BROWN THRASHER. 151 



breasts creamy or u buft'y white," spotted with 

 brown, while their sides were heavily streaked. 



The thrashers are about the length and build of 

 the cuckoos, and before I had seen them near by 

 I confused the two. But you can distinguish be- 

 tween them even at a distance, for the breast of 

 the cuckoos is pure white, while that of the thrash 

 ers is heavily spotted. When you are near enough 

 to discern shades, you see that the rich reddish- 

 brown back of the thrasher is in strong contrast 

 to the dull grayish-brown of the cuckoo. While 

 the cuckoo is practically songless, the song of the 

 thrasher is excelled by few of our birds, combin- 

 ing the flexibility of the catbird with the sweetness 

 of the thrush. 



The thrasher is said to show much intelligence 

 in choosing the position for its nest. In dry sandy 

 regions it seems to prefer the ground, but if the 

 soil is damp or clayey it builds in bushes ; and 

 along river banks in the west, where sudden 

 freshets would swamp a low nest, with notable 

 foresight it secures its nest in trees, sometimes as 

 high as fifteen or twenty feet from the ground. 



During migration, last fall, I was looking for 

 warblers in the raspberry patch one morning be- 

 fore breakfast. When near the edge of the woods 

 I heard the suppressed shreea a gray squirrel 

 makes when scolding between its teeth. It was 

 so near that I looked down hoping to catch sight 

 of the impudent bright eyes, but not a squirrel 



