312 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



second syllable. In the South, the oven-bird seems to clip the 

 first syllable, thus giving the song a quite different character 

 from that of the northern birds. Here, as elsewhere, the song 

 grows louder with each note and has somewhat of a ventrilo- 

 quial character. The nest, made of dry leaves and grasses, 

 is placed on the ground in the woods and is domed over in the 

 form of a Dutch oven, hence the popular name of the bird. 



Food habits. — Dr. Warren says that the oven-bird "subsists 

 chiefly on various forms of insect life, such as beetles, earth- 

 worms, crickets, flies, spiders, and larvae; it also sometimes 

 feeds on small seeds,"* To this list may be added, from the 

 records of the Biological Survey, grasshoppers, weevils, ants, 

 caterpillars, butterflies, moths, millipeds and snails. 



WATER-THRUSH: Seiurus novehoracensis noveboracensis 



(Gmelin) . 



State records. — Both the eastern and western forms of the 

 water-thrush occur in the State in migration, but as there are 

 few definite records based on specimens it is impossible to say 

 which is the more common. The Avery collection contains 

 one specimen of noveboracensis taken at Greensboro, Septem- 

 ber 19, 1890, and Holt took one at York, April 30, 1912. I 

 saw one bird at Leighton, May 1, and several at Florence, 

 May 4, 5 and 6, 1912. Holt observed one at Barachias, April 

 22, and another April 30, 1913, 



General ^&tfs.-^Although resembling the true thrushes in 

 coloration, the water-thrush is a terrestrial warbler related to 

 the oven-bird. It frequents small streams and sloughs in the 

 woods and may be easily recognized by its habit of tilting the 

 body as it walks. When frightened it flies up from the ground 

 to a low perch, uttering its characteristic sharp, metallic chip. 

 Its song, which is occasionally heard during the spring migra- 

 tion, is described by Gerald Thayer as a "ringing, bubbling 

 warble, swift and emphatic, made up of two parts, barely 

 divided, the second lower-toned and diminuendo. "f 



Food habits. — Apparently the food of this bird has not as 

 yet been carefully studied. Coues states that it consists of 



•Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennslvania, 2d ed., p. 294, 1890. 

 tChapman, F. M., The Warblers of North America, p. 238, 1907. 



