Brown Thrasher. 101 



among my records of its arrival. Eobert Eidgway notes 

 its arrival at Mount Carmel, Illinois, for four successive 

 years, from March 2l8t to 26th, and intimates that it 

 sometimes remains all winter in that locality. John B. 

 Grant, in "Our Common Birds and How to Know Them," 

 states that it arrives in southeastern New York from April 

 20th to the last of the month, at which time most nests of 

 the brown thrasher in central Illinois have their full com- 

 plement of eggs. 



The two weeks or more following their arrival in a 

 given neighborhood are devoted to courtship and song. 

 The brown thrashers are regular birds of the hedgerows 

 and bushes; but during the period of honeymoon they 

 come into villages and suburbs of large towns to sing in 

 the tops of the large trees. • Tbey also pour forth their 

 lyrics from the elms and maples of the farmer's door-yard. 

 Throughout the entire day they vie with one another in 

 their clear, sweet notes, which are usually uttered in pairs. 

 Indeed, they are so full of melody that they commonly 

 begin their songs before reaching the intended perch. 

 When once seated in a commanding position, they are in 

 no hurry to leave if they are not disturbed, and they re- 

 gale the listener with a full round of rich recitals, sitting 

 with head erect and long tail pendent as they utter their 

 varied and delightful song. Among their notes we can 

 identify the soft carol of the bluebird, the bolder warble 

 of the robin, portions of the twitter of the canary, and the 

 squealing of the young pig, as well as other less musical 

 tones, all mingled with the notes peculiar to these song- 

 sters. When disturbed in their recitals, or when fancy 

 leads them, they abandon their perch with low, heavy 

 flight, the long tails drooping as they advance with rather 

 undulating motion, to continue the concert in another 

 neighborhood. 



The nesting season begins with the middle of April. 

 Resorting lees to the large trees in towns and suburbs, 

 they frequent thickets, hedgerows of osage orange, brush - 

 heaps, and isolated thorn trees and bushes in open past- 

 ures, to construct their homes and rear their broods. 

 Thickets of hazel, wild gooseberry and blackberry bushes 

 now become their haunts. Tbeir music is now heard less 



