218 Birds of Pknnsylvania. 



Oenus HARPORHYlsrCHUS. Cabanis. 

 705. Harporhynchus rufus. f^mNH.) 



lirowii Tliraslirr. 



Desckiptiuk. {Pl((tr 44.) 



Length, about 11.^ inches; extent, about l.J inches; tail, 5 or (J inclies; bill, black, with 

 base of lower niandiblo yellow ; legs, pale l)rown; irisof adult j'ellow; iris of young 

 brown ; upper parts reddish brown ; greater wing-eoverts edged with and middle 

 lower parts white; breast, sides and crissum strongly tinged with reddish l>ro\v^l; 

 breast, siilcs and Hanks conspicuously spotted with dark brown. 



ITuh. — Eastern United States, west to Rocky Mountains, north to southern Maine, 

 Ontario and Manitoba, south to the Gulf States, including eastern Texas. Accidental 

 in I'-urope. 



Common summer resident from about April 20 to late in September. 

 The Brown Thrusli, as tliis bird is usually called, is found in thickets 

 and shrubbery; he frequently, especially in the morning and evening, 

 repairs to the tops of trees, where for hours at a time he sings his 

 varied and beautiful song. Like our common domestic fowls, he fre- 

 quently maybe seen scratching among the dead leaves or dusting him- 

 self by the roadside. He sometimes visits fields, where corn is being 

 planted, to pick up the scattered grains of maize, and some farmers 

 assert that he often " pulls up corn " when it first appears above the 

 ground. This species breeds usually in low bushes, in briery thickets, 

 sometimes on the tops of old stumps covered with thick vines ; very 

 rarely, with us, do they build on the ground. The nest is a loose and 

 bulky structure composed of small twigs, strips of bark, leaves, root 

 lets, etc. The eggs, four or five in number, are a light greenish or 

 buffy color, thickly speckled with reddish brown. They are a little 

 more than an inch long, and about three-fourths wide. 



Altliough these birds are generally shy and retiring, they will, if 

 their eggs or young are disturbed, display great brovery in defending 

 them. They will fiy violently into a person's face and strike with 

 both bill and claws. When their home is invaded by a black snake, 

 they assail such intruder in a most vigorous manner. I once saw a 

 dog, which had upset a nest containing young Thrushes, forced to make 

 a speedy retreat when attacked by the old birds, who flew at his liead 

 and struck liim in the eyes. The Brown Thrush feeds chieliy on in- 

 sects, berries and small seeds. 



Subfamily TROGLODYTINiE. Wren.s. 



[XoTK. — Thirteen species, also "six geogr!iphi(!al forms" and one "local race" of 

 this subfamily' are recorded in the famia of the United States. Of these twenty 

 species and A-arieties, l)ut six species* are found in Pennsylvania. Tlie House Wren, 

 Bewick's Wren, also the Marsh Wrens are found here only as summer residents. 

 The Carolina Wren is most abundant in the summer; though sometimes during 



* See A])peiidix for technical names of species occurring in Pennsylvania. 



