414 NOTES ON TH 
Their food consists chiefly of worms, caterpillars, beetles, 
spiders, and various species of fruit and berries. Their more 
characteristic haunts are thick, low brush along the fences, 
which embrace an occasional isolated tree or sapling, brier 
patches, thickets of alders, sumach, &c, in flying from one to 
another of which, we catch glimpses of their long, ferruginous 
tails, spread broadly as they dash nervously out of sight, like 
culprits just escaped from some merited punishment. The 
note of caution, and of alarm in the presence of supposed 
danger, is a short, staccato chuck, repeated more or less fre- 
quently according to the measure of apprehensions awakened 
They are popularly known in different sections of the coun- 
try by various names amongst which are; Thrasher, Brown 
Thrasher, Brown thrush, and the French Mocking Bird, which 
readily suggest the use of scientific names for all natural 
objects, selected from dead, and therefore unchangable 
languages, common to all nations for scientific nomenclature. 
Wilson says of this favorite bird: ‘‘The Thrasher is a wel- 
come visitant in spring to every lover of rural scenery and 
rural song. In the months of April and May, when our woods, 
hedges, orchards, and cherry trees are one profusion of blos- 
som; when every object around conveys the sweet sensations of 
joy, and Heavens’ abundanceis, asit were, showering about us, 
the grateful heart beats in unison with the varying, elevated 
strains of this 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 be that heart, and callous those 
feelings, and depraved that taste, which neither the charms of 
nature, nor the melody of innocence, nor the voice of gratitude 
or devotion can reach.” 
The Brown Thrush has a very wide distribution within our 
boundaries, where the conditions are suitable to their habits, 
but they have their limitations, so that I have visited consider- 
able sections in which they were unrepresented. Mr. Wash- 
burn found them common at Mille Lacs in July and August, 
but rare in the Red river valley a little later. All of my cor- 
respondence reports ther. essentially common and breeding 
abundantly. 
” 
