186 



color, and their songs differ— differ in tone, 

 compass, volume, theme and diu-ation. 



The Tawny and the Hermit always bnild 

 on the ground in this country, and though 

 their nests and its location are quite simi- 

 lar yet they are not identical ; both nests 

 are loosely and roughly put together, but 

 Veery's is the most compact and the neat- 

 est. They are usually placed in an inden- 

 ture, either natural or formed by the birds, 

 and screened by an overhanging branch, but 

 while the Veery prefers a dry knoll in a 

 damp spot, within a wood, the Hemiit usu- 

 ally selects the margin of a grove or a 

 patch of trees in a dry and partiaUy over- 

 grown open; neither build in a dense 

 thicket of trees or shrubbery. Under the 

 nests is jDlaced a cushion or platform com- 

 posed of dried grass or moss. The nest 

 proper is bfiilt of dried grass and small 

 twigs, unmixed with mud, and is lined with 

 fine grass ; sometimes fine fibrous roots 

 and vines are added to the lining. 



The Olive-backed builds in a tree, and, 

 like all tree-builders, makes a substantial 

 structure. It is usually placed in the 

 crotch of a limb some six or eight feet 

 from the gi-ound, generally in a moist place, 

 and occasionally in a really wet swamp. 

 In a specimen of this nest before me coarse 

 grass -is the predominating material in the 

 external parts, but in the walls twigs of 

 spruce, bits of lichens and dried leaves are 

 mixed with the grass and aU are woven 

 into a sohd mass, very firm and strong. 

 The lining is formed by a layer of fine 

 grass interwoven with pieces of a black, 

 vine-like root, all. neatly laid ; over these, 

 at the bottom, is a layer of skeleton leaves. 

 The measurements are : Depth, inside, 1| 

 inches ; width at mouth, 2f inches ; out- 

 side the diameter is iiTegular, varying from 

 ^ to 5 inches. Mr. J. W. Banks tells me 

 that of some fifty nests of the Olive-backed 

 Thrush that he has examined all were lined 

 with skeleton leaves ; but Mr. Harold Gil- 

 bert found one in 1878 that was lined with 

 moose hair. This nest was built in a gar- 



den, in the suburbs of St. John, within 

 twenty feet of the house and but an arms- 

 length from one of the main walks. The 

 moose hair was furnished by a tame animal 

 kept on the grounds. The three species 

 usually lay four eggs, but it is Mr. Banks- 

 opinion that in extremely wet or cold sea- 

 sons three more frequently complete the 

 clutch. So eminent and excellent an au- 

 thority as Dr. Coues gives four and five as 

 the munber of eggs, but we have never 

 seen more than four in any nest obtamed 

 in tliis country. 



The Tawny and the Hermit lay immacu- 

 late eggs of "a greenish-blue color, but the 

 eggs of the Hermit are much the paler and 

 ar^also the longer and more pear-shaped. 

 The eggs of the Ohve-backed are of a 

 bright greenish-blue ground color, not so 

 dark as the Veery's. and irregularly marked 

 with purplish-brown spots. In some ex- 

 amples these spots are so large and numer- 

 ous they almost entirely hide the ground 

 color. The average measurements of the 

 eggs are: Tawny, .8(5 X- 67 ; Olive-backed, 

 .92X.69; Hermit, MxM. Few of our 

 coimtry-people are acquainted with the ap- 

 pearance of these birds but are familiar 

 with their songs which they attribute to 

 one species called by them the " Swamp 

 Eobin ;" for as in their appearance so in 

 their song, there is to some degree a super- 

 ficial resemblance ; all have peciihar metal- 

 hc voices and sing somewhat similar melo- 

 dies. Their songs resemble each other 

 much more than they resemble that of any 

 other species. The Tawny ranks first in 

 classification but the Hermit takes prece- 

 dence as a vocalist. His song is the grand- 

 est ; it is the finest musical composition and 

 displays the most artistic execution, as well 

 as the greatest compass and power of voice. 



