THE OOLOOIST. 



6' 



but sweet and full song, coming seem- 

 ingly from the bosom of the earth. Ad- 

 vancing cautiously we see a slight 

 rustle ahead, and looking closely we 

 see a bird hop up on some small bush 

 or root, which by his coloring we in- 

 stantly recognize as a near relative of 

 our late scold, the Wood Thrush, but 

 look, he is much smaller, his breast is 

 not streaked but spotted and he keeps 

 close to the ground, we have found the 

 haunts of Wilson's Thrush, and he is at 

 home. The song of Wilson's Thrush 

 is, to my mind, the sweetest of all the 

 true Thrushes, and one of the best, short 

 songs I have been fortunate to hear. It 

 cannot compare in strength and varia- 

 bility with the songs of the Mocking- 

 bird and Brown Thrasher, nor in sweet- 

 ness and length with the Canary and 

 other warblers, but ranks well with the 

 Purple Finch and the Grosbeaks. It is 

 much more subdued than that of the 

 Wood Thrush, which like the Robin is 

 too harsh. The nest of Wilson's Thrush 

 is usually on or very near the ground, 

 and hard to find. The female is apt to 

 leave the nest and skulk off on the 

 ground leaving it to the tender (or oth- 

 erwise) mercies of the intruder, when 

 both birds will be heard calling to each 

 other in a mournful voice. But the 

 male makes no such demonstrations as 

 the Wood Thrush. Leaving them and 

 their nests which is usually so water- 

 soaked you wonder how the young birds 

 ever live the first day, even. We arrive 

 again on higher ground and find an old 

 clearing on the edge of the woods once 

 all cut off, but, now grown up to small 

 trees,, briers and weeds. Under these 

 small trees it is always dark in the sum- 

 mer, and here we find our third Thrush 

 very rare as far south as this, never 

 seen in summer below New York and 

 New England states, becoming common 

 from Maine, northward. It is the Her- 

 mit Thrush, the shyest and stillest of 

 them all. He looks much like Wilson's 

 Thrush, but his tail is redder, showing 



different from rest of back at a glance. 

 He is rarely seen far from the ground, 

 being continually skulking under the 

 brush and weeds, hunting the worms 

 and insects it feeds on. Its song is 

 short and low and resembles the song 

 of Wilson's in tone, its warning note be- 

 ing almost exactly alike. The bird is 

 so extremely shy it is very seldom seen 

 except in the breeding season. 



The nest is a ball of dry, dead, leaves, 

 with a hole in the upper side, placed, 

 usually close to the ground against anold 

 stump or in the sprouts growing around 

 the bottom of some tree. The bird sits 

 closer than Wilson's but when she gets 

 off the nest she disappears remarkably 

 quick no matter how close you watch 

 her, but go a little to one side and keep 

 perfectly still and you will soon hear 

 her plaintive note as she Hits along to- 

 ward the nest, keeping close watch for 

 you, and if you move behold where is 

 your bird? Suddenly disappeared, but 

 if you keep perfectly still she will be 

 seen to go to the nest and settle down 

 again, if the nest is not molested, oth- 

 erwise she will leave and you will see 

 her no more in that spot. The male 

 shows very rarely and then it is usually 

 only a glimpse. 



I could tell you more much about these 

 and other species of this family but must 

 give some of my colleagues a chance. 

 Thanking you for your kind attention I 

 will close, hoping what I have said was 

 interesting to a few at least. 



Read by Presideut E. H. Short before 

 the W. N. Y. Naturalist Association at 

 the meeting held February 3d at Eoch- 

 • ester, N. Y. 



The Specimens I Didn't Get- 



The fisherman tells us regretfully of 

 the biggest trout of all, which refused 

 to take the hook, and the hunter iusists 

 that it was when he aimed at the finest 

 deer of the herd that the cartridge miss- 

 ed fire; and it is in a similar vein that 1 

 write to-day. 



