mentioned in the * Fauna Boreali-Americana ’ as Merula minor, and another from Red River
Settlement in the Smithsonian Institution, place Wilson’s Thrush as an inhabitant of the region;
but for my own part I did not obtain a specimen.”
From Pembina Mr. Ridgway records a specimen as belonging to the true T. fuscescens (Proc.
U.S. Nat. Mus. iv. p. 376), and Mr. Agersborg says that the species is a rare summer resident in
S.E. Dakota, but he did not find the nest (Auk, ii. p. 277).
Dr. Hatch states that Wilson’s Thrush is a fairly common bird in Minnesota, and is apparently
widely distributed over the State, nesting about the last week in May (B. Minnes. p. 435).
In Wayne Co., Ohio, it is, according to Mr. Oberholser, the least numerous of the transient
Thrushes, and has only been observed in 1892, when it was seen in May near Wooster, in the valley
of the Killbuck. A specimen has also been taken in spring near Orrville (B. Wayne Co. p. 337).
Mr. White says that it is common on Mackinac Island, in Northern Michigan, from July to
September (Auk, v. p. 229), and it also nests in the State of Iowa (Allen, Mem. Rost, Soc. Nat. Hist,
i. p. 493 ; Coues, B. N.-West, p. 6).
In Pennsylvania Mr. Warren regards the present species as a common migrant in spring and
autumn (B. Pennsylvania, p. 249), but it breeds on the Pennsylvanian Alleghanies, as Mr. Dwight
found it tolerably common about Cresson and in the valley at Altoona in summer. It was not met
with on the North Mountain itself, but was seen in the valley eastward (Auk, ix. p. 140). Mr. Baily
says that in Northern Elk Co. one was seen above Straight Creek, and appeared to be nesting
(Auk, xiii. p. 297).
In the New England States Mr. Steams says that the “ Yeery ” is the commonest of the Thrushes,
always excepting the Robin, in Southern New England during the season. Like the Wood-Thrush,
it is characteristic of the Alleghanian Fauna at such times, though it also extends sparingly into the
Canadian, where the Hermit and the Olive-back are so abundant and characteristic. It enters
Connecticut about the last week of April, and reaches Massachusetts early in May (New England.
Bird Life, i. p. 60). In Berkshire Co., Mass., Mr. Faxon found the species common in the
lower cleared portions of the country, and observed it at least as high as 2000 feet from the sea-level
on the cleared portions of the mountain side (Auk, vi. p. 106). Mr. Brewster has also noticed it
nesting near Winchenden (Auk, v. p. 389). It also breeds in Maine (Verrill, Proc. Essex Inst. iii.
p. 146), and was found by Mr. Batchelder on the Upper St. John River, nesting at Grand Falls in
June, but rare in that neighbourhood. At Houlton it was a common breeding species (Bull. Nutt.
Orn. Club, vii. p. 108). Dr. ChadbourUe has found it on the White Mountains in New Hampshire
in summer (Auk, iv. p. 107); and Messrs. Faxon and Allen at Squam Lake and Franconia in June
(Auk, iv. pp. 153, 155).
In the other Eastern United States the present species occurs as a migrant, though Prof. Elliott
Coues believes that some may winter in South Carolina (Bl N.-West, p. 6). Mr. Brewster records
the nesting of the Yeery near Highlands, in Western North Carolina, where, he says, Mr. Boynton
has repeatedly found the nest. It was abundant over the elevated plateau about Highlands, and
scarcely less numerous on the. Black Mountains, ranging in both localities from ‘about 3500 to 5000
feet (Auk, iii. p. 178).
Wilson’s Thrush appears to be a rare migrant in Texas, and the only example which I myself
have seen from that State is T. salicicola. Mr. Attwater obtained a specimen near San Antonio on
the 18th of May (Auk, ix. p. 344). In Houston Co., Mr. Nehrling observed a few during the fall
migration (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, vii. p. 7). Dr. J. C. Merrill also met with it at Fort Brown on
the 1st of January, 1877 (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. i. p. 119).
