Brown Thrasher 43 



the victors can pursue, uninterrupted, the even tenor of their 

 ways. But the English Sparrows are so numerous wherever 

 brick walls and pavements abound that I fancy the Wrens 

 have tired of combatting them, and that this is the real reason 

 why they have retired nowadays to more strictly rural places 

 to rear their young. 



The House Wren is fairly common in some parts of Albany 

 County. From six to eight eggs are laid and often there are 

 two broods in a season. 



Subfamily Miminse 



Brown Thrasher. — Toxostoma rufum. 1 1 .44 



Rare Summer Resident 



Field marks. — Long slender bird; bill long and curved; tail 

 proportionately long; upper parts bright reddish-brown; 

 grayish under parts, heavily streaked with dark brown; 

 eye bright orange-yellow; has jerky flight. 



This glorious singer, the "Brown Thrush" of the small boy 

 and persons untrained in bird-lore, is a summer resident of 

 Albany County, though nowhere common. On walks in May 

 or June I have met with one or two pairs, but never more, 

 and sometimes have not encountered them for weeks. The 

 nest, a flat but artistic structure of sticks and dried rootlets, 

 is placed in a low bush, or more generally on the ground. 

 Four eggs, with bluish-white ground, thickly speckled with 

 cinnamon, are the nest complement. Ordinarily Brown 

 Thrasher frequents dry, overgrown pastures or low second 



