1897] ORisriTHOLOGY. II7 



mediatel}' before each outburst, and usually a wheezy whispering 

 sort of thrill immediately after it, neither of which is noticeable 

 in other members of the thrush family — -F A. SAUNDERS. 



Hermit Thrush, Tiirdus aonalaschkuepallasu . — This bird is 

 about the size of the Wilson's thrush, that is, about seven inches in-' 

 total length, olive above shading^ to a rufous tail, which serves tc 

 separate it from all other thrushes ; and below white, olive shaded 

 on sides and tinged with buff on breast, with breast and throat 

 marked with large dusky olive spots. It is a summer resident here, 

 common in the hills to the north but scarcer near the city, arriv- 

 ing about the 3rd week of April. It usually prefers dry ground, 

 and an elevation, at least to sing from, though in the migrations 

 it may be found in swamps with the veery. The nest is on or 

 very near the ground and is composed of leaves, rootlets and 

 grass ; the eggs four or five, and greenish blue in colour, 

 without spots and hardly to be distinguished from the eggs of 

 the Wilson's and wood thrushes except by actual experience. 

 Its food is largely composed of noxious insects, as is that 

 of the other thrushes, and the influence of the whole family may 

 on this account be considered beneficial, if one excepts perhaps 

 the robin's taste for fruit. The hermit has a peculiar call be- 

 sides a song very rarely heard, which sounds as though it 

 were a chord of two notes, a low rising whistle by which it may 

 sometimes be recognized in the deep woods when it is not in the 

 mood for much music, more often however one hears nothing, as 

 the thrushes are in their habits a noiseless family, but sees a quiet 

 large eyed bird, perched with on a twig near by, or more likely 

 catches a glimpse of an olive-back and rufous tail disappearing 

 among the trees. — F. A. SAUNDERS. 



Olive-back Teirush — Turdus ustulatus sivainsonii — Thi-s 

 member of the thrush family is ratlicr a difficult bird to determine 

 in the woods. It may be described as of the size of the hermit 

 or Wilson's thrush, of a uniform greenish olive colou-r, 



