BROWN THRASHER 365 



his name may have come from this habit of thrashing about among 

 the leaves and rubbish; another suggestion is that his habit of 

 thrashing large insects or other prey on the hard ground to kill or 

 mutilate them has suggested the name; a still more fanciful notion 

 came from someone who had been thrashed by the bird in the defense 

 of its nest. 



Milton P. Skinner (1928) writes of its feeding habits in North 

 Carolina: 



One was seen that picked the ground for a time and then alternated its 

 picking strokes with some sidewise scoops of its bill. Later it ran swiftly along 

 for 6 feet and caught an insect that was flj'ing low. Another Thrasher was 

 seen making flycatcher-like sallies from the ground, and later from well up 

 in an oak. They sometimes chase lively, erratic insects through the grass, 

 and at other times adopt the Flicker method of digging down a good inch and 

 a half into the sandy soil, probably for grubs. Brown Thrashers sometimes 

 pick up acorns and carry them away in their bills, and later open them as the 

 Jays do. But they are ground birds, unlike the Jays, and when they try to 

 split the shell from an acorn by pile-driver blows, they often drive tlie acorn 

 down into the soft ground. In spite of this difficulty, they persevere and the 

 shell eventually flies off. I have seen one eat a shelled acorn in a few bites. 

 Apparently, acorns are an essential part of their winter food. 



He says that thrashers "occasionally fly up on the weed stalks and 

 pluck the seeds direct" and also that they are very fond of sumac 

 berries; one "ate for some minutes, quite stripping the head of all 

 fruit; then rested a few minutes before eating another score of the 

 berries." He adds that they sometimes eat persimmons and smilax 

 berries but found that sumac berries were a favorite food in December. 



Behavior. — As suggested by Miss Sherman (1912) and as mentioned 

 in the first part of this account, there seems to be some variation in the 

 general behavior and in the disposition of the brown thrasher in New 

 England from what has been noted in the Midwest and South. In 

 Massachusetts I have always regarded it as a shy, retiring, and some- 

 what unfriendly bird, shunning human society and especially hostile 

 to the intruder near its nest. In other parts of the country, it seems 

 to be more sociable, more friendly, and more inclined to make its home 

 in parks in towns and villages, or even cities, in gardens, orchards, and 

 close to human dwellings. These are not, however, hard and fast 

 rules, for there are exceptions in both cases. 



The thrasher is one of the most valiant and aggressive defenders of 

 its nest and young among all our small birds, exhibiting the greatest 

 bravery and boldness. While the late Herbert K. Job and I were 

 photographing birds near West Haven, Conn., on June 5, 1910, we 

 found a thrasher brooding her young in a nest 5 feet from the ground 

 in a thick bush. She allowed Mr. Job to stroke her on the nest before 

 she left and then set up a loud cry of protest and defiance, which soon 

 brought her mate to join in the attack. As I attempted to examine 



