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THE ATLANTIC ALMANAC FOR 1869. 23 
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forest trees. But this, though its general, is by no means its uni- 
versal, habit. We can remember when a small grove near the 
paternal home, within the present limits of Boston, was the fa- 
Vorite resort of several pairs of these birds, who, year after year, 
built their nests, reared their young, and filled the neighborhood 
with their delightful melody, unmindful of the frequent presence 
of curious and interested children, one, at least, of whom will not 
soon forget the enjoyment derived from the exquisite sweetness 
of their music. 
_ One of our most observing young naturalists mentions an even 
more striking departure of a Wood-Thrush from the usual habit 
of the species. For several successive summers one of these 
“birds of the solitude” made its home among the elms and 
maples of Court Square, in the very heart of Springfield, spend- 
ing the entire season in its immediate vicinity, and pouring out 
his melodious strains at carly dawn, and at various hours of the 
day, until late in the evening, as undisturbed by the people on the 
walks beneath him, or the noise and rattle of the vehicles in the 
contiguous streets, as if he were in his own wild-wood haunts. 
His superior musical powers caused him to become a well-known 
and protected favorite, as he familiarly search — .or his food along 
the gravel-walks of that frequented squar.. 
The song of the Wood-Thrush is at on attractive and pecu- 
liar. No lover of the sweet sounds of nature can fail to notice it, 
or, having once heard it, knowing its sou 
it ever after. Language cannot describe, ill less do justice to, 
the surpassing richness of its melody. It has been compared by 
Wilson to the double-tonguing of a German flute, or to the tinkling 
of asmall bell. Their whole song consists of five or six distinct 
parts, the last note of each of which is in such a tone as seem- 
ingly to leave the conclusion suspended. ‘The /inale is finely man- 
aged, and is sweeter and sweeter at each successive repetition. 
But very little inferior to the Wood-Thrush, in their vocal pow- 
ers, are a group of four or five other distinct, and very closely 
allied, species. Though not familiar to the unscientific world, and 
only very recently recognized in all their specific distinctions by 
our naturalists, they are chiefly known as Hermit Thrushes. 
They all dwell in swampy woods, and are retiring and secluded 
in their habits. 
There are at least seven recognized as different species in this 
group, but of these two are very little known ; and none of them 
are well identified by common names. One is called Wialson’s 
Thrush, and is a common bird throughout New England. The 
Ground Swamp-Robin and the Olive-backed Thrush ave found in 
warm weather from Massachusetts to Labrador. Alice’s Thrush, 
called also the Gray-cheeked Thrush, is found in the same northern 
latitudes, but farther west, its domain seeming to be from Chicago 
north, in the central portions of the continent. The Pacific Thrush 
is a bird of Oregon. 
All these birds, with a single exception, have a high arctic range. 
With the notes of the last two mentioned our naturalists are not 
familiar, or have at least made no mention. They are presumed 
to be not different from the general character of their kindred. Of 
the group the Olive-backed or Swainson’s Thrush is decidedly the 
superior singer. Both this and the more common Swamp Robin, 
as well as our Wilson’s Thrush, combine sweetness, variety, and 
exquisite and harmonious tinkling sounds in their notes, which, 
to our taste, are fully equal to the more famed song of the Wood- 
Thrush. They all have the same peculiar, clear, metallic ring, the 
same wonderful blending of various sweet sounds, which no one 
can hear but with delight, or, having heard, fail to remember ever 
after with a vivid recollection of their charm. When in grief for 
the loss of its young, the Olive-backed Thrush breaks forth with 
a song of lamentation, very different from the harsh and discor- | 
dant notes of other birds, under like circumstances, but laments in 
> can fail to recognize | 
notes of surpassing sweetness and plaintive melody, “so piteously 
sad and waesome, that our hearts amaist broke as we sate and 
listened.” 
Closely allied to the thrushes, and equally prominent with 
them, as among the best song-birds of our country, is another 
very peculiar group of birds. These also possess no distinctive 
English name, with a single exception. Their only representa- 
tive in the Atlantic States is our common and well-known Brown 
Thresher, or, as others call it, the Brown or Ferruginous Thrush. 
But these birds are not true thrushes, and deserve some better 
and more distinctive name, suggestive of their great merits as 
vocalists, and their courageous, independent, and beneficent char- 
acter. Our common Eastern species, so abundant in New Eng- 
land, is found as far west as Texas and the great plains. From 
thence to the Pacific coast it is replaced by some five or six different 
species, all very closely resembling it in the ferruginous colors of 
its plumage, its long curved bill, and its peculiar elongated tail, 
and its general habits, which include vocal powers of the highest 
order. 
The song of our Thresher (we use this name only because we 
have no other, and with a protest against its unfitness) is loud, 
full of emphasis, variety, and beauty. Its notes are always 
original, never imitative, and cannot well be mistaken for those of 
They are said to bear a very close 
resemiy.aucs tv che notes of tae ivarcyeaun Wood-Thrush. It isa 
very steady performer, singing whole hours at a tim: ° and its 
notes are given forth in so loud a tone, that its song may often be 
heard at points remarkably far distant from the performer. 
Next to our Eastern species, the three most comm varieties 
of this group are the Curve-bill, the Long-bill, and the ‘Jalifornian 
species. ‘These are all referred to by writers as “ thrushes ” and 
as “mocking-birds.” But this isinaccurate. They are not prop- 
erly thrushes, nor are any of them imitative in their notes. The 
first two are found abundant from Western Texas to Mexico 
and California. The last named is abundant only on the sea- 
coast of California, having a somewhat restricted distribution. 
The Curve-bill is described by the late Dr. Heermann as possess- 
ing musical powers surpassed by few other birds. He always 
found it on the topmost branch of a Mesquite tree, povring fo~ 
its copious and gushing melodies. General Couch, who: success 
in the domains of natural science was undoubted ai . valua- 
ble, whatever it may have since been in the field of politics, aiso 
met with these birds near Durango, in Mexico. They had 1J- 
ready paired in February, and were very tame and gentle. He 
describes their notes or song as quite melodious, and withal very 
attractive. Perched on the topmost bough of the flowering 
mimosa, the male bird, in the presence of his consort, poured 
forth a volume of the most enchanting music. 
The best musician belonging to this group is, probably, tie 
Californian species, —the Harporhynchus redivivus of Professor 
Baird. Dr. Heermann, who first described its vocal powers, 
speaks of it as pouring forth a flood of melody equalled by that of 
the Mocking-bird alone. Colonel McCall, — since better known 
to his countrymen as General McCall, and a gallant commander, 
wounded in McClellan’s ill-starred Peninsular campaign, —an 
accurate and observing naturalist, wrote to his friend John Cassin, 
of Philadelphia, that the notes of this species flowed with such 
exquisite sweetness as to place it almost beyond rivalry among the 
countless songsters that enliven the woods of America, or even of the 
world. And yet it is as retiring and as simple in its manners as it: 
is brilliant in song. In its power of modulating sweet sounds it is 
not surpassed even by the more ambitious Mocking-bird. The sania 
any ofhan! of ce os hinds. 
writer ranks the song of this species as very far superior to that 
of our Brown Thresher ; but adds that, although it is without the 
powerful voice or the imitative powers of the true Mocking-bird, 
OL CLL LLL! LO Rt et 
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