THE HERMIT THRUSH. 217 



tree-tops and spending the days in company with the Warblers. Some- 

 times in searching the top of an elm tree with my glasses for possible Paru- 

 las and certain Black-throated Greens, I have noted a half dozen of these 

 Thrushes, moving about quietly at that height and evidently finding an 

 abundance of insect food about the new-flung tassels of clustering flowers. 

 Here too are to be heard subdued songs, which, because of their very moder- 

 ation, serve to transport the fortunate hearer into regions of utter rest. 



When it does resort to the ground, the Olive-backed Thrush can be pro- 

 vokingly elusive; and no one of the servants of this wayside inn, Ohio, may 

 claim really to know this fleeting guest. The full-voiced song is often ren- 

 dered in dense thickets and swampy woods, especially in the northern part 

 of the state. It bears a superficial resemblance to that of the Wilson Thrush 

 and has something of the same rolling, vibrant quality. It is, however, less 

 prolonged and less vehement. It lacks the liquid r's and I's which the Veery 

 rolls under his tongue like sweet morsels ; and the pitch of the whole rises 

 slightly, while the volume of sound diminishes toward the end of the series, 

 We-e-o zve-e-o zve-o we-o weee. The scolding note is a soft liquid quit, 

 which may be perfectly imitated by whistling; but this sound I have never 

 heard during the migrations. There is, besides, a high-pitched, musical call- 

 note, which may be recognized as the birds pass overhead at night. 



No. 97. 



HERMIT THRUSH. 



A. O. U. No. 759b. Hylocichia guttata pallasii (Cab.). 



Description. — Adult: Above, light olive- or dull cinnamon-brown, chang- 

 ing on rump to bright cinnamon of lower tail-coverts and tail, in marked contrast 

 to back ; below, white, clear only on belly, — ^throat and breast with a faint buffy 

 tinge; sides and breast washed with pale brownish; throat, in confluent chains 

 on sides, and breast, broadly marked with dusky olivaceous spots, paling or 

 obscure on lower breast and sides ; sides of head not peculiar ; bill dark brown, 

 with lighter base on lower manaible; feet light brown. Length 6.50-7.50 (165.1- 

 190.5) ; wing 3.60 (91.4) ; tail 2.60 (66.) ; bill .51 (13.). 



Recognition Marks. — Sparrow size; cinnamon tail contrasting with back, 

 distinctive. 



Nesting. — Not positively known to breed in Ohio. "Nest, of moss, coarse 

 grasses, and leaves, lined with rootlets and pine-needles, on the ground. Bggs, 

 3 or 4, greenish blue, of a slightly lighter tint than those of the Wood Thrush, 

 .88 X .69 (22.4 X 17.5)" (Chapman). 



