FERRUGINOUS THRUSH. 107 



young, and often attacks the black-snake in their defence, gen- 

 erally too with success; his strength being greater and his bill 

 stronger and more powerful than any other of his tribe within 

 the United States. His food consists of worms, which he scratch- 

 es from the ground, caterpillars, and many kinds of berries. 

 Beetles and the whole race of coleopterous insects, wherever he 

 can meet with them, are sure to suffer. He is accused, by some 

 people, of scratching up the hills of indian corn, in planting time; 

 this may be partly true; but for every grain of maize he pilfers 

 I am persuaded he destroys five hundred insects; particularly 

 a large dirty-coloured grub, with a black head, which is more 

 pernicious to the corn and other grain and vegetables, than nine- 

 tenths of the whole feathered race. He is an active, vigorous 

 bird, flies generally low, from one thicket to another, with his 

 long broad tail spread like a fan; is often seen about briar and 

 bramble bushes, along fences; and has a single note or chuck, 

 when you approach his nest. In Pennsylvania they are nume- 

 rous, but never fly in flocks. About the middle of September, 

 or as soon as they have well recovered from moulting, in which 

 they suffer severely, they disappear for the season. In passing 

 through the southern parts of Virginia, and south as far as Geor- 

 gia, in the depth of winter, I found them lingering in sheltered 

 situations, particularly on the border of swamps and rivers. 

 On the first of March they were in full song round the commons 

 :it Savannah, as if straining to outstrip the Mocking-bird, that 

 prince of feathered musicians. 



The Thrasher is a welcome visitant in spring to every lover 

 of rural scenery and rural song. In the months of April and 

 May, when our woods, hedge-rows, orchard and cherry trees are 

 one profusion of blossoms, when every object around conveys the 

 sweet sensations of joy, and heaven's abundance is as it were 

 showering around us, the grateful heart beats in unison with the 

 varying elevated strains of this excellent bird; we listen to its 

 notes with a kind of devotional ecstasy, as a morning hymn ta 

 the great and most adorable Creator of all. The human being 

 who, amidst such scenes, and in such seasons of rural serenity 



