Jan., 1909. Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin — Cory. 



683 



Genus TOXOSTOMA VVagler. 



341. Toxostoma rufum (Linn.). 



Brown Thrasher. Brown Thrush. 



Harporhynchus rufus (Linn.), A. O. U. Check List, 1895, p. 293. 



Distr.: Eastern United States, west to the Rocky Mountains, 

 north to southern Maine and the southern British Provinces; breeds 

 from eastern Texas and the Gulf states northward; winters from 

 North CaroHna and southeastern Missouri throughout the Gulf states 

 to Texas, accidental in southeastern Arizona.* 



Adult: Upper parts, wdngs and tail, bright rufous brown; wing 

 coverts tipped with wdiite; under parts, white, more or less tinged 



Brown Thrasher. 



with pale buff and heavily marked with short streaks or elongated 

 spots of black, except on the throat and belly; under tail coverts, 

 pale buff; primaries and tail, plain, without white. Sexes similar. 



Length, about 11; wing, 4; tail, 5; bill, .92. 



The Brown Thrasher is a common summer resident in Illinois 

 and Wisconsin, arriving in April and leaving for the south early in 

 October. It is an accomplished songster, the notes being loud, clear, 

 and continually varied. 



It breeds in May and June. The nest, which is comparatively 

 large, is composed of small dried twags, rootlets, and leaves, usually 

 built in low, thick bushes or on the ground. The eggs are 4 to 6, 



* Mr. H. S. Swarth informs me he took a male of this species in the Hua- 

 chuca Mountains, Arizona, in October, IQ07. 



