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GOLDEN-CROWNED WAGTAIL (THRUSH). 



Seiurijs aurocapilltjs, Lath. 

 PLATE CXLVIII.— Male and Female. 



The notes of this bird are first heard in Louisiana, about the beginning of 

 March. Some individuals remain there all summer, but the greater number 

 proceed eastward, some going as far as Nova Scotia, while others move 

 towards the west. Over all this extent of country the species is dispersed, 

 and its breeding places are in the interior or along the margins of shady 

 woods watered by creeks and rivulets, and seldom visited by man, it being 

 of a shy and retiring disposition, so that its occurrence in the open parts of 

 the country is very rare. In places like these, it settles for the season, 

 attunes its pipe to its simple lay, forms its nest, rears a brood or two, and at 

 the approach of winter, spreads its wings and returns to southern regions. 



Perched erect on a low horizontal branch, or sometimes on a fallen tree, 

 it emits, at intervals of ten or fifteen minutes, a short succession of simple 

 notes, beginning with emphasis and gradually falling. This suffices to 

 inform the female that her lover is at hand, as watchful as he is affectionate. 

 The quieter the place of his abode, the more the little minstrel exerts his 

 powers; and in calm evenings, its music immediately following the song of 

 the Tawny Thrush, appears to form a pleasant unison. 



The nest is so like an oven, that the children in many places call this 

 species the "Oven Bird." I have found it always on the ground, sometimes 

 among the roots of a tall tree, sometimes by the side of a fallen trunk, and 

 again at the foot of some slender sapling. It is sunk in the ground among 

 dry leaves or decayed moss, and is neatly formed of grasses, both inside and 

 out, arched over with a thick mass of the same material, covered by leaves, 

 twigs, and such grasses as are found in the neighbourhood. A small aperture 

 is left on one side, just sufficient to admit the owner. In this snug tenement 

 the female deposits from four to six eggs, which are white, irregularly 

 spotted with reddish-brown near the larger end. 



When accidentally disturbed at the period of incubation, it glides over 

 the ground before you, and uses all sorts of artifices to decoy you from its 

 nest. Several species of snakes and small quadrupeds are its principal 

 enemies. From children it has little to dread, its gentleness securing it a 

 place in their affections, so that they seldom molest it. 



