10 
TURD US FUSGESGENS. 
a level with the surface, and was smoothly covered with green moss, similar to that growing 
around it. So neatly was this done, that, although I noticed the log as it lay in my path, 1 
never should have observed the nest if the bird had not flown from it as I came up. 
The eggs are generally laid the first week in .Tune, but in the instance spoken of above, 
although it was found as early as June 5th, the nest contained newly hatched young. Mr. Allen 
and myself found the young fully fledged, and flying about, at Hyannis, on July 3d, 1869. A 
nest was taken at North Beverly, June 14th, by Mr. E. P. Emerton, and another was taken at 
Concord, the first week of the same month, by Mr. Brewster. These instances go to prove that 
it does not breed any earlier in Massachusetts than in Northern Maine. 
The male is very attentive to the female, not only before the time of nesting, ivhen he follows 
her everywhere, but during the time of incubation he sits on a branch aboye her, and sings his 
incomparable song. During the northern migrations they associate, and even while moving 
south they may be seen in pairs. 
They enter Massachusetts on their southern flight about the first of October, and although 
some remain in Maine and New Hampshire as late as the first week in November, the mass have 
left the north by the 20th of the former-named month. They linger in Massachusetts in great 
numbers through October, frequenting the woods and thickets everywhere. They are not at all 
shy, even being so familiar as to enter the villages, and flit through the gardens. Most of them 
disappear by the first of November, but a few remain somewhat later. Thus the Hermit comes 
to us in the Aiding glories of autumn, becomes associated with the falling leaves and ripening 
nuts, then leaves us with the first icy blasts of winter. 
TTJEDUS FUSCESCENS. 
Wilson’s Thrush. Tawny Thrush. 
Turdus fuscescens Stephens. Shaw’s Zoology. Birds, x, i, 1817, 182. 
» DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, slender. Bill, not long and rather broad at base. Tongue, acuminate, bifid, and rather coarsely 
fringed for one-third of the terminal length. It is bright yellow in color. Sternum, of about the same proportions 
as that of Swainsonii; indeed, the sternums of Swainsonii, Pallasii, and fuscescens, which I have in my collection, 
are so nearly alike, in general proportions and size, that it is impossible to determine from what species any particular 
one came, without referring to the label. On an average, however, those from fuscescens are stoutest and broadest, 
those from Pallasii are the slenderest, while those from Swainsonii are intermediate; but those from T. miyratorius 
are not only larger, but have deeper marginal indentations in proportion to the width. 
Color. Adult. Above, light reddish-brown, becoming slightly yellowish on the rump. Beneath, pure white, 
with a pale buff tinge across the throat and fore part of the breast; the throat and breast are also covered with pale, 
triangular spots, which on the fore part of the breast are brown, but more olivaceous on the lower part, where they 
become nearly obsolete. On the sides of the throat they exhibit a tendency to cluster and form maxillary lines. 
Flanks and tibiae, pale olivaceous. A broad band beneath the wing, which is not well defined, is of a pale buff. Under 
wing coverts, white, with an olivaceous tinge. Axillaries, white, tinged with pale buff. Ring around the eye, and 
stripes on the feathers of ear coverts, pale buff. Lores, ashy. Iris, brown. Bill, dark brown; the basal half of 
lower mandible, pale yellow. Inside of mouth, bright yellow. 
Young. Similar to the adult, with the wing coverts edged with rufous, and tipped with lighter, forming two 
indistinct bars. The buff on the throat, and upper part of breast is a trifle darker. I have at present no specimen of 
this species in the nesting plumage. Sexes, similar in all stages of plumage. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
This bird is easily distinguished from all the other smaller Thrushes by the paler tints of the spots on the throat 
and breast, which are also more restricted. The colors of the back are very uniform throughout, with the exception 
of a slight ochrey tinge upon the upper tail coverts and lower part of the rump. This tint also occasionally appears 
on the crown. This species is perhaps less variable in color than any other of the Thrushes. It is found during the 
breeding season from latitude 42°, northward, perhaps to the fur countries. Although a few are found in Florida and 
the West Indies, the greater part winter in Central and South America. 
