270 The Brown Thrasher 



and far-reaching, but hardly possesses the sweetness of tone so char- 

 acteristic of the Wood Thrush and the Veery. The bird's fame is based 

 rather on the wide variety and clearness of the notes 

 s a " e it produces, aided perhaps by the fact that it sings 



much of the time within sight and hearing of our 

 garden-walks and house-windows. 



Upon arriving in the spring from his winter home in the Southern 

 States, this bird usually announces his presence by a voluble song, with 

 which he floods the morning air from his perch on a neighboring tree. 

 The worry and responsibility of domestic life which shortly come upon 

 him, in common with many other singing birds, do not, to any notable 

 extent, lessen the force or frequency of his music. 



The nest of the Brown Thrasher is, for the size of the bird, a rather 

 bulky structure. It is composed mainly of dead twigs, and has a lining 

 of rootlets. This nest is usually placed in a bush or thick cluster of 

 vines, where it is well concealed from the eye of anyone passing. I recall 

 finding a nest in the main fork of an old pear-tree about three feet from 

 the ground, and another situated on a small stump, and well screened 

 from view by the sprouts which had grown up above it. Occasionally 

 the nest is even placed on the ground, always well 

 The Nest hidden by vegetation ; and observers have recorded 



that they have seen ground-built nests made in situa- 

 tions so wet that the dampness, working up through the nesting-material, 

 caused the eggs to addle. The parent-birds, failing to recognize the 

 misfortune which had come to their treasures in some such instances, 

 continued to sit on them for several weeks. 



The eggs, which are usually four in number, are thickly and uni- 

 formly covered with fine dots of cinnamon or rufous brown. 



When one approaches the nest of the Crow, if one of the birds is at 

 home, it will usually leave, and will frequently not again be observed 

 until the intruder has left the neighborhood, and some other birds have 

 this habit of deserting their nest on the approach of real or imaginary 

 danger. This, however, is not the case with the Brown Thrasher. When 

 an enemy approaches both birds instantly become alert, or if one chances 

 to be away the scolding notes of the one on guard soon recall the absent 

 companion. Together they fly in and out of the bushes, constantly voic- 

 ing their alarm and disapproval, and often darting viciously at the crea- 

 ture which has trespassed upon their privacy. They 

 Habits become especially excited and annoyed upon the ap- 



pearance of that most dreaded of all birds' enemies 

 the house-cat ; and their alarm is not without reason, for seldom is a 

 Thrasher's nest built in such a situation as to be safe from the agile 

 activities of this marauder. 



One of the saddest sights in the bird-world is to witness the de- 

 jected movements, and hear the piteously mournful notes, of a pair of 

 Brown Thrashers whose nest has been despoiled by Grimalkin. 



