Olive-hacked Thrush at Summer Home. 135 



hopper, flew away with it and ate it. He also began to sing 

 an irresistable baby Thrush song on the fifth day. 



It was several days after the Thrush was out of the nest 

 before he would take a bath. I find that young Hermit and 

 Olive-backed Thrushes will bathe instinctively on sight of the 

 water but not until several days after they have left the nest. 



The little while that I kept this Thrush in the house, he was 

 a never ending source of wonder and delight. 



The nest of the Olive-backed Thrush, likewise, is peculiarly 

 interesting^.,, It, too, gives rise to a question. 



The tyj[r]: i.^ nest of the Olive-backed consists of three 

 parts, the foundation of twigs, stems, and moss, an interlin- 

 ing of dead wouv^, and the lining proper of skeletonized 

 leaves, with occasionally a little usnea moss, or black, hair- 

 like plant fibre. Twice in nests on the outskirts of a peat 

 bog, the bird used the peat with roots for an interlining. One 

 of these nests contained such a perfect cup of mud that if 

 I had found it without the birds in it I should have said that 

 it was an old Robin's nest. 



Does this indicate that the Olive-backed Thrush once 

 used a mud interlining in its nest, or does it simply show 

 that under suitable circumstances the bird could easily adapt 

 himself to such a style of architecture ? ^ 



The voice of the Olive-backed is wild, sweet, suggestive 

 of the cool, damp woods, the misty, dewy splendors of early 

 dawn and late twilight, although during the nesting season 

 the bird sings all day long. The song of the Olive-backed 

 may be characterized as energetic, that of the Hermit as 

 tranquil. The spirit of the former is " Let us be up and do- 

 ing!" — Wher-a-zvhee-oo! or Work-for-we-two ! The spirit 

 of the latter is, " Praise, Praise, the Creator ! " " Peace, my 

 peace I give unto you !" One entire afternoon, when sitting 

 in a balsam blind near the nest of a Hermit Thrush, I tried 

 to translate the song of an Olive-backed Thrush into words. 

 This is what he seemed to say: "I'll roam the world; I'll 



^Nest and Nest Building in Birds. Part 2. Page 263. By Dr. 

 Francis H. Herrick 



