VERMONT BIRD CLUB 21 



OUR THRUSHES AND THEIR SONGS. 



MISS ISABEL M. PADDOCK. 



In talking with other people about birds, no group has 

 seemed more difficult for them to identify clearly than the 

 thrushes, and yet, paradoxically, the thrush is frequently 

 one of the first birds learned. The reason is not far to seek. 

 The usual song of these birds, of whichever variety, attracts 

 the attention of even a casual listener, and stimulates his 

 curiosity to see the bird which can produce such wild music* 

 But even after continued study so shy are the thrushes, and 

 so little striking in appearance, that it is difficult to be quite 

 sure of them and to distinguish the varieties unerringly. 



Of the five thrushes found in New England, the Veery or 

 Wilson's thrush is generally distributed throughout Ver- 

 mont. The Hermit and the Olive-backed or Swainson's 

 thrush are common in the northern part of the State, the 

 wood thrush in the southern, while the Bicknell is found on 

 the tops of the highest mountains. 



Here in St. Johnsbury, the hermit and veery are very com- 

 mon, but the wood, thrush has never been authentically re- 

 ported, though it has been reported from Willoughby Lake, 

 25 miles north of here, and from Lake Memphremagog. 



The olive-backed I have only seen here in migration, but 

 the entire quintette of New England thrushes may be heard 

 on the slope of Mt. Mansfield during the last five miles of 

 the ascent, from the place where the steepest, wooded part 

 of the mountain road begins to the summit. I say "heard," 

 feeling quite sure that to hear them is the simplest way to 

 learn to distinguish them. 



It is not always easy to see the pale eye-ring of the olive- 

 backed, and the birds will seldom be obliging enough to 

 turn their backs in order that you may remember and verify 

 the rule. "The wood thrush is reddest on the head, the her- 

 mit is reddest on the tail, and the veery has a uniformily 

 tawny back." 



Perhaps it is easier to know the hermit's trick of waving 

 his tail slowly up and down, not, like the phoebe, down- 

 ward, but rather upward from the horizontal plane. Also 

 that the wood thrush is heavily spotted with black and 

 the veery scarcely spotted at all. But for sure identification 

 depend upon your ear rather than your eye. The song of 

 the veery is vibrant and ringing, with a jewsharp like qual- 

 ity, and ends lower than it began. The Bicknell's song is 

 of a similar quality, but more elaborate form. 



