| Motacilla Noveboracensis, | Gm.—Aud. pl. 426. |
| Turdus aquaticus, | Wils. |
| Seiurus Noveboracensis, | Sw. |
[33] Length 5½ inches, expanse 9⁴⁄₁₀, flexure 3, tail 2, rictus ⁷⁄₁₀, tarsus ⁹⁄₁₀, middle toe ¹³⁄₂₀.
I first saw this amusing species about the end of August, around the muddy margins of ponds in St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland; and immediately afterward they became so abundant, that individuals were to be seen running here and there on the road, all the way from Bluefields to Savanna-le-Mar, especially along the sea-shore, and by the edges of morasses; not at all associating, however. They run rapidly; often wade up to the heel in the water, or run along the twigs of a fallen tree at the brink, now and then flying up into the pimento and orange trees. When walking or standing, the tail is continually flirted up in the manner of the Wagtails, whence the local name of Kick-up, though, perhaps, none but a negro would consider a motion of the tail, kicking. The resemblance of this bird to the Wagtail, Wilson has noticed, and it is very striking in many respects. It walks among the low grass of pastures, picking here and there, wagging the tail, and uttering a sharp chip. Now and then it runs briskly, and snatches something, probably a winged insect, from the grass. Wilson praises its song very highly; in its winter residence with us it merely chips monotonously. The stomachs of several that I have dissected contained water-insects in fragments, and one or two small pond shells.
There is a remarkable analogy in the Water Thrushes to the Snipes and Plovers, in their habits of running by the side of water, of wading, and of flirting up the hinder parts; in the height of the tarsi; and in the elongation of the tertials. The Pea-Dove, which frequents water more than any other of our Doves, has longer tertials than any. Is there any connexion between the lengthening of these feathers, and aquatic habits?
GOLD-CROWNED THRUSH.[34]
Land Kick-up.
Seiurus aurocapillus.
| Turdus aurocapillus, | Linn.—Aud. pl. 143. |
| Sylvia aurocapilla, | Bonap. |
| Seiurus aurocapillus, | Sw. |
[34] Length 6¼ inches, expanse 9½, flexure 3, tail 2¹⁄₁₀, rictus ⁷⁄₁₀, tarsus 1, middle toe ¾.
The speckled breast, rich fulvous crown, and warm olive back, make this a very pretty bird. His manners are much like those of his cousin Bessy, running along with much wagging of the tail, and chirping tsip, tsip, incessantly. He is, however, less aquatic in his predilections. I first observed the species about the middle of September; it was on a low part of the road by the side of a morass. Its attitude struck me, as it was running on the ground with the tail held almost perpendicularly upwards. In the stomach, a muscular gizzard, I have occasionally found various seeds, gravel, mud-insects, caterpillars, and small turbinate shells. I was one day amused by watching two, unassociated, walking about a place covered with dry leaves, beneath some trees. I was unseen by them, though quite close. The tail of each was carried quite perpendicular as they walked, which gave a most grotesque effect; but, as if this elevation were not sufficient, at almost every step they jerked it up still higher, the white under-coverts projecting in a puffy globose form.