214 
SINGING BIRDS. 
and solitary wilds he inhabits. The silence of night is also, at 
times, relieved by the incessant warble of this Western Philo- 
mel, whose voice, breaking upon the ear of the lonely traveller 
in the wilderness, seems like the dulcet lay of something super- 
natural. His song is also heard in the winter when the 
weather proves mild. In this habit he appears considerably 
allied to the Reed Thrush or River Nightingale of Europe, 
which night and day almost ceaselessly sings, and soothes his 
sitting mate, among the reeds and marshes of his favorite 
resorts. 
Since Nuttall’s day the Water Thrush has been separated from 
the true Thrushes and classed with the Warblers. The birds seen 
by Wilson and Audubon in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Mississippi 
were doubtless referable to motacilla, for though the present spe- 
cies is found throughout this Eastern Province, west to Illinois and 
Manitoba, it seldom has been discovered breeding south of 45°. It 
is a rather common spring and autumn visitor to Massachusetts. 
On the plains the type is replaced by the variety named notabilis, 
— Grixnell’s Water Thrush, — which is larger and darker. 
Notabilis occurs occasionally in Illinois and Indiana. 
LOUISIANA WATER THRUSH. 
Seiurus motacilla. 
Char. Similar to noveboracensis, but larger, and bill longer and stouter. 
Under parts tinged with buff, but never with bright yellow ; throat free 
from spots. Length to inches. 
Nest. On the ground, hidden amid roots of fallen tree, or on a mossy 
bank ; composed of leaves, grass, and moss, lined with grass arrd hair. 
4-6: white, sometimes with creamy tint, speckled with brown 
and lilac; 0 75X0.60. 
The range of this species e.xtends from southern New England 
and the Great Lakes (in summer) to the Gulf States and Central 
America (in winter). A few pairs are seen every season in southern 
Ontario. Its habits do not differ from those of its congener. 
