OF NEW ENGLAND. 49 
partly, of strips of cedar-bark and the like, together with dead 
leaves and similar substances. The eggs are dirty white, cov- 
ered with very numerous and minute light brown markings, and 
average 1:05 & °80 of an inch, or more. One specimen is 
slightly tinged with green. In Eastern Massachusetts, two 
sets of these eggs (containing four or five) are laid every year, 
the first of which commonly appears in the last week of May, 
though sometimes exceptionally in the second week. 
(c). Not only do the notes of the Brown Thrush bear a 
strong resemblance to those of the Cat-bird, but their habits 
also correspond closely to those of that bird. The ‘‘ Song 
Thrushes” reach the neighborhood of Boston, more often in 
the first than in the second week of May, or perhaps most often 
in the last week of April, and are common summer-residents 
throughout southern New England, many not. withdrawing 
until October. They are rare, however, in Northern Vermont, 
New Hampshire, and Maine. Though on their arrival one may 
often see them on cultivated estates and near houses, yet they 
almost invariably, so far as I know, pass their summers in that 
species of shrubbery known as ‘‘scrub,” or in low cedar- 
woods, where underbrush abounds, and are much less familiar 
toward man than are their relations the Cat-birds. They feed 
upon berries, caterpillars, wasps, or beetles, and, while en- 
gaged in procuring them, may often be seen moving from bush 
to bush, with a characteristic flight, and with their long tails 
so outspread as to be very conspicuous. When they perch, the 
‘‘ Thrashers ” flirt or depress their tails in the manner of the 
last species, to whom I have already referred; and they like- 
wise are very bold in the defence of their nest, often hissing 
with the vehemence of a pugnacious goose. They frequently 
have refused to leave their nests on my approach, unless to fly 
at me in a way, which used to frighten me heartily, when 
young. They are so brave and at the same time so unsociable 
as rarely or never to congregate, either for the sake of mutual 
protection or of companionship. They may be seen, however, 
in pairs, rustling loudly among the dead leaves, or hopping 
along the ground with remarkable agility. I have called them 
5 
