180 BEOWN THEASHER 



The thickets where the Thrasher is usually 

 seen are also his nesting sites. His nest is a 

 coarse, bulky affair of twigs, rootlets, and leaves ; 

 and the eggs are bluish or grayish white, mi- 

 nutely and evenly dotted with brown. At the 

 nest the bird is more interesting than elsewhere. 

 Audubon has watched his courtship, and says that 

 he struts before the female with his tail trailing 

 on the ground. Mr. Torrey calls him a bird of 

 passion, " ecstatic in song, furious in anger, irre- 

 sistibly pitiful in lamentation," and exclaims, 

 " How any man can rob a Thrasher's nest with 

 that heart-broken whistle in his ears is more than 

 I can imagine." Doctor Brewer gives a strik- 

 ing instance of the passionate nature of the bird, 

 which is also valuable testimony on the point 

 sometimes raised as to whether a bird has intelli- 

 gence to recognize the difference between its own 

 eggs and those of others. A set of Robin's eggs 

 were put in a Thrasher's nest and the premises 

 watched. Presently the female returned, looked 

 in the nest, and flew off. In a moment she was 

 back with her mate, and both flew at the nest in 

 a rage. They actually took the strange eggs 

 in their claws and dashed them on the ground, 

 venting their anger by tossing about the broken 

 shellso 



