356 BULLETIN 19 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Nesting. — I have been surprised to read in the literature and in con- 

 tributed notes that, throughout the western and southern portions of 

 its range, the brown thrasher very seldom builds its nest ui:)on the 

 ground, for that is certainly not the case in New England, or at least 

 in eastern Massachusetts. Miss Sherman (1912) writes: 



In Iowa I have never found a nest nearer than 18 inches or 2 feet of the 

 ground, one of these being in the lower branches of a spruce tree, the other In a 

 brush pile. Another was found built in a brush pile, but farther from the 

 ground, these are the only nests thus situated that have been found, but brush 

 piles on prairie land are rare. The next locations nearest the ground are where 

 nests are built in such bushes as gooseberry, lilac, and syringa, when they are 

 from two to three feet above the ground. The highest nest situation found was 

 one in a tame crabapple tree about ten feet up; other trees frequently used are 

 spruce, willow, apple, and plum trees in which a majority of the nests are about 

 five feet from the ground. 



A. Dawes DuBois has sent me his data on 19 nests, found in Illinois, 

 only one of which was on the ground "under a large, cattle-eaten bush 

 in a pasture"; he remarks that this is the only nest he ever found on 

 the ground. His other nests were mostly in bushes, hedges, or low 

 trees ; one was 3 feet from the ground in a large osage-orange hedge, 

 and one was in the top of an apple tree. 



Frank W. Braund's data sent to me show five nests, found in Ohio, 

 all 21/2 to 4 feet up in bushes or small trees. One nest found near 

 Jackson, Tenn., but not collected, was of rather unusual construction, 

 being made of coarse gi'asses, with a few leaves, and lined with fine 

 grass. 



There is a set of six eggs in my collection, taken by W. L. Griffin 

 in Pulaski County, Ky., that came from a nest 15 feet from the 

 ground in a gum tree ; the eggs were evidently laid by two females, 

 as tAvo of them were more heavily marked than the other four ; fur- 

 thermore, three adult birds appeared and made the usual demon- 

 stration while the eggs were being taken. 



Evidently none of the nests studied by Dr. Erwin (1935) at Nash- 

 ville, Tenn., was on the ground ; his lowest nest was a foot from the 

 ground in a thick growth of smilax; one pair of thrashers started a 

 nest 14 feet up on a horizontal branch of a maple but never com- 

 pleted it. Of the 59 nests examined, nearly 80 percent were between 

 2 and 7 feet above ground ; onl}'^ nine were higher and three lower. 

 "The most common locations for nests on Peabody Campus were 

 Golden Bell {Forsythia sp.) and Privet {Ligustrwn sp.). Other 

 shrubs and smaller trees were occasionally used." 



W. Leon Dawson (1903), referring to Ohio, writes: "Nesting sites 

 are various, but the bird shows a decided preference for those which 

 are naturally defended by thorns. Nearly every full sized Crategus 

 (thorn apple) has at one time harbored a nest. Hedges of osage- 