Mr. J. A. Allen has recorded the species as a winter bird in Florida (Bull. Mus. C. Z. ii. p. 256),
and Mr. Atkins has found it common at Key West on the Gulf .coast of Florida on the 28th of
April and the 2nd of May ; while in the Caloosahatchie region it is a regular migrant (Scott, Auk,
vii. p. 119, ix. p. 214).
A single specimen from “ Mexico ” is in the Seebohm Collection, but no authentic occurrence of
the species in that country has been recorded, as Sumichrast’s identification of Wilson’s Thrush near
Orizaba (Mem. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. i. p. 543) is doubtful (Salvin & Godman, Biol. Centr.-Amer.,
Aves, i. p. 10). It visits Cuba in winter (Cory, Auk, iii. p. 2), and has been obtained by
Dr. G. F. Gaumer rather plentifully in the islands of Cozumel, Bonacca, and Ruatan (Salvin, Ibis,
1888, p. 243). A single specimen has been procured near San José in Costa Rica, in October 1889,
as recorded by Mr. Cherrie (Auk, vii. p. 337).
In Panama it has been once obtained by McLeannan (Lawr. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. vii. p. 326), and
Messrs. Salvin and Godman have seen a specimen from Aspinwall in Mr. Boucard’s collection (Biol.
Centr.-Amer., Aves, i. p. 10). Mr. H. Whitely met with the species at Camacusa in British Guiana
in April (Salvin, Ibis, 1885, p. 196), and Mr. Wickham also procured an example at Santarem on the
River Amazon (Salvin & Godman, Biol. Centr.-Amer., Aves, i. p. 10). Four specimens were
obtained at San Vicente in Brazil by Natterer (Pelzeln, Orn. Bras. p. 92), and Mrs. Herbert Smith
also met with the species at Chapada in Matto Grosso in November and February, as recorded by
Dr. J. A. Allen (Bull. Amer. Mus. iii. p. 341, 1891).
A specimen of a small Thrush, believed by Gàtke to be this species, was obtained in
Heligoland in 1833, but the record cannot be considered satisfactory (Gàtke, Helgol., Engl. ed. p. 244).
Prof. Elliott Coues has given the following interesting account of the habits of Turdus fuscescens
(B. Color. Vail. p. 39):—“ The Veery’s mating and nest-building season, when the bird is in full
song, is the genial month of May, in most parts of the United States; and two broods may be
reared under propitious surroundings. But further northward, where alone have I myself found
the bird in its home, and heard its seductive epithalamium, the shorter span of the summer season
suffices but for a single brood. The yearly crisis of the bird’s life is delayed till June, and the
young are not seen abroad until the latter end of that month, if indeed before July. The heavy
growth of timber that fringes the streams includes many nooks and dells, and broken ravines
overgrown with thick shrubbery, from out the masses of which the tall trees tower, as if stretching
forth their strong arms in kindly caressing of the humbler and weaker vegetation, their offspring.
In such safe retreats, where the sombre shade is brightened here and there with stray beams of
sunlight, in the warmth of which myriads of insects bathe their wings and flutter away their little
span of life, humming a quaint refrain to the gurgle of the rivulet, the Yeery meets his mate the
song rises—the wooed is won—the home is made. Should we force our unwelcome presence
upon the bird who is brooding her newly-found treasures with the ten derest solicitude, she will
nestle closer still, in hope of our passing by, till we might almost touch her ; when, without a word
of remonstrance or reproach, she takes a little flight, and settles a few yards away, in silent appeal.
I f the time, the place, the scene, suffice not for our forbearance, with what poor words of hers may
.we then be moved ?
“ The nest will be found at our feet, most likely .beneath some bush, resting upon a bed of
leaves, or supported in the forks of some stems which spring directly from the ground. It seems
large for the size of the bird, and perhaps not so neat and finished as we might expect ; for the
Yeery, though a patient and faithful housekeeper, cares little for appearances. Among the various
materials which enter into its composition, withered leaves form a large part, especially of the
outer walls, while grass-stems, weed-stalks, and bark-strips are more compactly woven inside.
There is no special lining of the interior, and the cavity is small. The nest may contain four,
perhaps five, eggs, like those of the Hermit-Thrush, greenish-blue, without marking, except in rare
instances, when a few specks appear, especially about the larger end,
v o l . I, z