VENTRILOQUIAL AND IMITATIVE POWER OF BIRDS. 
Those who have observed the habits of birds know 
that they possess the power of imitation, but only at a 
recent period have naturalists recognized in them the 
possession of that rarer gift, ventriloquism. Most of 
the thrush family (Zurdide) have to some extent this 
power, though some species rarely exercise it. When 
we hear the two thrushes (Zurdus fuscescens and Tur- 
dus mustelinus), we look for them much higher in the 
trees than they really are. Before people become accus- 
tomed to this voice trick of these thrushes, they are 
often perplexed in locating the singers. 
I remember one extreme instance: a wood thrush was 
singing his differently keyed strains with great power 
and sweetness. J: was looking through the branches of 
a thick hemlock, expecting to see him up thirty or forty 
feet in the tree. Instead of this elevation, he was with- 
in three or four feet of the ground, not twenty feet from 
me. Fora long time he continued his songs, but all the 
time with this ventriloquial effect. 
The golden-crowned thrush (Securus awrocapillus) has 
a habit of throwing its voice to a great distance. The 
clear military notes “I see! I see!” will sometimes 
startle you with their apparent nearness, when in fact 
