130 



CITIZEN BIRD 



the Brown Thrasher, the Rock Wren, the House Wren, 

 and the Long-billed Marsh Wren, the last being the 

 only really shy bird among the seven I am going to 

 tell you about." 



" Do Wrens and Mockingbirds belong 



to the same family? " asked Nat. " One 



so little and one so big ! Mother had 



a Mockingbird in a cage once, but it 



got out and flew away to live in the 



park, she thought." 



'' They are cousins and belong 

 to the same large family, though 

 to different households, like 

 House People. 



" The Sage Thrasher be- 

 longs only to the West, just 

 as its relative the Brown 

 Thrasher belong-s to the 

 eastern part of the coun- 

 try. When your Cousin 

 Olive and I lived one summer 

 here and there, from Colo- 

 rado westward, it was this 

 bird that made us feel at 

 home by its sweet sociable 

 music. 



'' Everywhere in that 

 mountainous region the sagebrush, with its blue flower 

 spikes, spreads over the ground, making a silvery green- 

 ness where other plants could not grow. In and out 

 of the sage, nests and scratches and hops this Thrasher, 

 taking its name from the plant. He also ventures up 



Sage Thrasher. 



