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Wilson's Thrush; Veery — Part 1
Adult--Upper parts reddish or golden brown; under parts white or grayish white, except the breast, which is tinged with buff and spotted with brown. Length--7.52.
Breeding Range--"From northern Illinois and Pennsylvania to Manitoba and Newfoundland, and southward along the Alleghanies to North Carolina." (Chapman.)
The nest is most commonly placed on the ground, or among the roots of a fallen tree, rarely in bushes, and they "have been found in hollow trunks of trees fifteen feet from ground" (Davie). It is generally a well-made structure about three inches in diameter by two and a half deep inside, and as much as five or six inches deep outside. The materials used in its construction are principally leaves and skeleton leaves, also weeds, fern stalks, reeds, and fine roots, the inside being lined with leaves and fine black roots. 3 to 5 eggs are laid, 3 being perhaps the most common number. They are pale greenish blue, somewhat darker than a robin's eggs. Size--.87 x .64. See Fig. 11, Plate C.
The Wilson's Thrush confines himself chiefly to the low, damp woods, where, in some places, they are very abundant. Their choice of residence, however, renders them almost unknown, except to people who are directly interested in birds. In appearance they may be said to resemble a very dull-coloured wood thrush without the bright rufous tail, and the markings on the breast are not nearly so conspicuous. Their note is very peculiar, sounding almost like the sharpening of a scythe with a whetstone. It is a sound that cannot be confounded with any other bird's note. The place chosen for nesting is on the ground in the damp woods, not far from water as a rule. The nest is very often built at the foot of a sapling, or between the stems of a bush, or on a mound of moss and grass, and not infrequently in dry clearings with shrubby undergrowth. I have never found a nest in a bush, but I am told that such places are sometimes, though rarely, chosen. From my experience with these denizens of the dark, wet woods I should be inclined to believe they have but scanty confidence in man. I have tried repeatedly, and in vain, to secure a photograph of the sitting bird. The eggs are laid about the third week in May.