THE OVEN-BIRD 



THOMAS NUTTALL 



DURING the summer this rather common bird is found 

 throughout the forests of the United States and Canada 

 even as far west as Oregon. It arrives in the middle and 

 northern States about the middle or close of May, and departs 

 for tropical America, Mexico and the larger West India Islands 

 early in September. 



The Oven-bird, or Golden-crowned Thrush, is shy and 

 retiring, and is never seen out of the shade of the woods; it 

 sits and runs along the ground often, like the lark; it also 

 frequents the branches of trees and sometimes moves its tail 

 in the manner of the Wag-tails. It has few pretensions to 

 song, and, while perched in the deep and shady part of the 

 forest, it utters at intervals a simple long reiterated note of 

 'tsKe tshe tshe tshe tshe, rising from low to high and shrill, so as 

 to give but little idea of the distance or place from whence the 

 sound proceeds, and often appearing from the loudness of the 

 cadence to be much nearer than it really is. As soon as 

 discovered, like the Wood-thrush, it darts at once timidly into 

 the depths of its sylvan retreat. 



During the period of incubation, the deliberate lay of the 

 male, from some horizontal branch of a forest tree, where it 

 often sits, is a 'tshe te tshe te tshe te tshee, gradually rising and 

 growing louder. Toward dusk in the evening, however, it 

 now and then utters a sudden burst of notes with a short 



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