1148 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



The Wood Thrush is a common summer resident. Throughout the 

 denser woodland its ringing metallic notes may be commonly heard 

 from its arrival in spring until July and occasionally into August. 

 Its well-known call, e-o-lie, is one of the features of our forests that 

 is passing with the clearing of the land. The nourishing of the magic 

 ax has wrought greater changes than seemed possible to our childish 

 mind by the wave of a fairy's wand. I recall deep woods, from which 

 comes the notes e-o-lie, that have disappeared, and from the fields that 

 mark their site is borne the sound of the rattle of the mower, the 

 tinkle of the sheep bell, or the song of the Dickcissel. The song of the 

 Wood Thrush is one of the most beautiful in the forest. 



They usually appear in southern Indiana after the middle of April 

 and are common before May 1. Towards our northern boundary they 

 arrive one year with another near May 1, and are common from the 

 10th to the 15th of that month. The year 1897 gives us a remarkably 

 early record about two weeks earlier than they ever were reported. 

 At Edwards, Vigo County (A. H. Kendrick), they were noted April 

 3; at Brookville, April 5. It was noted at Hillsdale, Mich., April 8, 

 1884 (C. L. Cass). Hitherto, the earliest record at Brookville and 

 in the State was April 15, 1887, and the latest first arrival, May 3, 

 1882. They have first been noted at Bicknell, April 21, 1897, April 

 23, 1895; Lafayette, April 23, 1897, April 29, 1893; Sedan, April 

 28, 1896, May 3, 1895; Laporte, May 1, 1894, 1896; Petersburg, Mich., 

 April 27, 1888, May 5, 1897; Chicago, 111., April 28, 1896, May 11, 

 1895. At Brookville they have been seen mating April 27 (1894), 

 where I have found them nesting as late as July 8, 1886. Prof. B. 

 W. Evermann found a nest with eggs at Bloomington, May 6, 1886, 

 and in Carroll County found full sets May 24, 1883. The nest is 

 placed in a bush or sapling just beyond my reach, generally from eight 

 to fifteen feet from the ground. Like the Robin, the Wood Thrush 

 uses considerable mud in nest building, and its eggs resemble those 

 of that bird, but are smaller. 



They are largely insectivorous. Prof. S. A. Forbes found that 72 

 per cent, of their food was insects, and the greater part of them 

 ground-inhabiting forms. Twenty per cent, of their food was fruits, 

 much of which they obtain from their haunts. In April and May, 

 during the migrations, insects formed 84 per cent of their food. Ants 

 formed 15 per cent.; diptera, principally craneflies and wire-worms, 

 12 per cent.; lepidoptera, one-third of them cut- worms, 13 per cent.; 

 beetles, 18 per cent. (Bulletin No. a, 111. S. Lab. N. H., pp. 127-129). 

 It is probable with a little encouragement the Wood Thrush could 

 be induced to come into our orchards, fruit gardens and "about the 



