194 SINGING BIRDS. 



insidious enemies of the human species, when approaching the 

 helpless or unfledged young, every art is displayed ; threats, 

 entreaties, and reproaches the most pathetic and powerful, are 

 tried in no equivocal strain ; they dart at the ravisher in wild 

 despair, and lament, in the most touching strains of sorrow, the 

 bereavement they suffer. I know of nothing equal to the burst 

 of grief manifested by these affectionate parents excepting the 

 afflicting accents of suffering humanity. 



Their food consists of worms and insects generally ; also 

 caterpillars, beetles, and other coleopterous tribes, as well as 

 various kinds of berries. In the month of January I observed 

 this Thrush and the Mocking Bird feed on the berries of the 

 sumach. Sometimes they raise up a few grains of planted 

 corn, but this is more the effect of caprice than appetite, as 

 the search for grubworms is what commonly induces this 

 resort to scratching up the soil. The Thrasher is an active, 

 watchful, shy, and vigorous species, generally flying low, dwel- 

 ling among thickets, and skipping from bush to bush with his 

 long tail sometimes spread out like a fan. About the first week 

 in October, after moulting, they disappear for the season and 

 pass the winter in the Southern States. By the middle of 

 February, or early in March, they already display their vocal 

 powers in the warmer parts of Georgia and West Florida. 

 They are easily reared, and become very familiar and amusing 

 companions, showing a strong attachment to the hand that 

 feeds and protects them. In their manners, intelligence, song, 

 and sagacity, they nearly approach to the Mocking Bird, being 

 equally playful, capricious, petulant, and affectionate. 



The Thrasher is abundant in Massachusetts, and is found in Ver- 

 mont and New Hampshire, but near the Atlantic seaboard does 

 not go farther north than southern Maine. It occurs regularly in 

 the vicinity of Montreal, and is common in Ontario and Manitoba. 

 It winters from about 37° southward. 



