THRUSHES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. 399 
     
    
   
   
    
     ceous-bufi‘ ; the feathers of the sides of the throat with wedge-shaped black 
     
     spots at their tips, those of the breast with rounded black spots at their tips ' 
     
    
   
   
    
     middle of the belly white; sides brownish gray or brownish ashy. L., 7 '17 ; 
     
     W., 3-93; T., 2'76; B., -50. 
     
    

    
     Remarks—This bird will be confused only with the Gray—checked and 
     
     Bicknell’s Thrushes, from which it differs in the much stronger sufl'usion of 
     
     buff on the throat and breast, its bufl' eye—ring and lores. 
     
    

    
     Range—Breeds from Manitoba, northern New England, and New Bruns— 
     
     wick to Alaska and Labrador, and southward in the Rocky Mountains, and 
     
     along the Alleghanies to Pennsylvania; winters in the tropics. 
     
    

    
     Washington, common '1‘. V., May 4 to 28; Sept. 22 to Oct. 25. Sing Sing, 
     
     tolerably common ’1‘. V., May 2 to 30; Sept. 19 to Oct. 22. Cambridge, com- 
     
     mon T. V., May 12 to June 3; Sept. 10 to Oct. 5. 
     
    

    
     Nest, of coarse grasses, moss, rootlets, leaves, and bark, lined with rootlets 
     
     and grasses, in bushes or small trees, about four feet up. Eggs, three to four, 
     
    
   
   
    
     greenish blue, more or less spotted and speckled with cinnamon-brown or 
     
     rufous, '90 x '64. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Passing northward in the spring, in small, silent bands, scattered 
     
     through the woodland undergrowth, whence they quietly slip away, if 
     
     disturbed, often to the higher branches of the trees, these birds easily 
     
     escape observation. In late September or early October their loud, 
     
     metallic call-notes may be recognized overhead at night, and during 
     
     the day the birds themselves may be found on the edges of the woods 
     
     or along tangled hedgerows, associated with Sparrows and other mi- 
     
     grants. Their summer home is in the coniferous forest of the north, 
     
     although they do not confine themselves strictly to the evergreen 
     
     woods, and, avoiding its depths, seek rather the vicinity of clearings 
     
     well grown up with firs and spruees. Here, day after day, the same 
     
     musician may be seen pouring forth his ringing song from some com- 
     
     manding elevation—preferably a dead tree top. If approached, he 
     
     promptly dives down into the underbrush, Where he is very likely 
     
     joined by his mate. and both proceed to scold, in a mild way, the 
     
     chance intruder. Little is ever seen of these shy birds, but fortunately 
     
     their notes are quite characteristic, and the sole obstacle in distinguish— 
     
     ing them from those of the Hermit Thrush, a bird frequenting the 
     
     same localities, lies in the difficulty of tracing them to their source. 
     
    

    
     The effect of its loud and beautiful song is much enhanced by the 
     
     evening hush in which it is most often heard. It 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. 
     
     There are also a variety of other notes, the most frequent being a 
     
     pile of alarm, pitched higher than a corresponding duck of the Hermit 
     
     Thrush. J. DWIGHT, JR.