24.2 WATER THRUSH. 
nest was built in a depression in the ground at the foot of some low bushes, and its 
top was completely covered by surrounding vines and wild flowers. It would probably 
have escaped notice had not my daughter, then a child of four years, attempted to 
gather some wild flowers growing directly over its entrance. This flushed the mother, 
who until then had remained quiet, although we were standing with our feet almost 
upon the nest, and the bird fluttered and tumbled about at our feet with well-feigned 
manceuvres to distract our attention. The child in great glee sought to catch it, but 
it eluded her grasp, and, running off like a mouse, disappeared. The nest contained six 
eggs, was entirely open, and with no other cover than the wild plants that clustered 
above it.... This nest was somewhat losely constructed of skeleton leaves, dty slender 
stalks, grasses, pine-needles, and was lined with a few slender grasses and leaves. It 
had a diameter of 6.00 inches, and was 2.50 inches deep. The cup had a diameter of 
3.50 inches and a depth of 2.00, being very large for the size of the bird, probably 
owing to the shape of the cavity in which it was sunk.’’* 
Mr. Lynds Jones, one of our promising young ornithologists; found the Ovenbird 
a common summer sojourner at Grinnell, Iowa. The nests he discovered were built 
“rather independent of tree or bush on a wooded hill-side, but always where the natural 
surroundings are most favorable for concealment.” This bird, like all our small 
songsters, is much victimized by the notorious Cowbird. Mr. Lynds Jones always 
found Cowbird’s eggs in the Ovenbird’s nest. In two nests he found three, in another 
four and in a fourth just five Cowbird’s eggs without any of the Ovenbird. 
The eggs, four to five in number, are white or creamy-white, glossy, speckled and 
spotted with reddish-brown, darker brown, and lilac markings. Usually the larger end 
is heavily spotted and frequently wreathed. 
NAMES: Ovensirp, Golden-crowned Thrush, Golden-crowned Accentor, Golden-crowned Wagtail, Wagtail, 
Wagtail Warbler, Accentor, Land Kickup.—Ofenvogel (German). 
SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Motacilla aurocapillus Linu. (1766). Turdus aurocapillus Lath., Wils., Aud. 
SEIURUS AUROCAPILLUS Swans. (1827). Henicocichla aurocapillus Sclat. (1861). Turdus coro- 
natus Vieill. (1807). 
DESCRIPTION: ‘Above, uniform olive-green, with a dinge of yellow. Crown with two narrow streaks of 
black from the bill, enclosing a median and much broader one of brownish-orange. Beneath, white; 
the breast, sides of the body, and a maxillary line, streaked with black. The female and the young 
of the year are not appreciably different. 
“Length, 6.00 inches; wing, 3.00; tail, 2.40 inches.” (B. B. & R.) 
WATER TARUSR. 
Seiurus noveboracensis BONAPARTE. 
N CLOSE proximity to the haunts of the Ovenbird is often found the home of its 
nearest relative, the WaTER THRUSH, also known as the Small-billed Water Thrush, 
New York Accentor, or Wagtail Warbler. In the northern parts of the United States, 
principally in New England, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and thence northward 
* North American Birds. By Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway. Vol. I, p. 283. 
