WOOD THRUSH. 
23 
yellow. The male and female of this species, as, indeed, of 
almost the whole genus of thrushes, differ so little, as scarcely 
to be distinguished from each other. It is called by some the 
Wood Robin, by others the Ground Robin, and by some of 
our American ornithologists Turdus minor , though, as will 
hereafter appear, improper^. The present name has been 
adopted from Mr William Bartram, who seems to have been 
the first and almost only naturalist who has taken notice of 
the merits of this bird.* 
This sweet and solitary songster inhabits the whole of North 
America, from Hudson's Bay to the peninsula of Florida. He 
arrives in Pennsylvania about the 20th of April, or soon after, 
* Almost every country has its peculiar and favourite songsters, and even 
among the rudest nations the cries and songs of birds are listened to, and 
associated with their general occupations, their superstitions, or religion. In 
America, the wood thrush appears to hold a rank equal to the nightingale and 
song thrush of Europe : like the latter, he may be oftentimes seen perched on 
the summit of a topmost branch, during a warm and balmy evening or morning, 
pouring forth in rich melody his full voice, and will produce associations which 
a foreigner would assimilate with the warblers of his own land. 
“ The song of the wood thrush,” says Mr Audubon, “ although composed 
of but few notes, is so powerful, distinct, clear, and mellow, that it is impossible 
for any person to hear it without being struck with the effect it produces on 
the mind. I do not know to what instrumental sounds I can compare these 
notes, for I really know none so melodious and harmonical. They gradually 
rise in strength, and then fall in gentle cadence, becoming at length so low as 
to be scarcely audible.” They are easily reared from the nest, and sing nearly 
as well in confinement as when free. 
Prince C. L. Bonaparte, in his Nomenclature of Wilson’s North American 
Ornithology, remarks, that our author was the first to distinguish the three closely 
allied species of North American thrushes by decided characters, but that he 
has nevertheless embroiled the nomenclature of this and his T '. mustelinus : — 
“ This bird being evidently the T. mustelinus of Gmelin and Latham, Wilson’s 
new name, which is not modelled agreeably to any language, must be rejected.” 
The title for our present species, allowing Bonaparte to be correct, and of 
which there appears little doubt, will therefore now stand, Wood Thrush , 
Wilson ; Turdus mustelinus , Gmelin ; and T. melodus will come in as a 
synonym ; while Wilson’s T. mustelinus, being without a name, has been most 
deservedly dedicated to the memory of the great American ornithologist 
himself. — Ed, 
