r,\-2 BTCK NELL'S TIL RUSH. 



alarm note, which sounded like crec-e-e-e-cep, or quee-a, or 

 crce-e-e-ee, on a rather high, fine key. It had some resem- 

 blance to the call of Wilson's Thrush, but was unmistakably 

 different; and as Mr. Brewster has noted (in Vol. viii, p. 12, 

 Nuttall Bulletin), is very particularly different from the 

 sharp liquid ''''pip, or pee iik" of the typical Olive-back. The 

 song tsiderca, tsiderea, tsiderea, sometimes tsiderea, rea, tsidrea, 

 or some other modulation of the same theme, is similar in 

 tone to that of Wilson's Thrush, but more slender and 

 wiry, and therefore not nearly so grand and musical. In 

 the solitude of the evergreen islands, however, it is by no 

 means an inferior song, the sibilant strokes of the voice 

 being finely relieved by the more prolonged liquid vibra- 

 tions. A careful examination satisfied me that the bird 

 was Bicknell's Thrush {Turdiis alicice bickiulli^, lately iden- 

 tified in the Catskills and in the White Mountains, and 

 named in honor of its discoverer. It was so abundant, and 

 not particularly shy, for a Thrush, that I had the most 

 ample opportunity for the study of its habits; and several 

 specimens were secured and retained. Next to its lesser 

 size, in structural peculiarity, is its slender, depressed, and 

 finely carved bill, compared with which that of the typical 

 Olive-back seems thick and clumsy. While singing, which 

 occurred throughout the day, but more especially in the 

 evening twilight and early morning, the bird delighted to 

 perch in the top of the evergreens, often on the very tip, 

 ^here its bright brown figure with elevated head was quite 

 conspicuous. On the ground, and in taking its food, its 

 habits were precisely like those of other Thrushes. 



To find the nest of this species was my great desideratum; 

 and, though the birds were very numerous, it was by no 

 means an easy task. Many an hour did I thread my way 

 through almost impenetrable evergreen thickets, every step 



