122 FAMILIAR FEATURES OF THE ROADSIDE. 



parison. The hermit thrush is a musician, but the 

 little chipping sparrow has no music in his soul 

 beyond what we may discover in his lisping chip. 

 Some of the birds have most remarkably vigorous 

 voices, which, musical or unmusical, we are pretty 

 sure to hear at no very great distance from the 

 highway. 



The iirst of these is the golden-crowned thrush 



(not a thrush at all but a warbler), or ovenbird 



{Seiurus aurocajnllus). He is about six 



hes long. His back is brown-olive, his 



crown subdued golden - orange edged 



stripes, his breast and 



ire streaked with black, 



I his under parts are dull 



white. 



Tlie golden - crowned 

 thrush has an em- 



Golden-erowned Thrush. phatic and some- 



what hysterical 



voice, which slightly resembles the loud swishing 

 sound of a stout whip as it is lashed back and forth. 

 What he says seems to be : 



"Queecher, Queecher, quebcher, queecher, QUEECHEE, 

 QUEECHEE." 



But although these notes are far from musical, they 



