356 
INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 
part of the forest, it utters, at intervals, a simple, long 
reiterated note of ’tsh’e tshe tsJie tshe tshe , rising from 
low to high and shrill, so as to give but little idea of the 
distance or place from whence the sound proceeds, and 
often appearing from the loudness of the closing cadence 
to be much nearer than it really is. As soon as discov- 
ered, like the Wood Thrush, it darts at once timidly into 
the depths of its sylvan retreat. During the period of 
incubation, the deliberate lay of the male, from some 
horizontal branch of the forest tree, where he often sits 
usually still, is a 'tshe te tshe te tshe te tshee y gradually ris- 
ing and growing louder. Towards dusk in the evening, 
however, it now and then utters a sudden burst of notes 
with a short agreeable warble, which terminates, common- 
ly in the usual ’tshe te tshe . Its curious oven-shaped nest 
is known to all the sportsmen who traverse the solitary 
wilds which it inhabits. This ingenious fabric is sunk 
a little into the ground, and generally situated on some 
dry and mossy bank contiguous to bushes, or on an un- 
cleared surface ; it is formed with great neatness of dry 
blades of grass, and lined with the same ; it is then sur- 
mounted by a thick inclined roof of similar materials, the 
surface scattered with leaves and twigs so as to match the 
rest of the ground, and an entrance is left at the side. 
Near Milton hills, in this vicinity, the situation chosen was 
among low whortleberry bushes, in a stunted cedar and 
oak grove. The eggs, 4 or 5, white, are irregularly spot- 
ted near the greater end, with reddish brown. When sur- 
prised, the bird escapes, or runs from the nest with the 
silence and celerity of a mouse. If an attempt be 
made to discover the nest from which she is flushed, she 
stops, flutters, and pretends lameness, and watching the 
success of the manoeuvre, at length, when the decoy 
seems complete, she takes to wing and disappears. This 
