356 WATER THRUSH. 



a very hasty journey, or frequent the tops of the tallest trees ; 

 for I have never yet met with one of them in that season, 

 though in October I have seen more than a hundred in an 

 afternoon's excursion. 



Length, four inches and three quarters ; breadth, eight 

 inches ; whole upper parts, olive green, streaked on the 

 back with dusky stripes ; tail-coverts, ash, tipt with olive ; 

 tail, black, edged with dull white ; the three exterior feathers, 

 marked near the tip with white ; wings, deep dusky, edged 

 with olive, and crossed with two bars of white ; primaries, 

 also tipt, and three secondaries next the body, edged with 

 white ; upper mandible, dusky brown ; lower, as well as the 

 chin and breast, dull yellow ; belly and vent, white ; legs, 

 dusky brown ; feet and claws, yellow ; a pale yellow ring 

 surrounds the eye. The males of these birds often warble 

 out some low, but very sweet notes, while searching among 

 the leaves in autumn. 



WATER THRUSH. {Turdus aquaticus.) 



PLATE XXIII.— Pig. 5. 



Peale's Museum, No. 6896. 



SEIURUS AQUATICUS.— Swainson. 



New York Warbler, Perm. Arct. Zool. ii. p. 303. — Sylvia Noveboracensis, Bonap, 

 Synop. p. 77. — Seiurus aquaticus, Aquatic Accentor, North. Zool.ii. p. 229. 



This bird is remarkable for its partiality to brooks, rivers, 

 shores, ponds, and streams of water ; wading in the shallows 

 in search of aquatic insects, wagging the tail almost continually, 

 chattering as it flies ; and, in short, possesses many strong 

 traits and habits of the water wagtail. It is also exceedingly 

 shy, darting away on the least attempt to approach it, and 

 uttering a sharp chip repeatedly, as if greatly alarmed. 

 Among the mountain streams in the state of Tennesee, I 

 found a variety of this bird pretty numerous, with legs of a 



