Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/290

254 times among the roots of a tall tree, sometimes by the side of a fallen trunk, and again at the foot of some slender sapling. It is sunk in the ground among dry leaves or decayed moss, and is neatly formed of grasses, both inside and out, arched over with a thick mass of the same material, covered by leaves, twigs, and such grasses as are found in the neighbour- hood. A small aperture is left on one side, just sufficient to admit the owner. In this snug tenement the female deposits from four to six eggs, which are white, irregularly spotted with reddish -brown near the larger end.

When accidentally disturbed at the period of incubation, it glides over the ground before you, and uses all sorts of artifices to decoy you from its nest. Several species of snakes and small quadrupeds are its principal enemies. From children it has little to dread, its gentleness se- curing it a place in their affections, so that they seldom molest it. While on wing it appears to glide through the woods with ease and celerity, although it seldom extends its flight to more than a hundred yards at a time. It migrates by day, resorting at night to the deepest swamps. In these situations I have met it in company with the Cat Bird and other Thrushes. When disturbed on such occasions, its simple tweet was familiar to my ear. None remain in the United States during winter, although some are found lingering in the lower parts of Louisi- ana as late as the first of December.

The plant on which I have placed a pair of them, grew near the spot where I obtained the birds, in a dark wood not far from Philadelphia.

TuuDus AUROCAPiLLUs, Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 328.

GoLDEN-CKOwNED Theush, Turdus aukocapillus, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 88. pL 17. fig- 2 — JVn«a//, Manual, part ii. p. 355.

SrLviA AUROCAPiLLA, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of tiie United States, p. 77.

Seiurus AUROCAPILLUS, Golden-crowned Accentor, Swains, and Richards. Fauna.

Bor. Amer. part ii. p. 227.

Adult Male. Plate CXLIII. Fig. 1.

Bill shortish, nearly straight, subulato-conical, rather broader than deep at the base, compressed towards the end, the edges sharp and a little inflected, the dorsal outlines of both mandibles slightly convex. Nostrils basal, elliptical, lateral, half-closed by a membrane. The general form is slender. Feet of ordinary length ; tarsus compressed, slender, covered anteriorly with a long undivided piece, and three inferior