. Useful birds and their protection. Containing brief descriptions of the more common and useful species of Massachusetts, with accounts of their food habits, and a chapter on the means of attracting and protecting birds . timber in some shadydell, where pure floods from the never-failing springs ofthe hills have gathered into a water course,where the rushing stream dallies onway among moss-grown rocks, wherehe skunk cabbage grows, where rankferns and lush mosses hide the oozyground, and where great swampiples stand cool and tall,the Wood Thrush loves todwell. Its apparent na-tive modesty and
. Useful birds and their protection. Containing brief descriptions of the more common and useful species of Massachusetts, with accounts of their food habits, and a chapter on the means of attracting and protecting birds . timber in some shadydell, where pure floods from the never-failing springs ofthe hills have gathered into a water course,where the rushing stream dallies onway among moss-grown rocks, wherehe skunk cabbage grows, where rankferns and lush mosses hide the oozyground, and where great swampiples stand cool and tall,the Wood Thrush loves todwell. Its apparent na-tive modesty and retir-ing disposition, its lovefor shade and solitude,seem to be prominentcharacteristics of thissylvan recluse. Still, ofrecent years the bird isoften found about th^ haunts of men, particularly in placeswhere it is protected, and where large and clustering shadetrees afford it cool retreats. Its carriage as it hops or runsupon the ground is somewhat like that of a Eobin. Eathersedentary in habit, it seems to be confined during the breed-ing season to a limited area around its home, where its songmay be heard more or less at all hours, but mainly during thecooler portions of the day, throughout the summer Fig. 47. — Wood Thrush, two-thlrda naturalsize. SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 159 The song of the Wood Thrush is one of the finest specimensof bird music that America can produce. Among all thebird songs that I have ever heard, it is second only in qualityto that of the Hermit Thrush. It is not projected upon thestill air with the eflPort that characterizes the bold and vigor-ous lay of the Eobin, or the loud and intermittent carol ofthe Thrasher. Its tones are solemn and serene. They seemto harmonize with the sounds of the forest, the whisperingbreeze, the purling water, or the falling of rain drops in thesummer woods. As with most other birds, there is a greatdifference in the excellence of individual performers, and,while some males of the species can prod
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1913
