150 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 
Like the vireos, although the tanagers seem to 
prefer the higher branches and tree tops in sing- 
ing and hunting, their nest, a “saucer shaped 
structure,” constructed of wiry dead grass-stems 
and like materials, “is built usually on a low 
branch. The eggs are pale bluish or greenish, 
spotted or speckled with brown.” 
The tanagers belong in pigeon-hole No. 5, which 
is marked “tanagers,” and is between the “ finches, 
sparrows, etc.,” of No. 4 and the swallows of No. 
6. Unlike the flycatchers and sparrows the males 
are brillant birds, whose plumage varies greatly 
with the season, and whose plain wives are in 
marked contrast to them. But compare their 
unobtrusive ways with those of the catbird, the 
restless kinglets, chickadees, and blue jays; and 
their habits with those of the ground-loving oven- 
bird, the nuthatch, snowbird, and partridge, and 
you will see that the difference lies deeper than 
color. 
DE UWE 
BROWN THRASHER. 
In a Massachusetts sand flat, where nothing but 
sand burrs and low scrubby bushes could flourish, 
I heard my first thrasher song. There were a 
pair of birds in a clump of bushes, and we came 
up within a few yards without disturbing them. 
Their backs were rich reddish-brown, and their 
