WOOD THRUSH. 
25 
The favourite haunts of the wood thrush are low, thick 
shaded hollows, through which a small brook or rill meanders, 
overhung with alder bushes, that are mantled with wild vines. 
Near such a scene he generally builds his nest, in a laurel or 
alder bush. Outwardly it is composed of withered beech leaves 
of the preceding year, laid at bottom in considerable quanti- 
ties, no doubt to prevent damp and moisture from ascending 
through, being generally built in low, wet situations ; above 
these are layers of knotty stalks of withered grass, mixed with 
mud, and smoothly plastered, above which is laid a slight 
lining of fine black fibrous roots of plants. The eggs are four, 
sometimes five, of a uniform light blue, without any spots. 
The wood thrush appears always singly or in pairs, and is 
of a shy, retired, unobtrusive disposition. With the modesty 
of true merit, he charms you with his song, but is content, 
and even solicitous, to be concealed. He delights to trace the 
irregular windings of the brook, where, by the luxuriance of 
foliage, the sun is completely shut out, or only plays in a few 
interrupted beams on the glittering surface of the water. He 
is also fond of a particular species of lichen which grows in 
such situations, and which, towards the fall, I have uniformly 
found in their stomachs : berries, however, of various kinds, 
are his principal food, as well as beetles and caterpillars. The 
feathers on the hind head are longer than is usual with birds 
which have no crest ; these he sometimes erects ; but this 
particular cannot be observed but on a close examination. * 
Those who have paid minute attention to the singing of 
birds, know well, that the voice, energy, and expression, in 
the same tribe, differ as widely as the voices of different 
* In addition to the above picture of the manners of this thrush, Mr Audubon 
remarks, that it performs its migrations during the day, gliding swiftly through 
the woods, without appearing in the open country ; that, on alighting upon a 
branch, it gives its tail a few jets, uttering at each motion a low chuckling 
note, peculiar to itself ; it then stands still for a while, with the feathers of the 
hind part a little raised. It walks and hops along the branches with much 
ease, and bends down its head to peep at the objects around. — Ed. 
