162 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
advance to be gaining fresh strength ; and when it 
thinks it has decoyed you to a sufficient distance, it 
suddenly wheels off and disappears. 
“ 1 This kind of deception is practised by many 
other species of birds that build on the ground, and 
is sometimes so adroitly performed as actually to 
secure the safety of the nest and young.’ 
“ The golden-crowned thrush is frequently com- 
plimented by the cow-bird in being selected as a 
desirable stepmother for her own neglected young 
ones, and her eggs are more frequently dropped 
into the thrush’s nest than in that of any other 
bird. The faithful little nurse brings up her found- 
ling with the greatest care, but if given to thinking 
must be sorely puzzled to know how four or five 
eggs can dwindle down to one fledgling. 
“The hermit thrush (Fig. 13), so called from his 
solitary and retiring habits, is the sweetest songster of 
them all. He is seven inches long, of a plain, deep 
olive-brown on the upper parts, with a cream-colored 
breast and a throat marked with large brown, pointed 
spots. He is rarely seen out of the thick recesses of 
the woods, from whence perfect streams of melody 
will issue, particularly just before nightfall. 
“ The nest of the hermit thrush is often made on 
some horizontal branch, and is composed on the out- 
side of coarse, rooty grass mixed with a fine, thread- 
