Water-Thrush
He lives where dashing brooks leap down wooded hillsides, or, more rarely, where quieter streams flow through the lowland forests. He is a wild, shy bird, and his never-ceasing alertness suggests the watchfulness of the savage. Approach as quietly as you will, the Water-Thrush knows of your coming. With a tilting motion he walks on ahead, springs from rock to rock, or with a sharp, metallic chink of alarm takes wing and darts through the woods so low you scarcely get a glimpse of him. From a distant limb near the ground he watches you, constantly teetering his body as though even when resting he must find some outlet for his surplus nervous energy. As a songster the Water-Thrush is without a rival. His song is not to be compared with the clear-voiced carol of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, the plaintive chant of the Field Sparrow, or the hymnlike melody of the true Thrushes; it is of a different kind. It is the untamable spirit of the bird rendered in music. There is an almost fierce wildness in its ringing notes. On rare occasions he is inspired to voice his passion in a flight-song, which so far exceeds his usual performance that even the memory of it is thrilling. 677. Geothlypis formosa (Wils.). KENTUCKY WARBLER. Ad. 8.- (Fig. 105.) A yellow line from the bill passes over and around the back of WOOD WARBLERS. the eye; crown, region below the eye, and the side of the throat black; rest of the upper parts, wings, and tail olive-green; no wing-bars or tail-patches; under parts bright yellow. Ad. 9. - Similar, but the black areas more grayish and less clearly defined. L., 5.40; W., 2.60; T., 1.90; B. from N., •32.