166 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



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-colored 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 brier and bramble bushes, along fences ; and has a single note 

 or chuck, when you approach his nest. In Pennsylvania, they are 

 numerous, 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 Georgia, in the 

 depth of winter, I found them lingering in sheltered situations, 

 particularly on the border of swamps and rivers. On the 1st of 

 March, they were in full song round the commons at 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, orchards, 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 to the great and 

 most adorable Creator of all. The human being who, amidst such 

 scenes, and in such seasons of rural serenity and delight, can pass 

 them with cold indifference, and even contempt, I sincerely pity ; 

 for abject must that heart be, and callous those feelings, and de- 

 praved that taste, which neither the charms of nature, nor the 

 melody of innocence, nor the voice of gratitude or devotion, can 

 reach. 



" Concerning the sagacity and reasoning faculty of this bird, my 

 venerable friend, Mr. Bartram, writes me as follows : ' I remember 

 to have reared one of these birds from the nest, which, when full 

 grown, became very tame and docile. I frequently let him out of 

 his cage, to give him a taste of liberty. After fluttering, and dusting 



