Page:Birdcraft-1897.djvu/94

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PERCHING SONG-BIRDS.



ORDER PASSERES: PERCHING BIRDS.

SUB—ORDER OSCINES: SINGING BIRDS.

FAMILY TURDIDÆ: THRUSHES.

Wood Thrush: Turdus mustelinus.

Plate 6. Fig. 2.

Length:
7.50—8 inches.
Male and Female:
Above tawny, deepest on head, tail olivaceous. Sides of throat light buff, middle of throat, breast, and belly white; sprinkled on sides with heart-shaped or triangular dark-brown spots. Whitish eye ring, bill dark brown, feet flesh-coloured.
Song: A melody in which some notes have the effect of a stringed accompaniment. The syllables are uttered deliberately, about

four seconds apart—“Uoli—a-e-o-li, uoli-uoli—uoli—aeolee—leé!”

Season:
Early May to October.
Breeds:
Northward from Virginia, Kentucky, and Kansas.
Nest:
Of small twigs with a mud lining, sometimes saddled upon the boughs of evergreens not far from the trunk, or in small trees and bushes.
Eggs:
Four usually, similar in colour to the Robin‘s, but smaller.
Range:
Eastern United States to the Plains, north to southern Michigan, Ontario, and Massachusetts, south in winter to Guatemala

and Cuba.

Next to the American Robin, the Wood Thrush is the most widely known of its tribe. He is an exquisite vocalist, the tones having a rare quality of rolling vibrance, and often as he utters his placid notes, each one full and deliberate, the song seems like the music of a flute and an

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