What Bird is That? Part 37

Glen Ellyn, fairly common T.V., Mch. 22-May 19; Sept. 9-Oct. 27. SE. Minn., Mch. 12-; Sept.

18-Oct. 24.

A tiny, olive-green bird, with a large white eye-ring, fluttering actively among the yellowing leaves, uttering from time to time a wren-like _cack_ as he twitches his wings and showing little or no fear of man can be only the Ruby-crown, southward bound. He returns before the trees are clad, as the author of a song as marvelous in volume as it is musical in tone; a whistled song of rare sweetness.

BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER

_Polioptila caerulea caerulea. Case 4. Fig. 69_

A slender, gray mite with a comparatively long tail of which the central feathers are black, the outer ones white. L. 4.

_Range._ Nests from the Gulf States to southern Wisconsin and southern New Jersey; winters from the Gulf States southward.

Was.h.i.+ngton, rather common S.R., Mch. 30-Nov. 23.

N. Ohio, common S.R., Apl. 20-Sept. 15. Glen Ellyn, not common S.R., Apl. 22-Aug. 20; possibly later. SE. Minn., rare S.R.

In color, form, proportions and voice, the Gnatcatcher may properly be called 'dainty.' His slightly explosive call-note _tin-ng_, is louder than his exquisitely finished, varied, miniature song. The nest is almost as fine in workmans.h.i.+p as a Hummer's. The 4-5 white, thickly speckled eggs, are laid in April and early May.

THRUSHES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. FAMILY t.u.r.dIDae

WOOD THRUSH

_Hylocichla mustelina. Case 6, Fig. 74_

Head brighter than tail; underparts _white_, heavily spotted with large, round black dots.

Largest of our Thrushes. L. 8.

_Range._ Nests from Florida and Texas north to central Minnesota and southern New Hamps.h.i.+re; winters in the tropics.

Was.h.i.+ngton, common S.R., Apl. 10-Oct. 10.

Ossining, common S.R., Apl. 30-Oct. 2. Cambridge, locally common S.R., May 10-Sept. 15. N. Ohio, common S.R., Apl. 20-Oct. 1. Glen Ellyn, fairly common S.R., Apl. 30-Sept. 29 SE. Minn., common S.R., May 1-Sept. 19.

Most familiar of our Thrushes. From late April to early August his bell-like notes are heard, not only in the forest, but in wood-bordered village streets and from the shade trees of our lawns. His sharp, pebbly, _pit-pit_, is prominent in the chorus of protesting notes which greet the Screech Owl should he leave his retreat before diurnal birds have gone to bed.

The nest is usually built in small trees about 8 feet from the ground.

The 3-5 greenish blue eggs are laid in May. There is a second brood in June.

VEERY

_Hylocichla fuscescens fuscescens. Case 6, Fig. 73_

Upperparts, including tail, uniform cinnamon-brown, breast buff with indistinct brownish spots; sides white. L. 7.

_Range._ Nests from northern New Jersey and northern Illinois into Canada and south in the Alleghanies to Georgia; winters in the tropics. A closely related western form, the Willow Thrush (_H. f. salicicola_) nests in Minnesota and westward, and migrates through the Mississippi Valley. To the field naturalist it is essentially the Veery.

Was.h.i.+ngton, common T.V., Apl. 26-June 2. Aug.

18-Sept. 25. Ossining, common S.R., Apl. 29-Sept.

5. Cambridge, locally abundant S.R., May 8-Sept.

5. N. Ohio, common S.R., Apl. 20-Oct. 1. Glen Ellyn, tolerably common T.V., Apl. 24-May 29; Aug.

26-Sept. 3; SE. Minn., common S.R. May 5.

Low, wet woods with considerable undergrowth, where skunk cabbage and h.e.l.lebore flourish are the home of the Veery. Here he winds his mysterious double-toned spiral song, and here, on the ground, hidden beneath the rank vegetation, he builds his nest. The eggs, laid late in May, resemble those of the Wood Thrush. The Veery's common call is a clearly whistled _whee-you_, quite unlike the _quirt_ or _pit-pit_ of the Wood Thrush. Except in mountainous regions and some local 'stations,' the Wood Thrush and Veery are the only Thrushes which nest in the eastern United States south of Ma.s.sachusetts.

GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH

_Hylocichla aliciae aliciae. Case 8, Fig. 82_

Upperparts uniform olive; eye-ring whitish, not buffy as in the Olive-backed Thrush (Case 8, Fig.

81); sides of throat and breast less buffy than in the Olive-back. L. 7.

_Range._ Nests north of the United States.

Bicknell's Thrush (_H. a. bicknelli_) a slightly smaller, southern form, nests in the higher parts of the Catskills, the mountains of northern New York and northern New England, and northward and eastward into Canada; both visit us in migration and both winter in the tropics.

Was.h.i.+ngton, rather common T.V., May 8-31; Sept.

15-Oct. 20. Ossining, tolerably common T.V., May 15-June 1; Sept. 20-Oct. 17. Cambridge, uncommon T.V., May 18-28; Sept. 15-Oct. 9. N. Ohio, not common T.V., Apl. 29-May 23. Glen Ellyn, common T.V., May 7-June 4; Aug. 26-Oct. 9. SE. Minn., common T.V., May 7-; Sept. 8.

The Gray-cheeked and Bicknell's Thrushes are merely the larger northern and smaller southern forms, respectively, of the same species. They are known in the United States chiefly as migrants and can be distinguished with certainty in life only by an expert under favorable conditions. The larger form is the commoner. The species may be known from the Veery and Wood Thrush by its olive, instead of cinnamon-brown back, and from the Olive-backed Thrush by its whitish eye-ring and paler breast.

Brewster describes the song of the southern form (Bicknell's Thrush) as exceedingly like that of the Veery but more interrupted, while the ordinary call-note is practically identical with the _pheu_ of the Veery. The nest is placed in low trees or bushes. The eggs are greenish blue spotted with brown.

OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH

_Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni. Case 8, Fig. 81_

Upperparts uniform olive; eye-ring buff; breast and sides of the throat deeper than in the Gray-cheeked Thrush. L. 7.

_Range._ Nests from northern Michigan and northern New England northward into Canada and southward in the mountains to West Virginia; winters in the tropics.

Was.h.i.+ngton, common T.V., Apl. 19-June 2; Sept.

2-Nov. 1. Ossining, tolerably common T.V., May 2-30; Sept. 19-Oct. 22. Cambridge, common T.V., May 13-28; Sept. 15-Oct. 5. N. Ohio, common T.V., Apl. 22-June 13; Sept. 2-Oct. 24. Glen Ellyn, common T.V., Apl. 23-June 6; Aug. 16-Oct. 24. SE.

Minn., common T.V., May 1-; Sept. 25-.

We know this Thrush chiefly as a migrant when, in the latter part of May, and again in September and October, it pa.s.ses us _en route_ to and from its northern home. At these seasons we may even hear its whistled _puit_ from the sky as it journeys through the night. "Its song," Dwight says, "lacks the leisurely sweetness of the Hermit Thrush's outpourings, nor is there pause, but in lower key and with greater energy it bubbles on rapidly to a close rather than fading out with the soft melody of its renowned rival."

The Olive-back nests in bushes or low trees, and lays 3-4 greenish blue brown-spotted eggs in June.

HERMIT THRUSH

_Hylocichla guttata pallasi. Case 4, Fig. 77; Case 5, Fig. 26_

Back midway in color between Figs. 77 and 26; the tail noticeably brighter, more rusty. L. 7.