BROWN THRASHER. 
705. Toxostoma rufum. 11% inches. 
Above bright reddish brown; below white with black 
spots. 
Taken as a whole, I think that the song of this 
Thrasher is the most musical and pleasing of any that 
I have ever heard. It has a similarity to that of the 
Catbird, but is rounder, fuller and has none of the 
grating qualities of the song of that species. They ap- 
parently have a song of their own and do not deign to 
copy that of others. ‘They are one of the most useful 
end desirable birds that we have. 
Song.—A bright and cheerful carol, cften long con- 
tinued, but always clear and sweet; call, a clear whistled 
“wheuu.” 
Nest.—Of twigs and rootlets, in hedges, thickets or 
thorn bushes; the four or five eggs are bluish white with 
numerous fine dots of reddish brown over the entire sur- 
face (1.08 x-80). 
Range.—KEastern N. A., breeding from the Gulf to 
southern Canada; winters in the southern half of the 
(WETS 
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