SPECIES 2. TURD US R UFUS. 



FERRUGINOUS THRUSH. 



[Plate XIV. Fig. 1.] 



Fox-coloured Thrush, CATESBY, i, 28. Turdus rufus, LINN. Syst. 

 293. LATH, in, 39. La Grive de la Caroline, BRISS. n, 228. 

 Le Moqueur Fran$oi*>, DE BUFF, in, 323. PL Enl. 645. Arct. 

 Zool. p. 335, JVo. 195. PEALE'S Museum, No. 5285. 



THIS is the Brown Thrush, or Thrasher of the middle and eas- 

 tern states; and the French Mocking-bird of Maryland, Virgi- 

 nia, and the Carolinas. It is the largest of all our Thrushes, and 

 is a well known and very distinguished songster. About the 

 middle or twentieth of April, or generally about the time the 

 cherry trees begin to blossom, he arrives in Pennsylvania; and 

 from the tops of our hedge rows, sassafras, apple or cherry trees, 

 he salutes the opening morning with his charming song, which 

 is loud, emphatical, and full of variety. At that serene hour you 

 may plainly distinguish his voice full half a mile off. These 

 notes are not imitative, as his name would import, and as some 

 people believe, but seem solely his own; and have considerable 

 resemblance to the notes of the Song Thrush ( Turdus musicus] 

 of Britain. Early in May he builds his nest, choosing a thorn 

 bush, low cedar, thicket of briars, dogwood sapling, or cluster 

 of vines for its situation, generally within a few feet of the 

 ground. Outwardly it is constructed of small sticks; then layers 

 of dry leaves; and lastly lined with fine fibrous roots; but with- 

 out any plaster. The eggs are five, thickly sprinkled with fer- 

 ruginous grains on a very pale bluish ground. They generally 

 have two brood in a season. Like all birds that build near the 

 ground, he shows great anxiety for the safety of his nest and 



