Brown, Olive or Grayish Brown, and Brown and Gray Sparrowy Birds 
Bradford Torrey, who heard it singing in the White Mountains, 
describes the song as like the thrush’s in quality, but differently 
accented : " IVee-o-wee-o-tit-ti-wee-o ! ” 
In New England and New York this thrush is most often 
seen during its autumn migrations. As it starts up and perches 
upon a low branch before you, it appears to have longer legs and 
a broader, squarer tail than its congeners. 
Olive-backed Thrush 
(Turdus ustulatus swainsonii) Thrush family 
Called also: SWAINSON’S THRUSH 
Length — 7 to 7.50 inches. About one-fourth smaller than the 
robin. 
Male and Female — Upper parts olive-brown. Whole throat and 
breast yellow-buff, shading to ashy on sides, and to white 
underneath. Buff ring around eye. Dark streaks on sides 
of throat (none on centre), and larger, more spot-like marks 
on breast. 
Range — North America to Rockies ; a few stragglers on Pacific 
slope. Northward to arctic countries. 
Migrations — April. October. Summer resident in Canada. 
Chiefly a migrant in United States. 
Mr. Parkhurst tells of finding this “the commonest bird in 
the Park (Central Park, New York), not even excepting the robin,” 
during the last week of May on a certain year ; but usually, it 
must be owned, we have to be on the lookout to find it, or it 
will pass unnoticed in the great companies of more conspicuous 
birds travelling at the same time. White-throated sparrows 
often keep it company on the long journeys northward, and they 
may frequently be seen together, hopping sociably about the 
garden, the thrush calling out a rather harsh note — puk f puk ! — 
quite different from the liquid, mellow calls of the other thrushes, 
to resent either the sparrows’ bad manners or the inquisitiveness 
of a human disturber of its peace. But this gregarious habit and 
neighborly visit end even before acquaintance fairly begins, and 
the thrushes are off for their nesting grounds in the pine woods 
of New England or Labrador if they are travelling up the east 
coast, or to Alaska, British Columbia, or Manitoba if west of the 
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