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BROWN THRASHER, 175 
moonlight nights of the nesting season, Mockingbirds 
sing all night. They are then less active, and, mounting 
to some favorite perch, often a chimney top, flood the 
still air with entrancing melody. 
Like the Catbird and Mocker, the Brown Thrasher or 
Brown “Thrush” inhabits thickets and undergrowth. 
Brown Thrasher, He is, however, a much less domestic 
Harporhynchus rufus. bird, and prefers Lrushy pasture lots and 
Flete LEVEL. wayside hedges to lawns or gardens. 
He arrives from the South the latter part of April, and 
often remains until late in October. The nest is built 
about May 15, and is placed on the ground or several feet 
above it. The eggs are bluish or grayish white, thickly, 
evenly, and minutely speckled with cinnamon or reddish 
brown. 
As a songster I should rank the Thrasher between 
the Mocker and the Catbird. His song is less varied and 
animated than the Mocker’s, and while his technique may 
not excel that of the Catbird, his song, to my mind, is 
much more effective than the performance of that accom- 
plished musician. Mounting to the topmost limb of a 
tree, he sings uninterruptedly for several minutes. The 
notes can be heard for at least a third of a mile, ringing 
out clear and well defined above the medley of voices 
that form the chorus of a May morning. 
The intense vitality which characterizes the life of 
birds finds its highest expression in the Wrens. Perpet- 
ual motion alone describes the activity 
Troglodytes atlon. Of these nervous, excitable little crea- 
Plate LXVIIL tures, Repose seems out of the ques- 
tion ; as well expect to catch a weasel asleep as to find a 
Wren at rest. 
In his movements, song, and nesting habits our House 
Wren exhibits the characteristic traits of his family. He 
is ever hopping, flitting, bobbing, or bowing, pausing 
