The hurabird of New Zealand has the most curious bill known. The male has one sort which he uses in excavating, after which the female can insert her bill and secure the food which the male has thus obtained.
After a study of the various forms of bird structure and habits has been made, it still remains a problem whether their structure is the result of natural selection, or natural selection is the result of their structure.
WILSON'S THRUSH.
(Turdus fuscescens.)
THIS very interesting bird is found in all parts of eastern North America. Breeds in the states bordering on the Great Lakes and as far north as Manitoba. It winters in Central America. It is generally partial to low, swampy woodlands. He is much more shy than his pretty cousin, the wood thrush; he lives nearer the ground and is not so likely to leave the cover of his haunts. In localities where he is equally common with the wood thrush he is less frequently observed.
The nest of this thrush is made of strips of bark, rootlets and leaf stems, wrapped with leaves and lined with fine rootlets. The nest is always on or near the ground.
Mr. Chapman says of him: "He has a double personality, or he may repeat the notes of some less vocally developed ancestor, for on occasions he gives utterance to an entirely uncharacteristic series of cacking notes, and even mounts high in the tree to sing a hesitating medley of the same unmusical cacks, broken, whistled calls and attempted trills.
Fortunately, this performance is comparatively uncommon, and to the most of us he is known only by his own strange, unearthly song. His notes touch chords which no other bird's song reaches. The water thrush is inspiring, the wood and hermit thrushes 'serenely exalt the spirit,' but Wilson's thrush or the veery appeals to higher feelings. All the wondrous mysteries of the wood find a voice in his song; he thrills us with emotions we can not express."