THE PERCHING BIRDS. 49 



tall, slender birch, and while the bended twig swayed 

 with the bird's weight and motion, this forerunning 

 thrasher filled the whole air with melody. The united 

 voices of the rest- 

 less red-wings, the 

 twanging of the 

 grakl e's wiry 

 tongue, the cry of the spar- 

 row-hawk, and the morning 

 hymn of the foxie sparrows 

 could not drown it. Of all 

 spring-tide sounds, it most 

 thoroughly puts the world 

 in touch with the new year, 

 with the days of budding trees and 

 the greening of the grass. 



The thrasher locates his nest in such 

 a variety of places that it is difficult 

 to know where to look for it, but Wil- 

 son does not mention the fact that it 

 is very often directly upon the ground, 

 and I have often heard the name Brown Thrasher. 

 " ground-thrush" given to it on ac- 

 count of this habit. On the other hand, it is often 

 built in a pretty elevated position. For several years 

 a nest of this bird was rebuilt among the rank cables 

 of a poison-ivy that covered the trunk of a large 

 sassafras. The nest was about twenty feet from the 

 ground. There were always two broods raised. 



It is scarcely safe to speak too confidently of the 

 character of a bird's nest, unless you hold one in 

 your hand and describe it. The great degree of 

 c d S 



