LAND BIRDS. 661 



410-411). Only one out of 213 Catbirds [stomachs] contained an earth- 

 worm. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult: Most of the plumage clear slate-color or slate gray, darker above, lighter below; 

 top of head and upper surface of tail glossy black; under tail-coverts rich chestnut; bill 

 black; iris dark. Young similar, but head and tail not so black, and under tail-coverts 

 lighter brown. 



Length of male 8 to 9.35 inches; wing 3.45 to 3.75; tail 3.70 to 4.25; culmen .65 to .75. 

 Female sliglitly smaller but otherwise like the male. 



302. Brown Thrasher. Toxostoma rufum (Linn.). (705) 



Synonyms: Thrasher, Brown Thrush, Red Thrush, Sandy Mockingbird, French Mock- 

 ingbird, Brown Mocker.— Turdus rufus, Linn., 1758, Vieill., 1807, Wilson, 1810, Aud., 

 1834.— Orpheus rufus. Swains., 1831, Nutt., 1832.— Harporhynchus rufus, Baird, 1858, 

 A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most subsequent authors. 



Plates LXV and LXVI, and Figure 145. 



The large size (nearly a foot long), rust-red back, and heavily brown- 

 spotted breast on a buffy white background are sufficient to discriminate 

 this bird from any other. It may be confused by the beginner with some 

 of the true thrushes, but its larger size, much longer tail, and bright yellow 

 eyes should prevent this. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States, west to the Rocky Mountains, 

 north to southern Maine, Ontario and Manitoba. Breeds from the Gulf 

 States, including eastern Texas, northward. 



The Brown Thrasher is a summer resident of all parts of the state, but 

 like the Catbird, is most abundant in the southern half, becoming less 

 common over a large part of the Upper 

 Peninsula and even rare in some sections. ^^.._ _, 



Its large size, conspicuous color and /^""'^^^ ^■^•'' >^, "v 



striking song seldom fail to attract at- ^ f ''_^''^}^ ^?^^ 



tention and it therefore seems to be :,S^^ 



more abundant than really is the case. p-jg. 145. wing of Bmun Th^a,>ll,■l,^howing 

 Probably in most sections there are short first primary, (oiigiuai.) 



from three to six times as many Catbirds 

 as Thrashers, yet the two birds are almost equally well known. 



This species arrives from the south somewhat earlier than the Catbird, 

 the average date of arrival at Ann Arbor for twenty-five years being the 

 third week in April, although twice it has been recorded in March, on 

 the 16th in 1894, and on the 18th in 1903 (N. A. Wood). In Ingham 

 county we do not expect to hear its song before the last week in April, 

 and the first nests are not built until about the middle of May. From 

 that time, however, until the first of June fresh eggs may be looked for 

 and second sets are often found late in June or early in July, which makes 

 it probable that as a rule two broods are reared each season. 



The nest is a bulky affair built of twigs, weed-stalks and many roots, 

 and almost invariably lined with a profusion of fine roots. It is placed 

 sometimes on the ground, sometimes in a l)rush heap, and sometimes in a 

 thicket or a low tree, but rarely more than six or eight feet from the ground. 

 It is claimed that tlie earlier nests, built ])efore the foliage has appeared, 

 are invariably placed ujion the ground, while second nests are always in 

 shrubs or trees, but this is by no means true, early nests being fre- 



