a layer of 

 mud and fine, fibrous roots. The eggs are four or 

 five, of an unspotted, uniform light blue. The male 

 commences his song on his first arrival, which oc- 

 curs about the first of May, and "with the dawn 

 of the succeeding morning," as Wilson observes, 

 "mounting to the top of some tall tree that rises 

 from a low, thick shaded part of the woods, he 

 pipes his few, but clear and musical notes, in a 

 kind of ecstacy j the prelude or symphony, to 

 which strongly resembles the double-tonguing 

 of a German flute, and sometimes the tinkling of 

 a small bell ; the whole song consists of five or 

 six parts, the last note of each of which is in such 

 a tone as to leave the conclusion evidently sus- 



pended ; the finale is finely managed, and with 

 such charming effect as to soothe and tranquilize 

 the mind, and to seem sweeter and mellower at 

 each successive repetition."' 



The colors of the Wood Thrush are unobtru- 

 sive, but chaste and pleasing, being of a brown- 

 ish-yellow above, brightening into reddish on the 

 head, and inclining to an olive on the tail ; throat 

 and abdomen pure white ; breast pale buff, spot- 

 ted with pointed spots of dusky. Length eight 

 inches ; extent thirteen. 



The Hermit Thrush, {Tardus solitarius, 

 Wils.,) has been styled i\\e American Nightingale, 

 from its great resemblance in size and color to 

 the Nightingale of Europe, and several respecta- 

 ble ornithogists ascribe to it powers of song equal- 

 ing or scarcely inferior to the musical talent of 

 that well known and far famed bird. Nuttall 

 even considers its lay, in melody and sweetness, 

 to surpass the song of the favorite Wood Thrush. 

 Wilson, however, who described this Thrush, and 

 appeared to be familiar with its history, considered 

 it destitute of song, and observes that they are 

 rarely seen in Pennsylvania, except for a few 

 weeks early in the spring, and late in the fall ; 

 but further observes that he found them breeding 

 in the cane swamps of the country of the Choc- 

 taw Indians, in May, and it seems remarakable 

 that their song should have escaped the notice of 

 this observing naturalist, if it really possesses 

 such noteworthy musical talents. This Thrush 

 is found from the table lands of Mexico, north- 

 ward, throughout the United States to the Alpine 

 summits of northern New England, and is said 

 to pass onward to the fiftieth parallel of north 

 latitude ; the favorite native haunts of this very 

 recluse species, however, seem to be the dark, sol- 

 itary cane and myrtle swamps of the Southern 

 States ; and the more dark and gloomy the cane- 

 brake, the more sure are these Hermits to be met 

 with. Audubon observes that along the borders 

 of the Mississippi, where almost impenetrable 

 canebrakes and gloomy swamps abound, the Her- 

 mit Thrush is common throughout the summer, 

 rearing two broods in a year in lower Louisiana, 

 retreating to higher lands during the period when 

 these alluvial tracts are inundated. They gener- 

 ally arrive in New England from the south about 

 the middle of April, continuing with us for sev- 

 eral weeks, in small, scattered parties, chiefly con- 

 fined to the woods, but occasionally making ex- 

 cursions to the garden and plowed fields, uttering 

 no other note than a feeble queak ,• are not at all 

 shy, and when perched, often slowly wag the tail, 

 much like the common Pew^ or Phcebe. About 

 the 5th or 10th of May they disappear, and dur- 

 ing all my rambles through the forests and swamps 

 in this vicinity I have never observed a single 

 individual in the summer, though I have watched 

 for them closely. In October they again appear 

 in small parties, feeding on the berrit^s of several 

 shrubs that abound in low situations, sometimes 

 lingering till the 10th of November, at which 

 time they were common last fall. They are said 

 to breed, however, in the dense woods of various 

 parts of New England, where their low, melodious 

 notes are almost unrivalled. Their nest is placed 

 at no great elevation, on a horizontal branch, and 

 composed of leaves fibrous rootlets and dry grass 

 neatly arranged. The eggs, four or five in num 

 ber, are pale greenish-blue, spotted with olive. 



