212 Bird Studies. 



He is a large bird, too, more than eleven inches long and is almost 

 as inquisitive as his cousin the 'Catbird. 



When seen in some thicket you are at once re- 

 Brown Thrasher. m inded of a wren ; the same characteristic jerky, quick, 



Harporhynchus rufus(Linn.). T 1 i T> 



and nervous movements are displayed. But when the 

 bird, mounting to some high branch, abandons himself to song, the perform- 

 ance is so varied and brilliant that all else is for the time forgotten. 



The birds are bright cinnamon brown above, with some white mark- 

 ings on the wings forming two more or less distinct bars. The under parts 

 are white streaked with dusky brown on the breast, sides, and flanks. The 

 eyes of the Brown Thrasher are yellow, or orange. In the fall the lower 

 parts and the white bars of the wings are much suffused with buff. 



The nest is generally placed on or near the ground, but sometimes at a 

 considerable height in bushes and in the lower branches of trees. It is built 

 of coarse twigs and grasses, lined with fine rootlets and plant fibres. The 

 eggs vary from three to five in number. The ground color varies from 

 greenish white to pale buff. The darker markings on the ground color are 

 minute and close together, giving the eggs a general reddish brown appear- 

 ance. They are somewhat more than an inch long and nearly four fifths of 

 an inch broad. 



The birds are found throughout the area under consideration as far 



o 



north as New Brunswick. They breed from the Gulf States north, and win- 

 ter from Virginia southward. 



The Pipits, or Titlarks, are small birds, about six inches and a half long, 

 of a general yellowish brown appearance. % 



American Pioit They breed far north, and when seen in the Eastern 



Anthus pensiivanicus United States are mioratinor O r wintering, and are then 



o o ' *_> 



gregarious. You may find them in meadows or fields, but 

 they seem to prefer newly turned ground, or the districts of sparse grass near 

 the seacoast. 



The upper parts are dull brown, with a grayish tinge. There is a stripe 

 of light buff, above the eye. The feathers on the top of the head and back 

 have distinctly darker centres. The wings and tail are darker, their feathers 

 are edged with buffy gray. There are two wing bars of a similar shade. 

 The terminal half of the outer tail feather is grayish white. 



The lower parts are light warm buff, palest on the upper throat. The 



