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ORPHEUS RUFUS— LINN. 



FERRUGINOUS THRUSH. 



Ferruginous Thrush, Turdus rufus, Wils. Amer. Orn. 

 Tuidus rufus, Bonap. Syn. 



Orpheus rufus, Fox-colored Mocking-Bird, Sw. & Rich. 

 Ferruginous Thrush or Thrasher, Turdus rufus, Nutt. Man. 

 Ferruginous Thrush, Turdus rufus, Aud. Orn. Biog. 



Specific Character — Adult with the upper parts and tail light 

 brownish-red ; two white bands on the wings, formed by the tips 

 of the secondary coverts and first row of small coverts ; lower parts 

 yellowish-white, with dark brown markings on the breast and 

 sides of the body ; bill long and stout ; tail very long and rounded. 

 Length of male eleven inches and a half, wing three and seven- 

 eighths. 



This large and musical Thrush is more familiarly known by 

 the name of Brown Thrasher. It arrives among us in the latter 

 part of April or early in the month of May, and is generally distribut- 

 ed throughout the Union. In the blooming month of May, when 

 Nature, true to her charge, perfumes the air with the aromatic blos- 

 soms that meet you at every turn, and the gray covering of hill and 

 dale, as if by magic, has changed to a rich and grassy carpet, then 

 you hear the loud and clear notes of the Ferruginous Thrush, 

 mingling with the sweet and varied notes of our native sonsters, as 

 if pouring forth his morning lay, in praise to the Creator of all. 



The nest is constructed near the ground — frequently on it — . 

 among the briars ; the eggs, five in number, are pale dull white, 

 freckled with reddish-brown. In the early part of the season they 

 subsist chiefly on worms; when berries and cherries ripen they 

 prefer this wholesome fare. 



