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Golden-crowned Thrush; Oven-bird
Adult--Upper parts brownish olive; crown dull orange with dark line on either side; under parts white, slightly tinged with yellow, with numerous dark spots forming lines from the throat downwards. Length--6.17.
Breeding Range--From Virginia and Kentucky northward, and in the higher regions of the Carolinas.
The arched or domed nest is formed of dead leaves, skeleton leaves, and roots, with the lining mostly of fine hair-like roots, and sometimes hair; the opening is at the side, and is fairly large, about three inches high; the nest is placed among dead leaves, either on a bank or on the level ground in dry woods. The eggs vary in number from 3 to 6, sets of 5 being the most common; they are pinkish white, with either few or many fine specks of light chocolate colour or sometimes blotches of reddish or lilac, chiefly at the larger end. Size--.78x.58. See Fig. 12, Plate C.
This thrush-like warbler may be found throughout our woods--perhaps the most common of the woodland birds, and certainly the one most frequently seen during the earlier part of the breeding season; he is easily identified by his size, being much smaller than any of the thrushes except Bicknell's thrush (which is but little larger); by the dull orange crown, the feathers on the head being elevated when the bird becomes excited, and by the fact that the walks.
When the nest is threatened these birds become greatly excited, coming close to the intruder, and then feigning broken wings and general demoralisation, uttering all the time a rather sharp and piteous note; the nest is carefully hidden amongst the dead leaves and young spring growth, and is somewhat difficult to find. It is often completed several days before the eggs are laid. The young remain with and are fed by their parents until fully grown. The old birds show clearly the whereabouts of the young by their excitement when one comes even within a hundred yards of them.
In the vicinity of New York the nests are finished by May 14th; probably two and perhaps three broods are reared, as I have seen the young being fed as late as the end of August.
In Massachusetts the season is about ten days later.