SEIURUS NOVEBOEACENSIS, WATER THRUSH. 71 



notes, for its habit of rambling and scratching on the ground, among 

 fallen leaves, like a Towhee, and for its curious arched-oVer nest. Upon 

 its arrival in the Middle States, about the second week in April, it is 

 shy and silent for a week or two, as if getting accustomed to its new 

 resorts J when, grown bolder, it no longer courts concealment, but 

 mounts the lower boughs of the trees in the open woodland, and its loud 

 harsh notes fill the air. There is nothing of the half-aquatic na,ture of 

 its relatives in this bird ; it prefers dry woods, especially where there is 

 a thick undergrowth. Its uest is placed on the ground, usually among 

 dead leaves, on an incliued surface, and though usually arched over, with 

 a lateral opening, is often of simpler construction. It is built of leaves, 

 moss, and dried grasses; the eggs are four or five in number, white, 

 speckled with reddish-brown. Probably more than one brood is reared 

 each season ; the youug, almost from the first, are quite like the parents, 

 excepting that the orange-brown is not so bright. The species is very 

 constant in Size and coloring. 



2 «5/'sEIUEUS NOVEBOEACENSIS, (Gm.) Nutt. -f - 



r 



Water Thrush. 



Motaa.Ua novcboracensis, Gm., Syst. Nat. i, 1788, 958. 



Sylvia noveioi-aeeiisis, Lath., lud. Oro. ii, 1790, 518. — Vieill., Ois. Am. Sept. ii, 1807, 26, 

 pi. 8i.— Bp., Syn. 1828, 77. 



Inrdiis (Seimnis) novehoi-acenm, NoTT., Man i, 1832, 353. 



Seiurus novehoracensis, Bp., Comij. and Geog. List, 1838. — Bp., Consp. Av. i, 1850, 306. — 



Aqd., Syn. 1839, 93. — Add., B. Am. iii, 37 (iu part; confounds it with S. ludo- J^ 

 vkiaiius).—Bj)., B. 2Sr. A. 1858, 261 ; Rev. 1865, 215.— Dall & B.\NX., Tr. Chic. , ' ' 

 Acad, i, 1869.— Hayd., Rep. 1832, 160.— Coop., Am. Nat. iii, 1862, 32 (Hell ' 

 Gate).— Sdmich., Mem. Bost. See. i, 1869, 547 (Orizaba).— Lawk., Ann. Lye. - 



1863, 94 (Costa Rica) ; 1869, 200 (Yucatan) CouES, Key, 1872, 106, pi. 2, figs. 



9, 10, 11 ; and of late United States writers. 



Henicocichla noveioracensis, Cab., Sohomb. Guiana, iii, 1848, 666; Mns. Heiu. 1851, 16; 



J. f. 0. 1860, 324.— Sol., Cat. 1851, 25.— Gundl., J. f. 0. 1861, .326.— ScL. & Sal^., ' ' > 

 P. Z. S. 1869, 251 (Venezuela).— ScL., P. Z. S. 1870, 836 (Honduras). ,'^ •-. 



3nicocicMa nmeboracensia, Ghay, Genera of Birds. ^ 



Turclus aquaiiciis, WiLS., Am. Oru. iii, 1811, 66, pi. 23, f. 5. — AuD., Orn. Biog. v, 1839,' ■ ■ 

 284, pi. 433. 



Seiurus aquaiicus, Sw. & Rich., F. B. A. ii, 1831, 229, pi. 43. V, < » 



Sylvia antlwides, Vieill., Nour. Diet. d'H. N. 1817, 208. / 



Seiurus tenuiroslris, Sw., Phil. Mag. i, 1827, 369. — Gaiib., Pr. Phila. Acad, i, 1843, 261. ' 



Seiurus sulfurascens, D'Orbig., La Sagra's Cuba, Ois. 1840, 57, pi. 6. 



Seiurus gossli, Bp., Consp. Av. i, 1850, 308. 



"(1)Antlius Vherminieri, Less., Rev. Zool. 1839, 101." 



Hai. — Eastern North America, straggling westward along the United States Bound- 

 ary to Montana (Coojjec) and Washington Territory. Alaska. Arizona. Mexico. West 

 Indies. Central America. Northern South America. 



Lieutenant Warren's Expedition.— ilii, 4818, mouth of Vermilion River. 



Not obtained by Captain Eaynolds' Expedition. 



Formerly supposed to belong to the Eastern Province, this bird has 

 later been shown to inhabit so many other portions of North America, 

 that it may fairly be inferred that it occurs also iu the remaining locali- 

 ties whence, simply through lack of observations, it has not been re- 

 corded. I inspected, when working up the birds of the Northwest 

 Boandary Survey, some of the first western specimens, taken in Wash- 

 ington Territory. Mr. Dall has shown its occurrence in Alaska, and 

 others throughout Britisli America, quite to the Arctic Ocean. Dr. 

 Cooper found it 'in Idaho. The extralimital quotations are numerous 

 and almost universal. It is a very abundant species in the Eastern 

 United States, and has a very extensive breeding range. It winters in 

 Florida and along the Gulf coast, as well as much further south. 



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