246 



The Hcrviit Thrush. 



the United States during its winter migra- 

 tion. At all events we know that great 

 numbers of them spend the cold months in 

 the swamps of Florida, Louisiana and Mis- 

 sissippi. Its summer home is to the north- 

 ward. A few, perhaps, rear their young in 

 northern Massachusetts, but most of them 

 proceed still further north, and find a con- 

 genial resting place in the dark and lonely 

 forests which clothe the almost uninhabited 

 region between the River St. Lawrence and 

 Hudson's Bay. 



The nest of the Hermit Thrush is built 

 on or near the ground, and all the earlier 

 descriptions of it are at fault. Wilson, 

 Audubon and Nuttall all speak of it as be- 

 ing placed in the branches of a tree at some 

 distance from the ground, and in a latitude 

 far south of where it is now known to breed. 

 There can be little doubt that they mistook 

 the nests of a closely allied species, the 

 ■olive-backed thrush, for those of the Her- 

 mit Thrush. Dr. Coues's description of the 

 nest is as follows: 



"The manner in which the nest of the 

 Hermit Thrush is built, its situation, and 

 the eggs, are all so similar to the Veery's 

 [or Wilson's thrush] that one must detect 

 the shy parents themselves before being 

 sure which has been found. The nest is 

 built on the ground or near it, generally in 

 some low secluded spot; no mud is used in 

 its composition, the whole fabric being a 

 rather rude and inartistic matting of with- 

 ered leaves, weed stalks, bark strips, and 

 grasses, the coarser and stiffer substances 

 outside, the finer fibres within. The cup 

 is small in comparison with the whole size, 

 owing to the thickness of the walls and of 

 the base. The eggs are like those of the 

 robin or wood thrush, in their uniform 

 greenish blue color, but smaller, measuring 

 about nine-tenths of an inch in length by 

 five-eighths in breadth; being thus not dis- 

 tinguishable from those of the Veery." 



The food of the Hermit Thrush consists 

 for the most part of insects, though in the 



autumn they feed to some extent on berries 

 as do most of the thrushes. A good por- 

 tion of its time is spent on the ground, 

 where it hops about in search of its food 

 among the dead leaves and twigs, flying 

 when disturbed into the low branches of 

 the trees or bushes, uttering a plaintive note 

 of alarm. 



The true Hermit Thrush is confined to 

 Eastern North America, but two near re- 

 latives of this species are found on the 

 West. One of these, the Dwarf Hermit 

 Thrush, occurs chiefly along the Pacific 

 Coast, from Alaska to Lower California; 

 the other, Audubon's Hermit Thrush, in- 

 habits the Rocky Mountain Region. Both 

 of these races resemble closely the Hermit 

 Thrush and can only be distinguished from 

 it by an ornithologist, but besides some 

 trifling differences in color the Dwarf is 

 slightly smaller and Audubon's a little 

 larger than the Eastern bird. The habits 

 of all of these birds are essentially the same 

 and one account will do for all of them. 



The illustration is reproduced from 

 Audubon's plate of this species and repre- 

 sents two of these birds on the branches 

 of a bush called " robin wood," on the 

 berries of which these birds and many 

 others feed in autumn. 



The Hermit Thrush in general appear- 

 ance is closely like the familiar wood 

 thrush, but is much smaller, and the color 

 of the upper parts is a dull olive brown 

 very different from the bright rufus tint of 

 the feathers of that bird. Its length is 

 seven inches, and across its extended wings 

 it measures ten and one-half. Above it is 

 deep olive brown in color, below dull white, 

 the neck and breast spotted with dark 

 brown. The secondary wing coverts are 

 marked with concealed spots of yellow. 

 The bill is blackish brown above and yel- 

 lowish below. The iris is dark brown and 

 the feet and legs white. The female is a 

 little larger and a little darker than the 

 male. 



