The eggs, four in number, are described as flesh-colored, sprinkled with dark red at the larger end. They are hatched in fourteen days. The young leave the nest in about ten days, and follow the parent on the ground from place to place. When disturbed on her nest in the earlier periods of incubation,
she merely flies off; but later, or when she has young, she tumbles about on the ground, spreads her wings and tail, utters piteous cries, and seems as if in the last agonies of despair. This species Mr. Audubon never met with farther east than Georgia, nor farther north than Henderson, Ky.
Of late years, or since attention has been more drawn to the specific difference between this species and the Water Thrush, it has apparently become more numerous, and has been obtained in considerable numbers in the vicinity of Washington. In that neighborhood, once considered so rare, it was found by Dr. Coues to be not at all uncommon at certain seasons and in particular localities. From the 10th of April to the 20th of May it was always to be met with among the dense laurel-brakes that border the banks of and fill the ravines leading into Rock Creek and Piney Branch. He believes they breed there, but they were not observed in the fall. They were usually very shy, darting at once into the most impenetrable brakes, but were at other times easily approached. He always found them in pairs, even as early as the 20th of April. Their call-note was a sparrow-like chirp, as if made by striking two pebbles together. They also had a loud, beautiful, and melodious song, the singularity of which first drew his attention to the bird.
Mr. Ridgway informs me that in the Wabash Valley this bird, familiarly known as the “Water Wagtail,” is an abundant summer sojourner. It inhabits the dampest situations in the bottom-lands, the borders of creeks, lagoons, and swamps, living there in company with the Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea). In its movements it is one of the quickest as well as the most restless of the Sylvicolidæ, though it is eminently terrestrial in its habits. It is usually seen upon the wet ground, in a horizontal position, or even the posterior part of its body more elevated, and its body continually tilting up and down; if it fancies itself unobserved, it runs slyly beneath the brushwood overhanging the shore; but if startled, it flies up suddenly with a sharp and startling chatter. He adds that in early spring (from the latter part of February to the beginning of April) its rich loud song may be heard before the trees are in leaf, for it is one of the earliest of the Warblers to arrive. When singing, it is usually perched upon the lower branches of a tree overhanging the water, but he has frequently seen it among the topmost branches. Wilson and Audubon have not exaggerated the merits of the song of this bird, for among all its family there is certainly not one of our North American species that compares with it. In richness and volume of its very liquid notes it is almost unrivalled, though the song itself may not be considered otherwise remarkable.
Mr. Salvin met this species in different portions of Guatemala in the months of August, September, and November, 1859. A dry watercourse in the forest, or in the bottom of a barranco, seemed to be its favorite resort, while its near congener, the noveboracensis, was observed to seek rather the more open streams.
Oporornis, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 246. (Type, Sylvia agilis, Wils.)
Oporornis formosus.
517
Gen. Char. Bill sylvicoline, rather compressed; distinctly notched at tip; rictal bristles very much reduced. Wings elongated, pointed, much longer than the tail; the first quill nearly or quite the longest. Tail very slightly rounded; tail-feathers acuminate, pointed; the under coverts reaching to within less than half an inch of their tip. Tarsi elongated, longer than the head; claws large, the hinder one as long as its digit, and longer than the lateral toes. Above olive-green; beneath yellow; tail and wings immaculate. Legs yellow.