THE YOUNG ORNITHOLOGIST. 



the greater part of the day, with its ring- 

 ing notes, which though not tuneful nor 

 melodious, and consisting of but two 

 notes, yet, from their rapid repetition and 

 the animation of the performer, are pleas- 

 ing to the ear ; these notes begin low, 

 rising as they proceed, until the solo ends. 

 This song resembles the syllables " TT7c/i- 

 liW repeated quickly with a ringing inton- 

 ation four or five times, then a pause en- 

 sues for about a minute, when it is repeated 

 and thus continues for over an hour at a 

 time, when the demands of hunger or the 

 calls of other duties requires its attention 

 for a time. 



Its favorite habitat is the dry, hard-wood 

 timber lands, where, among the low, thick 

 underbrush it loves to glean its insect food 

 and conceal its curious leafy nest ; but as 

 these natural resorts are yearly becoming 

 more limited, it suits itself to circumstan- 

 ces and makes its summer home in the 

 more low and scrambly tamerack and 

 black ash woods. It seldom frequents 

 the pine and cedar woods, or the second- 

 growth timbered tracks, which are the 

 favorite resorts of some of the larger 

 thrushes. 



The nest is placed upon the ground, 

 a slight hollow is made among the dry 

 leaves and over this a kind of canopy, or 

 hut-like roof, is formed with dry leaves, 

 stalks and grass, and lined with fine dry 

 grass, leaves and hairs. 



The set of eggs, usually five in number, 

 are of a clear white, spotted, sepecially 

 towai-d the larger end, with red spots. Its 

 nest is so well concealed — not only from 

 the mode of its formation, and the mater- 

 ials of which it is composed, but also from 

 the fact that it is generally placed among 

 the thick bushes, or on the side of a small 

 bank — that it is not easy to discovery it. 

 The bird sits close and seldom flushes un- 

 til almost trodden upon, and when startled 



runs along the ground for some distance, 

 with her wings and tail spread out, in or- 

 der to intice the intruder after her ; but to 

 the practical ornithologist this action on 

 the part of the bird only serves to betray 

 what it trys to conceal. If the young are 

 in the nest, and should one of them utter 

 a note af alarm, both parent birds imme- 

 diately appear upon the scene, flutter 

 around the invader, and by their distressed 

 notes, as well as actions, exhibit their 

 deep and mutual solicitude. 



Though shy and retired in its habits, 

 this species is pretty well known to every 

 rambler in the wild-woods of Ontario. It 

 arrives in this province about the end of 

 May, and after a sojourn of between three 

 and four months departs southward. 



From our early settlement in the back- 

 woods, when the greater part of "Western 

 Canada" was still an almost unbroken 

 wilderness, we have been familiar with the 

 song-notes and peculiar nesting habits of 

 this interesting bird, which for many years 

 were known to us as the "wood bird," 

 and we have often not6d that it chooses for 

 its nesting-place a site near a cow-path, 

 along which it gathers fine hairs to line 

 the cradle of its progeny, and that the 

 door of its nest often faced the west. 



Since then I have noted the bird or list- 

 ened to its pleasing song in every section 

 that I have visited, and when I rambled 

 about the old Falls of Niagara in the 

 month of June, a few years ago, among 

 the few birds whose solos enlivened the 

 woods of Goat Island, I noticed those of 

 the golden-crowned thrush. 



W. L. Kells, 



Listowel, Ont. 



We have changed the style of our paper 

 somewhat, but will give our readers more 

 matter than formerly. 



