THRUSHES. 35 



are wont to do, and watch over their young, when they have 

 left the nest, with great care, showing as warm an interest in 

 their offspring as I have ever seen displayed in birds. 



d. The ordinary note of the Swainson's Thrushes, espe- 

 cially when in their summer homes, is an attractive one, exactly 

 resembling the word " whit " brusquely whistled in a tolerably 

 low tone and very quickly. Their song-notes exhibit less 

 variation than those of any of their immediate relations, being 

 aU nearly on the same pitch, and reminding one forcibly of the 

 less brilliant singers among the Wood Thrushes, and bearing 

 more resemblance to the notes of that bird than to those of 

 any other. Though, as I have said, less varied than those of 

 the other " Wood Thrushes," they are sweet, clear, and liquid, 

 and possess great charm. 



The other notes of the Olive-backed Thrushes are a chuck 

 of alarm, a feeble tsip quite uncharacteristic, and a cry of 

 chick, chick-a-sit, etc., like that of the Snow-bird, to which I 

 have heard them give utterance in spring, when chasing one 

 another through the branches, or when slightly alarmed. They 

 have also a feebly whistled peep, heard chiefly in autumn. 



The " New Hampshire .Thrushes," though they correspond 

 to the Wood Thrush of Massachusetts, are yet inferior to that 

 bird. How, then, would they be ranked by Buffon, who wrote 

 of the latter, says Wilson, " that the Song Thrush of Europe 

 had, at some time after the creation, rambled round by the 

 Northern ocean, and made its way to America ; that advancing 

 to the south it had there (of consequence) become degenerated 

 by change of food and climate, so that its cry is now harsh 

 and unpleasant, ' as are the cries of all birds that live in wild 

 countries inhabited by savages' " ? 



^. ALICIA. Gray-cheeked Thrush. Alice's Thrush, 

 Arctic Thrush. In New England a rare migrant. * 



a. 74—8 inches long. Above, soft, subdued olive green. 

 Sides of the head gray. . Beneath, white, with little or no buff ; 



• A late spring and early autnmn always outnumbered by the closely- 

 migrant, never at all common, during allied but smaller bicknelli mentioned 

 some seaaons positively rare, and nearly in the appendix. — W. B. 



