28 , BIRDS 



The Wood Thrush 



Length — 8 to 8.3 inches. About two inches shorter than 

 the robin. 



Mah and Female — ^Brown above, reddish on head and 

 shoulders, and shading into olive-brown on tail. Throat, 

 breast, and underneath white, plain in the middle, but 

 heavily marked on sides and breast with heart-shaped 

 spots of very dark brown. Whitish eye-ring. 



Migrations — ^Late April or early May. October. Sum- 

 mer resident. 

 {See plate, page 18.) 



"Here am I," come the thrush's three clear, bell-like 

 notes of self-introduction. The quahty of his music is 

 delicious, rich, penetrative, pm-e, and vibrating like 

 notes struck upon a harp. If you don't already know 

 this most neighborly of the thrushes — as he is also the 

 largest and brightest and most heavily spotted of them 

 all — ^you will presently become acquainted with one of the 

 finest songsters in America. Wait until evening when he 

 sings at his best. Nolee-a-e-o-lee-nolee-aeolee-lee I peals 

 his song from the trees. Love alone inspires his finest 

 strains; but even in July, when bird music is quite in- 

 ferior to that of May and June, he is stiU in good voice. 

 A song so exquisite proves that the thrush comes near to 

 being a bird angel, very high in the evolutionary scale. 



Pit-pit-pit you may hear sharply, excitedly jerked out 

 of some bird's throat, and you wonder if a note so dis- 

 agreeable can really come from the wonderful songster. 

 By sharply striking two small stones together you can 



