354 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



Woodbine, Dean observed it at Anniston, October 10, 1916, 

 and Golsan noted it at Autaugaville, September 17 and 18 and 

 October 17 (30 seen) and October 22, 1915. 



General habits. — This thrush is a lover of low, damp wood- 

 land, but during migration is sometimes found on dry, wooded 

 hillsides. It feeds chiefly on the ground and in the lower 

 branches of the trees. It is a quiet, rather shy bird, rarely 

 singing in the South, but recognizable by its peculiar sweet, 

 liquid whistle — whee-oo. In its summer home, the song of the 

 veery is one of the most charming bits of woodland music — 

 a rich, vibrant, metallic trill, rendered by Langille as 

 "whree-u, whree-u, whree-u." The common name of the bird 

 — veery — is derived from the resemblance of its song to those 

 syllables. 



Food habits. — The food of the veery, as studied by Professor 

 Beal, consists of animal matter 57 per cent and vegetable mat- 

 ter 43 per cent; the animal food comprised chiefly beetles, 

 ants, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and spiders, and the vegetable 

 food consisted mainly of wild fruits, including blackberries, 

 strawberries, blueberries, pokeberries, elderberries, June ber- 

 ries, and berries of the sour gum, dogwood, and greenbrier.f 



GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH: Hylocichla minima aliciae 



(Baird).t 



State records. — The gray-cheeked, or Alice thrush is a com- 

 mon migrant in spring and fall. There are 10 specimens of 

 this form in the Avery collection, taken at Greensboro between 

 September 10 and October 20. I observed several at Reform, 

 September 24 to 27, 1908, and collected one at Castleberry, 

 October 10, 1908. Specimens were taken also at Barachias, 

 April 23, 1912, and Jasper, April 29, 1914, and a few were 

 observed at Florence, May 5, 1912, and on Sipsey Fork, near 

 Mellville, May 2, 4, and 5, 1914. Saunders took one at HoUina, 

 April 24, 1908. 



General habits. — This rather large thrush is found during 

 migration chiefly in dry, upland woods, where it spends much 

 of its time on or near the ground, searching among the leaves 



tBeal, P. E. L.. Bull. 280, U. S. Dept Agr., pp. 9-11, 1915. 



iHylociehIa aliciae aliciae of the A. O. U. Check-list; for change of name see The 

 Auk, vol. 87, p. 238, 1920. 



