Nesting of the Louisiana Water 
Thrush. 
The Louisiana Water Thrush arrives at 
lialeigli from the twenty-fifth of March to the 
iirst of April according to the forward- 
ness of the season. While it cannot he called 
common yet it is of regular distribution, being 
found wherever suitable breeding grounds 
occur, but as a general rule only one pair will 
bo found inhabiting each small stream suitable 
for their nesting site. 
The nest is built in the steep bank of a small 
woodland stream usually on the outside of a 
curve and is usually directly above running 
water, being placed among tree roots in the 
side of the bank or among drift trash at a 
height of from six inches to four feet above the 
water. A foundation of wet, dead leaves is 
iirst placed on a root or in a depression in the 
bank, and then the nest composed of leaf 
stems, grass stems, weed stems, etc., is built 
on this and linod with finer material, the nest 
exclusive of its foundation being not unlike 
that of a Chat, the foundation, however, being 
not infrequently nearly as large as the nest 
proper. In this nest, which, like that of most 
small birds takes about ten days building, and 
which is usually sheltered from the weather by 
the projecting bank above. The Louisiana 
Water Thrush lays her four or five eggs 
provided no one looks at the nest or walks by 
it in the branch; if that occurs she usually 
forsakes the nest and starts another, one bird 
tills year having forsaken two successive nests 
but 1 got a set of four from the third which 
was found with eggs in. 
The natural date for fresh sets is from April 
26th to May 10th and only one brood is raised 
in the year. Of course when the Louisiana 
deserts her nest, or the first set is taken, she 
builds another nest and so gives us sets of 
eggs much later than the above dates; but 1 
am convinced that unless the nest is deserted 
or destroyed, the set is almost invariably 
completed by May 7th, in fact I have found 
liardset eggs on May 4tli. 
Although the nest is built on the bank of a 
small branch usually half a mile or so from its 
mouth, yet one seldom sees the birds alongtlie 
branch, their feeding grounds being in the low 
grounds of the. creek or river into which it 
Hows sometimes nearly a mile away and there 
the loud, vigorous song of the male may be 
heard or the loud chirp of both sexes as they 
run about in the mud or on the edge of pool 
and stream looking for their grub in more 
senses than one. 
The distribution of this bird may, perhaps, 
be better understood when I say that for 
some seven or eight miles from the mouth of 
Walnut Creek up stream, 1 know of only seven 
tributaries (branches) of Walnut Creek they 
breed on and usually only one pair on each, 
though on two occasions I have known two 
pairs on a branch, yet every branch is not used 
every year. 
The young appear in June and July and 
linger on into August sometimes, and 1 have 
noticed that when the young are in good 
feather the adults are usually moulting and 
worthless as specimens. 
The Louisiana is more active and strong of 
wing than the Common Water Thrush and to 
my taste is better looking. Cynics say that is 
because he is worth more. But there is no 
doubt as to his superiority on one point, viz., I 
his better taste in selecting his feeding 
grounds, he not being found in such awful 
thickets of mud and briers as his transient 
cousin delights to frequent. 
C. S. Brimley. 
Raleigh, N. C. 
0.& O Vol.17, July,1892 p.99-100 
)LOGIST. 1()9 
Nesting of the Louisiana Water 
Thrush in 1889 at Raleigh, N. C. 
This year we have found six nests of the 
Louisiana Water Thrush ( Siurus motaeilla). 
viz. : Three which gave us sets of live eggs 
each, one which gave us a set of four, one 
which was never used, and one which the 
young had just left. Two of the nests were 
found by flushing the bird from the nest, and 
four by careful inspection of suitable localities. 
The nests were placed above running water 
in tlie side of a steep bank, being always shel- 
tered above by overhanging roots or the pro- 
jecting bank, and tlieir height above the water 
varied from three to five feet. 
The nests were from three hundred yards to 
nearly a mile away from their feeding grounds, 
and were found in just the situations I ex- 
pected from reading Mr. McLaughlin’s article 
last year. His description of the nests also 
applies. The dates of sets were as follows: 
April 2!), set of five, fresh; April 80, set of five 
good-sized embryos; May 2, set of five, fresh; 
and May 14 set of four, small embryos. This 
was the second laying of the first set found 
April 29. C. S. Brimley. 
Raleigh, X. C. Q.& O. XI V. Nov. 1889 p.Uf 
/s 7 
