12 VEERY. 
many of these tangled retreats it was far more numerous than Mr. Brewster had ever 
seen it in the North. Its call-notes were louder, sharper, and more penetrating than 
those of the New England bird. The song, also, was clearer, more varied and altogether 
finer.—On the Black Mountain Wilson’s Thrushes abounded in the dense evergreen 
forest of spruces and balsams at, and for a little distance above, 5,000 feet.. 
According to my experience the Veery is shy and circumspect, more retiring, and 
fonder of solitude than the Wood Thrush, and consequently rarer in woods often 
frequented by man. As a rule itis found only in the deepest seclusion. It chooses for its 
haunts and nesting place more swampy and damper spots than its congener, the Wood 
Thrush. It may be said that the last named species inhabits the high and low woods, 
Wilson’s Thrush the damp woods, and the Hermit the swampy woods of middle and 
northern Wisconsin, notwithstanding all three species sometimes occur close together. 
The Veery’s home is in one of the most delightful and beautiful parts of the woods. It 
is always found in the neighborhood of water, either close to a rushing rivulet wander- 
ing under thick shrubbery, near a clear gurgling spring, or a pond. In such places 
vegetation is always luxuriant and dense, with here and there open spots overgrown 
with moss, ground-pine’ and wintergreen*. The friend of the beauties in nature is 
struck by the wonderful forms of magnificent ferns, especially Osmunda cinnamomea, 
the varied orchids’ rising from the peaty ground in full splendor, the curious pitcher- 
plant‘, the numerous huckleberry bushes covered with lovely bell-shaped flowers, the 
many different blossoms along the edge of the stream from among which the dazzling 
red and later the blue lobelias® shine forth with greatest brilliancy. The large wide- 
spreading forest-trees overshadow whole thickets of cranberry, wild goose-berry, dog- 
wood, and other bushes. In the region of mixed woods, the pine and hemlock thickets 
greatly heighten the charms of the scene. In the sunlight falling through the high trees 
myriads of mosquitoes, gnats, and other water-loving inseéts hover. The whole forest 
ground is covered with old, completely moss-grown logs which have almost turned to 
soil. One sinks almost to the knees into the decomposing mass, which is the very life- 
spring of the rich plant growth. Except in the hummock woods of Florida, I have 
never seen such beautifully luxuriant vegetation. This is the true home of our Veery. 
Here the female finds its mate, that has arrived a few days earlier, here the beautiful 
song sounds through the forest, here the nest is built, and the young raised. In this 
silent solitude the Veery must be sought, if the friend of nature, and especially of bird- 
life, would make its acquaintance. Care, however, is taken by the endless swarms of 
blood-thirsty mosquitoes that man shall not enter this seclusion with impunity. I think 
it is just the haunts chosen by this Thrush that are the cause of its being considered 
rarer than it really is. 
In Wisconsin the nest may be found during the first week of June. It is always 
either on or near the ground, often beneath a cluster of ferns, under an evergreen shrub 
or supported in the forks of some stems that spring directly from the ground, but always 
so that it is protected from above or from one side. When placed direétly on the 
ground, it rests upon a bed of leaves. Among the various materials which enter into 
1 Lycopodium, 2% Gaultheria procumbens. 3 Arethusa bulbosa, Calapogon pulchellus, Spiranthes, Cypripedium, ete. 
a Sarracenia purpurea, 5 Lobelia cardinalis and L, syphilitica, 
