The Wood Thrush lives in shady lawns as well as in wilder woodlands. He is often a familiar dooryard bird, hopping about on the grass or singing from a low perch. The song is delivered in sections, with pauses of a few seconds between. Some of the notes are rich and deep; others are high and flute-like; others tremble like a twanged banjo string. The alarm-note is loud and sharp.
WILSON’S THRUSH; VEERY
Hylocichla fuscescens fuscescens (Stephens)
Description.—Smaller than Robin. Uniform brown above; throat and belly white; sides of throat and breast washed with buffy, and marked with indistinct rows of short, brown streaks; sides white, faintly washed with gray-brown; eye-ring not noticeable in field. Length: 7½ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A common migrant throughout in later April and May and in September. Nests in the more northerly counties and in the mountains. It is common as a summer resident in suitable damp woodlands.
Nest.—On the ground, made largely of leaves, lined with rootlets and small grasses. Eggs: 3 or 4, delicate greenish blue.
Go to a wooded swamp or to low, thick woodlands to find this elusive bird. If you keep quiet for a time, you may see his brown back as he flashes through the undergrowth. Make a slight disturbance, and he may call zeu in a penetrating tone. He may sing his remarkable ringing song which, in liquid, tinkling, descending spirals, sounds a little like veery, veery, veery, veery. If you become familiar with him, you will see him hopping over the ground like a Wood Thrush; he snaps up an insect here and there, or flops the damp leaves over looking for food.
GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH
Hylocichla minima aliciæ (Baird)
Description.—Upperparts olive, unmarked, not even a whitish eye-ring being noticeable in the field; sides of head dull grayish; sides of throat and breast faintly washed with buff, the breast marked with a few dark streaks, which lie in rows; throat and belly white; sides gray. Length: 7½ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A regular migrant, though not often recorded, during May and in late September and early October.
This bird is difficult to identify in Pennsylvania. It does not often sing, and it is shy. Probably it is commoner than we suppose, but the thrushes look so much alike that we are afraid to record the species unless we have a specimen in hand. It resembles most closely the Olive-backed Thrush; it differs in having a dull whitish eye-ring and grayish cheeks, which in the Olive-back are distinctly buffy. Records of this species should be made with a good glass. The song, which may occasionally be given here, is like a Veery’s.
OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH
Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni (Tschudi)
Description.—Upperparts olive; eye-ring and sides of head buffy, the color spreading more or less over the face, throat, and breast; throat streaked and breast somewhat spotted with blackish; belly white; sides grayish. Length: A little over 7 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant migrant in late April and early May and in September and October; rare as a summer resident, found only at high altitudes in the mountains.
Nest.—Deeply cupped, compact, and neat, of grasses, moss, rootlets, and twigs, placed in a forest tree from 6 to 20 feet from the ground. Eggs: 3 or 4, pale blue, spotted or blotched with red-brown.
