iio 



YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT— BLACKBIRD— LEWIS' WOODPECKER 



" From the beginning of the middle of May the Thrasher is 

 engaged in building his nest, usually selecting for this purpose a 

 low, thick bush in some retired thicket or swamp, a few feet from 

 the earth, or even on the ground in some sheltered tussock, or near 

 the root of a bush. It has a general resemblance to the nest of 

 the Cat Bird ; outwardly, being made of small interlacing twigs, 

 and then layers of dry oak or beech leaves ; to these materials gen- 

 erally succeed a stratum of strips of grape-vine or red cedar bark ; 

 over the whole is piled a mass of some coarse root fibers, and the 

 finishing lining is made of a layer of finer filaments of the same. 

 The eggs, never exceeding five, are thickly sprinkled with minute 

 spots of palish brown on a greenish ground. In the Central 

 States these birds rear two broods in the year ; in other parts of 

 America, but one. Both parents display the most ardent affection 

 for the young, and attack dogs, cats, and snakes, in their defense. 

 Toward their most insidious enemies of the human race, when the 

 latter are approaching their helpless young, every art is displayed ; 

 threats, entreaties, and reproaches, the most pathetic and power- 

 ful, are tried ; they dart at the ravish er with despair, and lament 

 the bereavement they suffer in the most touching strains. I know 

 nothing equal to the bursts of grief manifested by these affectionate 

 parents, except the accents of human suffering. 



"Their food consists of worms, insects, caterpillars, beetles, 

 and various kinds of berries. The movements of the Thrasher 

 are active, watchful, and sly; it generally flies low, dwelling 

 among thickets, and skipping from bush to bush with its long tail 

 spread out like a fan." 



Yellow-breasted Chat, Yellow-breasted Icteria, or Warbler. — (Icteria 



virens.) 



Fig. 9. 



This noted species is one of our abundant summer residents. 

 The males usually arrive a few days before the females. It is dis- 

 posed to be very shy, and prefers the secluded high woods and 

 underbrush. The food consists of insects and berries. The Chat 

 usually mates the later part of May, and commences building the 

 nest early in June. The nest, which both sexes help to prepare, 

 is generally placed in the fork of a small cedar or low bush, and 

 consists of dry leaves and grapevine bark, and is lined with blades 

 of grass, leaves, and small sticks. The eggs, usually five in num- 

 ber, flesh-colored background, and marked with dull red and lilac 

 spots. 



"As soon as the bird has chosen his retreat," Nuttall says, " where 

 he can obtain concealment, he becomes jealous of his assumed 

 rights, and resents the least intrusion, scolding all who approach 

 in a variety of odd and uncouth tones, very difficult to describe or 

 imitate, except by a whistling, in which case the bird may be 

 made to approach, but seldom within sight. His responses on 

 such occasions are constant and rapid, expressive of anger and 

 anxiety ; and, still unseen, his voice shifts from place amidst the 

 thicket. Some of these notes resemble the whistling of the wings 

 of a flying duck, at first loud and rapid, then sinking till they seem 

 to end in single notes. A succession of other tones are now heard, 

 some like the barking of young puppies, with the variety of hol- 

 low, guttural, uncommon sounds, frequently repeated, and termin- 

 ated occasionally by something like the mewing of a cat, but 

 hoarser ; a tone, to which all our Virens, particularly the young, 

 have frequent recurrence. All these notes are uttered with vehe- 

 mence, and with such strange and various modulations, as to ap- 

 pear near or distant, like the maneuvers of ventriloquism. In 

 mild weather, also, when the moon shines, this exuberant gabbling 

 is heard nearly throughout the night, as if the performer was dis- 

 puting with the echoes of his own voice." Gentry says, " the fol- 

 lowing syllables express its song during the period of nidification 

 quite accurately : twe-we-we-we-we-we hwawawawawa, kuh-che- 

 che-che-che-che, tweiiiiii, chweah." 



PLATE LXXIII. 



Red and White-shouldered Blackbird, Three-colored Tropial. — (Agelceus 



tricolor?) 



Fig. 1. 



The Red and White-shouldered Blackbird is the Pacific coast 

 variety of our Red-winged Blackbird. There is very little, if any, 

 difference in their eggs and nests. Their habits are also similar. 

 Coues says: "The Tricolor variety is extremely abundant and 

 resident in the fertile portions of Southern California. It very 

 rarely crosses the intermediate desert to the Colorado River ; this 

 arid tract forming a barrier to the eastward progress of many spe- 

 cies, of great efficacy in distinguishing the littoral fauna from that 

 of the Colorado Valley. One who has traveled this region will 

 not be surprised that birds with any fancy for green, watery places, 

 decline the same journey. At Wilmington and Drumm Barrackf 

 I found the Tricolors flocking in vast numbers, in November 

 They thronged the streets of the town, and covered the military 

 parade-ground ; alone, so far as their congeners were concerned,, 

 but on intimate association with hundreds of Brewers' Blackbirds. 

 Both species were almost as tame as poultry, and the boys used to 

 stone them, to their mutual amusement, I should say, for the birds 

 were never hit, and rather seemed to like the sport. Often, as I 

 sat in my quarters, on a bright sunny day, the light would be sud- 

 denly obscured, just as by a quickly passing cloud, and a rushing 

 noise ensued as the compact flock swirled past the window. They 

 often alighted by hundreds on the roofs of the barracks, almost 

 hiding the shingles, and every picket of a long paling fence near 

 by would sometimes be capped by its bird. They were very noisy, 

 chattering from daylight till dark — all the time they could see to 

 fly about. Nobody troubled them much ; but Hawks of vari us 

 kinds — the Harrier, the Western Red-breast, and the Lanie — 

 were continually dashing in among them, with terrible swooping, 

 bringing death to not a few, and dismay everywhere. At this 

 season the sexes kept mostly apart ; the flocks of males seemed 

 to largely outnumber the females. Very few of those I shot and 

 examined were in perfect plumage, much of the black being varied 

 with different shades of brown and yellowish, and the white wing- 

 bar being imperfect. In spring the birds resort together to marshy 

 spots, breeding in loose communities." 



Lewis' Woodpecker. — (Asyndesmus torquatus.) 



Fig. 2. 



A very remarkably colored bird, that, is to be met with in the 

 mountainous parts of Western America. Dr. Coues, in his " Birds 

 of the North West," gives a good account of this species, as fol- 

 lows : " The plumage of this remarkable Woodpecker is pecu- 

 liar, both in texture and color ; no other species of our country 

 shows such a rich metallic iridescence, or such intense crimson, 

 and in none is the plumage so curiously modified into a bristly 

 character. Unlike most species, again, the sexes are not certainly 

 distinguishable. The young, however, differ very materially, the 

 under parts being dull gray, only here and there slashed with red, 

 the face lacking the crimson velvety pilous area, and the upper 

 parts being much less lustrous. 



"This fine species, like Sfhyraficus thyroideus, is chiefly a 

 bird of the vast forests that clothe most of our mountain ranges 

 with permanent verdure. With this limitation, its distribution is 

 extensive, as noted above. My own experience with the bird in 

 life is confined to the vicinity of Fort Whipple, in Arizona, where 

 it is a very common species. A bird of singular aspect, many of 

 its habits are no less peculiar. One seeing it for the first time 

 would hardly take it for a Woodpecker, unless he happened to 



