WOOD THRUSH. 205 
and twigs, within which is a lining of mud, which is more or less com- 
pletely lined with a thin layer of fine fibres. The nest is about five inches 
in outside diameter, and of the same height. The inside diameter is 
usually about two and one-fourth inches, the depth a little greater. The 
eggs vary from four to six in number, are of a uniform light bluish 
green, and their average measurement is 1.18 inches by .81. 
Little needs be said of this welcome and well-known bird. The earliest 
to arrive in spring are solitary birds, but they are soon followed by scat- 
tering flocks which make their way along the warm banks of streams. 
In the fall they congregate in places where their favorite food is abund- 
ant in large companies. They feed upon insects and worms, small fruits 
and berries. Although sometimes destructive to cultivated fruits, they 
make ample payment for their raids by the destruction of noxious in- 
sects. 
The Robin is justly celebrated for its song, but I do not think it is gen- 
erally known that it possesses much capacity for mimicry. A young 
lady friend of mine obtained from some boys a young Robin which they 
had just removed from its nest in this city. She cared for it, and was 
rewarded by a varied song. Before it wasa year old it was perfect in the 
execution of not only its own proper notes, but those of several other 
birds. Among those I recognized the notes of the Loggerhead Shrike 
and Yellow-breasted Chat, birds which do not visit the city, and which 
it could not have heard. It undoubtedly learned these notes from a 
neighboring caged Mocking-Bird. 
TURDUS MUSTELINUs. Gm. 
Wood KLhrush. 
Turdus mustelinus, KIRTLAND, Ohio Geolog. Surv., 1838, 163.—READ, Fam. Visitor, ili, 1853, 
399 ; Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., vi, 395, 1853.—WuxaTon, Ohio, Agric. Rep. for 1860, 
363; Reprint, 1861, 5; Food of Birds, ete., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 562; Reprint, 
1875, 2.—LANGDON, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 3; Revised List, Jour. Cin. Soc. Nat. 
Hist, i, 1879, 169; Reprint, 3 JONES and SHULTZ, Tlustrations of Nests and Eggs 
of Ohio Birds, Part 1, 1879, plate 2. 
Turdus mustelinus, GMELIN, Syst. Nat., i, 1788, 817. 
Above bright tawny, shading into olive on rump and tail. Beneath white, every- 
where except throat and belly, with large distinct spots of dusky. Bill dusky above, 
yellowish below. Legs flesh-colored. Length 74 inches; wing 4; tail 3. 
Habitat, United States east of Missouri plains, south to Guatemala. Mexico. Bermuda. 
Cuba. 
Common summer resident. Arrives in Central Ohio the last week in 
April or the first in May. Frequents woodland, and is not often seen in 
cultivated places, at least during the breeding season. In some locali- 
