TAWNY THRUSH. 363 



its retired habits, and seeks refuge in the concealment of dark shady 

 woods, near brooks or moist grounds. There, in a low bush, or on the 

 ground beneath it, this bird builds its nest, which is large, composed ex- 

 ternally of dry leaves, mosses, and the stalks of grasses, and lined with 

 finer grasses, and delicate fibrous portions of difi'erent kinds of mosses, 

 without any mud or clay. The eggs, which are deposited early in June, 

 are from four to six, and resemble those of the Cat Bird in colour and 

 shape, but are of smaller size. They raise only one brood in the season. 

 The parents, ever extremely shy, shew no desire to assist their young, or 

 defend their nest from intruders, but remain during your visit at some 

 distance, uttering a mournful and angry quake, somewhat resembling that 

 of the Cat Bird on such occasions. The Cow Bunting not unfrequently 

 deposits its egg in the nest of this Thrush, where it is hatched, and the 

 young brought up with all imaginable care. In the neighbourhood of 

 the city of Boston, some of these birds, according to my learned friend 

 NuTTALL, breed sometimes in the gardens, and he has known of a nest 

 placed in a gooseberry bush. A full-fledged young one that was caught 

 and placed in a cage, retained the unsocial and silent timidity peculiar 

 to the species. The males are obstinate in their quarrels, and fight with 

 great fierceness in maintaining their right to the ground which they have 

 appropriated to themselves. 



The song of this species, although resembling that of the Wood 

 Thrush in a great degree, is less powerful, and is composed of continued 

 trills repeated with different variations, enunciated with great delicacy and 

 mellowness, so as to be extremely pleasing to one listening to them in the 

 dark solitudes where the sylvan songster resides. It now and then tunes 

 its throat in the calm of evening, and is heard sometimes until after the 

 day has closed. 



It searches for food even at those hours, and feeds principally on co- 

 leopterous insects. In Labrador it also picks the tender blossoms of se- 

 veral dwarf plants, and feeds on berries. Its time is, for the most part, 

 spent on the ground, where it moves with singular agility by leaps, stop- 

 ping instantaneously and standing erect for a few moments, as if appre- 

 hending danger, but immediately renewing its course. 



We have in the Middle Districts another species of Thrush nearly 

 allied to this, but differing considerably in the size and shape of its bill, 

 and especially in its habits. Of this bird I shall give you an account on 

 another occasion. 



