SAGE THRASHER 431 



observation I have heard no call of any kind and on but two occasions during 

 this period have I heard a short burst of song. Their shyness also leaves them. 

 They become as approachable as Robins in an eastern dooryard. They will sit 

 and without fear eat berries within a few feet of pickers. 



Immediately following the raspberries come the blackberries. Both are de- 

 voured with equal readiness. Sour red berries are eaten as readily as the riper 

 black ones. The berries are eaten whole and because of their size many of those 

 picked off fall to the ground and are lost. After the blackberry season there is 

 a period of 2 or 3 weeks when no small fruits are ripe. During this time the 

 Thrashers stay about the ranches but content themselves with an insect diet. 



At the end of this interim, the latter part of July, the early grapes begin to 

 color. At first they pass unnoticed but by the time one-half of the clusters 

 are purple the Thrashers have commenced to peck them. Usually they break 

 the skin and sip the juice but occasionally a grape is eaten whole. After the 

 feeding on grapes commences the vineyard is never free from Thrashers, which 

 fly up from tlie vines to near posts and silently watch any intruder. * * * 



On this ranch there are 140 vines of Campbell's Early. The actual loss in 

 weight of grapes through bird damage was 25 percent, but the loss in profits 

 was not less than 50 percent because of the large item of labor in trimming dam- 

 aged clusters, and the loss in fancy value through the unattractive appearance 

 of the trimmed bunches. 



Dr. George F. Knowlton writes to me : "During the past several years 

 I have collected 24 sage thrashers in the Snowville area of Box Elder 

 County, Utah. Examination of the stomach contents revealed 21 

 to contain a total of 65 grasshoppers, 1 field cricket, and 1 snowy tree 

 cricket. One dragonfly was contained. Eighty-six Hemiptera in the 

 stomachs included 54 adult and 13 nymphal false chinch bugs, 9 mirids, 

 and 3 pentatomids. The 20 Homoptera included 7 beet leafhoppers 

 and 8 psyllids. The 40 Coleoptera were made up of 5 alfalfa weevils, 

 1 clover leaf weevil, 2 click beetles, and representatives of various other 

 families. There also were contained 2 larval Lepidoptera, 7 Diptera, 

 41 Hymenoptera of which 35 were ants, besides 2 spiders and 35 seeds, 

 most of these being black-currant seeds. Many of the birds were taken 

 along a one-eighth-mile fencerow of black currants, very attractive to 

 birds of many species." 



Behavior. — The sage thrasher may have been called the mountain 

 mockingbird, or the sage mockingbird, because it impressed some of 

 the early observers with its resemblance to that famous songster in 

 some of its mannerisms. It uses its tail in much the same manner as 

 the mocker, frequently raising it rapidly and then lowering it slowly 

 while perched on a post or the top of a bush, moving its head nervously 

 from side to side as it views the intruder. Again, while running on 

 the ground, the tail is held high and daintily as the mocking bird is 

 wont to do ; its pose and flight are also suggestive of the relationship. 

 But its terrestrial habits mark it as a thrasher, for it much prefers run- 

 ning to flying; it runs on the ground much like a robin, when not 

 frightened ; when alarmed, it is apt to dash thrasherlike into a bush 

 and escape by running away under cover, or by low flight close to the 



