Genus HARPORHYNCHUS Cabanis. 



Subgenus METHRIOPTERUS Rbichenbach. 



HARPORHYNCHUS RUFUS (Linn.). 



296. Brown Thrasher. (705) 



Above, reddish-brown ; below, white, with more or less tawny tinge ; breast 

 and sides, spotted with dark brown; thi-oat and belly, unspotted; bill, black 

 above, yellow below; feet, pale; iris, yellow. Length, 11; wing, 4; tail, 5-6. 



Hab. — Eastern United States, west to the Rocky Mountains, north to 

 Southern Maine, Ontario and Manitoba, south to the Gulf States, including 

 Eastern Texas. Accidental in Europe. 



Nest, most frequently placed in the fork of a small tree in a thicket, three 

 to six feet from the ground, sometimes higher, occasionally on the ground; 

 composed of twigs, grass, leaves and rootlets, lined with bark fibre, horse-hair 

 and a few feathers. 



Eggs, four or five, greenish-white, thickly spotted with light reddish- brown. 



The Brown Thrasher is not so abundant as the Catbird, neither 

 is it so confiding or familiar in its habits, seldom coming near our 

 dwellings. It delights in the tangled, briary thicket, in the depths 

 of which it disappears as soon as it is aware of being observed. Near 

 Hamilton it is a common summer resident, appearing regularly about 

 the 10th of May. At first the birds are seen stealing quietly through 

 the underbrush, or scratching among the withered leaves like the 

 Towhees, but once arrived at their breeding place, the male is heard 

 from the topmost twig of an isolated tree, pouring forth, morning 



