204 
SINGING BIRDS. 
citous to remain concealed. His favorite haunts are low, shady 
glens by watercourses, often rendered dark with alder-bushes, 
mantled with the trailing grape-vine. In quest of his insect 
prey, he delights to follow the meanders of the rivulet, through 
whose leafy shades the sunbeams steal only in a few inter- 
rupted rays over the sparkling surface of the running brook. 
So partial is this bird to solitude that I have known one to 
sing almost uniformly in the same place, though nearly half a 
mile from his mate and nest. At times indeed he would ven- 
ture a few faltering, low notes in an oak near his consort, but 
his mellowest morning and evening warble was always deliv- 
ered from a tall hickory, overtopping a grove of hemlock firs, 
in which the dimness of twilight prevailed even at noon. The 
Wood Thrush, like the Nightingale, therefore feels inspired in 
darkness ; but instead of waiting for the setting sun, he chooses 
a retreat where the beams of day can seldom enter. These 
shady retreats have also an additional attraction to our Thrush ; 
it is here that the most interesting scene of his instinctive 
labor begins and ends ; here he first saw the light and breathed 
into existence ; and here he now bestow's his nest in a sapling 
oak, or in the next thick laurel or blooming alder, whose ber- 
ries afford him ample repast in the coming autumn. Beetles, 
caterpillars, various insects, and in autumn, berries, constitute 
the principal food of the Wood Thrush. The young remain 
for weeks around gardens in quest of berries, and are particu- 
larly fond of those of the various species of cornel and vibur- 
num. At this season they occasionally leave their favorite 
glens, and in their devious wanderings, previous to their de- 
parture, sometimes venture to visit the rural suburbs of the 
city. The young are easily raised, and sing nearly as well in 
the cage as in their native wilds. 
Nuttall made a mistake in giving to the Wood Thrush so ex- 
tended a range, and must have confused this species with the 
Olive-backed, of which he makes no mention. The Wood Thrush 
has not been seen farther north than Massachusetts, southern 
Ontario, and southern Michigan. It nests southward to Georgia 
and westward to eastern Kansas, and winters south to Guatemala 
and Cuba. 
