8 WOOD THRUSH. 
ne 
it in those solitary forests, as if to console me amidst my privations, to cheer my 
depressed mind, and to make me feel, as I did, that never ought a man to despair, 
whatever may be his situation, as he can never be certain that aid and deliverance are 
not at hand.” 
The Wood Thrush may be called the prototype of our Thrushes. Its character is 
good throughout, no inferiority mars its perfeftion. All its attitudes, all its movements 
are elegant, its bearing nobly refined. Its flight is persevering, graceful and rapid, its 
movements among the boughs of the trees are nimble and easy. It is intelligent and 
careful, much less sociable than the Robin, and consequently not open to such per-. 
secution. It always wears its simple plumage smooth. The dull-brown back, the white 
dark-spotted breast make it look like a little Song Thrush, and indeed, it is the most 
closely related of all our Thrushes to the European Songster. It is, however, smaller, 
‘its length being only eight inches, whereas the Song Thrush measures: about ten inches. 
Like all of the genus, the Wood Thrush is one of the most useful of birds. The 
bulk of its food consists of insets, especially of all kinds of worms, caterpillars, grass. 
hoppers, &c., which it looks for on the ground. It eats all kinds of berries, too, especi- 
ally such as grow in its bushy home. The young are fed with insects only. The male 
assists its mate but little in building the nest, and does not help at all in breeding. 
He has to participate actively, however, in bringing up the young. As there is only 
one brood in the North in a season, the young are under the protection of the parents 
long after they have left the nest. The whole family seems to keep regularly together 
till the time for migration. Then a few families from the neighborhood collect, and 
sometime between the middle and latter part of September they all start off on their 
journey southward. 
They appear in the coast region of Texas according to my own observations, in 
great numbers by the beginning of October, at the time when the cones of the Magnolia 
grandiflora glow invitingly with their wealth of beautiful vermillion, aromatic seeds. 
The flesh of these Thrushes is said to acquire a peculiarly delicious flavor from this fruit, 
on which account many thousands are annually killed by the creoles of Louisiana, where 
these and other species of this family, as well as the Towhee Bunting, are commonly 
called ‘‘grassets.”’ 
In many protected spots numerous Wood Thrushes pass the winter even near 
Houston, Texas, especially where they are not molested and find shelter in the beautiful 
evergreen magnolias, hollies, long-leaved pines, and other evergreen trees and shrubs. In 
greater numbers they are found at this season in Louisiana and Florida, States which 
are less often visited by cold ‘“‘Northers.” From here their winter quarters extend to 
Guatemala, Honduras, Cuba and Jamaica. Some are said to spend the winter also in 
the Bermudas. Their breeding-range has already been sketched. It is the region from 
the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi. This species does not go far northward, being 
rarely seen even in northern New England. According to Dr. Brewer it breeds in Georgia 
but doubtlessly only in the mountain distri&s in the northern part of the State. In 
the Ozark region of southwestern Missouri I rarely found the Wood Thrush breeding. 
It was, however, more common near water-courses. Prof. J. A. Allen found it in Kansas 
and Dr. Elliott Coues mentions it as one of the birds of northern Dakota. 
