Birds of Indiana. 



1111 



-297. 



167. Gr.vus HARPORHYNCHUS Cabanis. 

 Subgenus Methrioptkrus Reichenbach. 



(705). Harporhynchus rufus (Linn.). 



Bro-wn Thrasher. 



Synonyms, Brown Thrush, Tawny Thrush, Brown Mockingbird, French 

 Mockingbird, English Mockingbird. 



Brown Thrasher. 

 (Judd.— Year Book, United States Department of Agriculture, 1895, p. 412.) 



Adult. — Above, rufous; wings, with two white bars; below, white, 

 tinged more or less with buff, streaked with dark brown, except on 

 the chin and middle of the belly. 



Length, 10.50-12.00; wing, 4.10-4.60; tail, 5.00-5.75. 



Eange. — Eastern North America, from eastern Texas and Florida 

 north to Maine, Ontario and Manitoba. Breeds throughout its range. 

 Winters from Illinois and Virginia south. 



Nest, in bush or vine, low down, sometimes on ground; of sticks, 

 leaves and rootlets. Eggs, 4-5; greenish or soiled white, more or less 

 covered with reddish-brown dots; quite variable in pattern; 1.03 by 

 .80. 



Common summer resident, doubtless some years remains in the 

 extreme southern part of the State all winter, as, perhaps, the last 

 mentioned species also does more rarely. Both occasionally winter in 

 southern Illinois. The Brown Thrasher is a shy and retiring inhabi- 

 tant of thickets and bushy land, therefore is liable to be overlooked 

 before its season of song begins. In its migration it skulks along 