One is surprised to find so little about 

 the songs of these Thiiishes in the writ- 

 ings of the older ornithologists. Wilson 

 says the Tawny has "no song" and calls 

 the Hermit " a silent bird." Audubon never 

 heard the song of the Hermit, and Nuttall 



Dec. 15, 1882.] 



does it but scanty justice. To my ear it is 

 by far the finest song we hear in these 

 Northern woods, and fully deserves the 

 seemmgly exaggerated title of " glorious," 

 given it by some modern writers. The 

 Winter Wren is his nearest rival and he 

 startles the listener into admiration by the 

 perfect torrent of sweet harmonies, of 

 brilliant passages and marvellously execu- 

 ted trills, he hurls upon the stillness of the 

 forest solitude in which he delights to 

 roam : but, beautiful and joyous as his 

 song is, in comparison with the song of 

 the Hennit Thnish it sounds mechanical, 

 and more hke an air from a music box. 

 The music of the Hermit never startles 

 you : it is in such perfect harmony with the 

 surroundings it is often passed by unno- 

 ticed, but it steals upon the sense of an ap- 

 preciative listener like the quiet beauty of 

 the sunset. Very few persons have heard 

 him at his best. To accomplish this you 

 must steal up close to his forest s.inctuary 

 when the day is done, and listen to the 

 vesper hymn that flows so gently out upon 

 the hushed siir of the gathering twilight. 

 You must be very close to the singer or 

 yon will lose the sweetest and most tender 

 aiad pathetic passages, so low are they ren- 

 dered — in the merest whiSjjers. I cannot, 

 however, agree with Mr. Burroughs that 

 he is more of an evening than a morning 

 songster, for I have often observed that 

 the birds in any given locality will sing 

 more frequently and for a longer period in 

 the morning than in the evening. I prefer 

 to hear him in the evening, for there is a 

 difference ; the song in the morning is 

 more sprightly — a musician would say 

 "has greater brilliancy of expression" — 

 and lacks the extreme tenderness of the 

 evening song, yet both have much the same 

 notes and the same "hymn-like serenity." 

 Thi; bii-ds frequently render their matinal 

 hynms in concert and the dwellers in a 

 grove will burst out together in one full 

 chorus, forming a grander 1'e .Deum — more 

 thrilling — than is voiced by surphced choir 



187 



within cathedral walls. On one occasion 

 an Indian Iranter after listening to one of 

 these choruses for a time said to me, 

 " That makes me feel queer." It was no 

 slight influence moved this red-skinned 

 stoic of the forest to such a speech. The 

 song of the Olive-backed ranks second in 

 composition but he has the sweetest and 

 most meUow voice of the three. The 

 Veery displays the least musical ability yet 

 his simple strain is exceedingly pleasant to 

 the ear and his beautiful voice exhibits 

 most strongly that peculiar resonant metal- 

 lictone which is characteristic of thegenus. 



I have not attempted to represent these 

 songs by words or notes, for all such ex- 

 periments as I have seen, appear to me to 

 be failures. Neither the words of Dr. 

 Brewer or Mr. Samuels, nor the syllables 

 used by Mr. Eidgway or Mr. Gentry con- 

 vey to my mind the idea of the songs of 

 the birds that is impressed on my memory ; 

 and after a patient rehearsal of the notes 

 of Mr. Horsford's score on piano, violin 

 and flute I fail to recognize the melodies 

 he has attempted to write. Perhaps Mr. 

 Horsford will say that, as I do not live in 

 " a white pine country," I can know nothing 

 about these Thrushes, and I certainly do 

 not if his article in Forest and Stream* is 

 to be taken as evidence of what is cori-ect. 

 Besides their songs the three species have 

 call notes and two or three minor notes, 

 used chiefly when a mated pair are together. 

 The alarm note of the Ohve-backed, which 

 Mr. Minot thinks sounds like " whit," and 

 which he calls "the ordinary note" of the 

 bird, is seldom used except the bird lias a 

 nest near the intruder. I think the soimd 

 woidd be better represented by "kwut" 

 very abiTiptly and quickly uttered, with a 

 peculiar ejnphatic intonation. But the 

 songs and notes of all birds miist be heard 

 to be understood and appreciated. — M. 

 Chnniherla.in, St. John, JSf. B. 



"Pror. Horsford's writings on onr Tliruslics first appeared 

 in " Familiar Srience" piiljlishod liy us. We also engraved 

 the music. Otlier of our articles appeared in Ftirest and 

 Stream as original. 



O. & O. Vr. . Dec. 15 . 183V , p I K ^ 



AND OOLOGIST. 



