348 
The Veery 
Western 
Haunts 
west, as Dn Elliott Coues has described in his “Birds of the Colorado 
Valley” — a paragraph quoted because it suggests where many birds may 
be living hardly suspected by prairie-dwellers. Doctor Coues says : 
“The heavy growth of timber that fringes the streams includes many 
nooks and dells, and broken ravines overgrown with thick shrubbery, 
from out the masses of which the tall trees tower, as if stretching forth 
their strong arms in kindly caressing of the humbler and weak vegetation, 
their offspring. In such safe retreats, where the sombre shade is 
brightened here and there with stray beams of 
sunlight, in the warmth of which myriads of insects 
bathe their wings and flutter away their little 
span of life, humming a quaint refrain to the gurgle of the rivulet, the 
Veery meets his mate — the song rises — the wooed is won — the home is 
made. 
“Should we force our unwelcome presence upon the bird who is 
brooding her newly-found treasures with the tenderest solicitude, she 
will nestle closer still, in hope of our passing by, till we might almost 
touch her; when, without a word of remonstrance or reproach, she 
takes a little flight, and settles a few yards away, in silent appeal.” 
Mr. E. H. Forbush, who has studied much the food-habits of this 
bird, and who never permits his enthusiasm for a species to lead him 
away from an accurate appreciation of its economic value, has this to say: |, 
“The Veery feeds very largely on insects. Those which frequent i 
the ground and the lower parts of trees are commonly sought. Ants, 
ground-beetles, curculios and grasshoppers are favorites. It goes to j; 
the held sometimes at early morning, probably in search of beetles, cut- II 
worms, and earthworms. It has been seen, now and then to eat the | 
hairy caterpillars of the gipsy-moth. It feeds con- 
Utility siderably in the trees, and so takes many caterpillars ; . 
but is not usually seen much in gardens or orchards, [ 
except such as are situated near woods. In summer and fall it eats wild j 
fruit, but seldom troubles cultivated varieties.” ! 
y 
The Veery is not a very large bird even for a Thrush. Its total I 
length from bill-tip to tail-tip is about seven and one-half inches. As a 5 
Robin is ten inches long, it will be seen that the Veery is decidedly a 
shorter bird than our more common door-yard friend. When the wings 
are spread to their greatest extent, the Veery measures about twelve inches 
across and the Robin sixteen inches. As the English Sparrow is six ' 
and three-tenths inches long, it would not be far wrong to say that in 
size the Veery is about halfway between an English Sparrow and a Robin. 
Classification and Distribution 
The Veery belongs to the Order Passeres and the Family Turdidce (Thrushes). 
Its scientific name is Hylochichla mustelina. It breeds in the northern border of the 
United States and throughout southern Canada, southward in the Alleghany 
Mountains to North Carolina, and westward to the eastern valleys of the Rocky 
Mountains. It winters in the West Indies and northern South America. 
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