All MIC THRUSHES 



i8i 



pair of tht'in, 1 thought 1 had some hght on the 

 subject." And he then proceeds to describe the 

 courage displayed by this pair in their desjierate 

 attacks upon him while he was photographing 

 their nest and young. This is a strongly marked 

 characteristic of the bird, and must excite the 

 admiration of every one who has seen it ex- 

 ])ressed: for the male bird, especially, is (}ften 

 positively heroic in his persistent efTorts to pro- 

 tect his familv. Indeed, it behooves the intruder 

 under such conditions to guard his head care- 

 fully, for the infuriated bird will often dash 

 directly at one's face, and a single stroke from 

 that long, curved bill, if fairly delivered, un- 

 doubtedlv would destroy the sight of an eye. 



The song of this Thrasher is fairly one of 

 the most musical and delightful of American bird 

 utterances. In its structure — or rather, the lack 

 of any definite structure — it suggests the Cat- 

 bird's, though it includes almost none of the 

 liarsh or nasal notes which often mar that 

 singer's effort. Most of the tones composing the 

 song are like those of tlie flute or the piccolo, 

 though the violin and the clarionet are also rep- 

 resented. The spirit, also, of the two utter- 

 ances differs in that the Catbird's is likely to 

 include little phrases which are sotto 7'occ in 

 quality, and in the manner of their delivery, as 

 if the singer were addressing them in a personal 

 way to a single listener ; whereas the Thrasher's 

 aria, delivered usually from a conspicuous perch 

 at the top of a tree or bush ( and most frequently 

 in the morning or the evening ) , seems to be 

 addressed to all the world within hearmg. 



Browning, of course, had a different bird in 

 mind, yet he might well have been thinking of 

 our Thrasher's pretty trick of repeating a 

 phrase, when he wrote, in his beautiful poem, 

 " Home Thoughts from Abroad " — 



That's the wise Thrush ; he sings his song twice over 



Lest you sliould think he never could recapture 



That hrst fine careless rapture. 



Of the Thrasher's impassioned manner when 

 the frenzy is upon him, we have this fine picture 

 from Mr. Cheney ; " As the fervor increases his 

 long and elegant tail droops ; all his feathers 

 separate; his whole plumage lifted, it floats, 

 trembles; his head is raised and his bill is wide 

 open ; there is no mistake ; it is the power of 

 the god. No pen can report him now ; we must 

 wait until the frenzy j)asses." And now he 

 reminds one of Emma Juch, when she would 

 throw back her head and pour her whole soul 



* Harporhynchus rufus was the scientifi 



into the nuisical setting of Heinrich Heine's jier- 

 fect poem, " Du bist zcic cine bliime," 



The lighter and more rollicking significance of 

 the song is cleverly suggested by the following 

 lines in Mrs. Wright's book, Citicen Bird, and 

 attributed to " Olive " : 



My creamy breast is speckled 

 (Perhaps you'd call it freckled) 

 Black and brown. 



My pliant russet tail 

 Beats like a frantic flail, 

 Up and down. 



In tlie top branch of a tree 



Vou may chance to glance at me. 



When I sing. 



But I'm very, very shy, 

 When I silently float by, 

 On the wing. 



Whew there! Hi there! Such a clatter. 

 What's the matter — what's the matter? 

 Really, really ? 



Digging, delving, raknig, sowing. 

 Corn IS sprouting, corn is growing. 



Plant it, plant it! 



Gather it, gather it ! 



Thresh it, thresh it! 



Hide it, hide it, do! 



(I see it — and you.) 

 Oh I I'm that famous scratcher, 

 H-a-r-p-o-r-h-y-n-c-h-u-s r-u-f-u-s — 



Thrasher' 

 Cloaked in brown." 



Georce Gladden. 



The food of the Brown Thrasher consists of 

 both fruit and insects. An examination of 636 

 Stomachs showed 36 per cent, of vegetable and 

 64 of animal food, practically all insects, and 

 mostly taken in spring before fruit was ripe. 

 Half the insects were beetles and the remainder 

 chiefly grasshoppers, caterj)illars, bugs, and 

 spiders. A few predacious beetles were eaten, 

 but on the whole the work of the species as an 

 insect destroyer may be considered beneficial. 

 Eight per cent, of its food is made up of fruits 

 like raspberries and currants which are or may 

 be cultivated, but the raspberries at least are as 

 likely to belong to wild as to cultivated varieties. 

 Grain, made up mostly of scattered kernels of 

 oats and corn, is merely a trifle, amounting to 

 only 3 per cent. Though some of the corn may 

 be taken from newly planted fields, it is amply 

 paid for by the destruction of May beetles which 

 are eaten at the same time. The rest of the 

 food consists of wild fruit or seeds. Taken ail 



before the adoption of the present one by the An 



I Ornithologists' Unif 



