The Brown Thrasher. 



197 



indignantly argued that there could be no 

 place in his great nature for such a foible, 

 but the dispute is less about a question of 

 fact than of correctness of definition. The 

 display of vanity by a small or mean man 

 is sure to render him ridiculous, if not con- 

 temptible; but when the craving for admi- 

 ration exists in a lofty nature along with 

 talent and high capacities, it becomes the 

 mainspring of action, the spur to grand 

 achievement, the sustaining power in diffi- 

 culty and temporary defeat. It is rarely a 

 characteristic of men of science, but very 

 generally ascribable to those who win dis- 

 tinction in arms or art or song. 



This desire for appreciation, with its at- 

 tendant sensitiveness to slights, was cer- 

 tainly a most conspicuous, if not dominant 

 trait in Audubon's character, a weakness 

 truly in so far as it rendered him unduly 

 sensitive, but none the less the prime source 

 of his strength, the one inborn trait of his 

 character to which more than any other he 

 owed his success. 



If we now turn again to Audubon's pic- 



ture of himself in the light of this analysis 

 of his most salient characteristics, we shall 

 be able to form a better estimate of his 

 native character and capacities. Audubon 

 at this time had placed no higher, no more 

 practical object in life before him than self- 

 indulgence — the gratification of his instinc- 

 tive cravings; but, on the other hand, his 

 vanity was simply a craving for distinction, 

 and combined with a lofty nature, was just 

 the force necessary to arouse him from his 

 dreamy self-indulgence and spur him on to 

 achieve something which would enable him 

 to command the esteem which he craved. 

 Add to this that his favorite pursuit was 

 a comparatively untrodden field for investi- 

 gation, that he had successfully cultivated 

 a talent for painting, that he had a grand 

 physique, latent capacities for sustained 

 effort, enthusiasm, and above all, that simple 

 devotion to truth which prevented his ac- 

 cepting any conclusions which were not 

 based on actual observation, and we have 

 all or nearly all the elements necessary to 

 the formation of a great naturalist. 



THE BROWN THRASHER, 



THE scene represented in the plate 

 which forms the frontispiece of this 

 month's Audubon is one of the most pow- 

 erful of the naturalist's plates, and it has 

 added interest because it portrays an actual 

 incident which came under the naturalist's 

 observation. A black snake has climbed 

 into the bush in which a pair of Brown 

 Thrashers have built their nest, and is 

 about to devour their eggs. With heroic 

 courage the parent birds rush to the de- 

 fense of their treasures, and with loud cries 

 summon to their assistance others of their 

 kind. The robber is fiercely attacked, but 

 in the struggle one of the parents is caught 

 and crushed in the cruel coils. Undeterred 

 by this, the others keep up the attack, and 



in the end, the naturalist tells us, though 

 their nest was overturned and the eggs lost, 

 the snake was defeated and killed, and the 

 crushed bird, though sorely hurt, recovered 

 and was restored to her mate. In a case 

 like this our sympathies are all with the 

 birds, yet who can doubt that the snake 

 has his place in the economy of Nature ? 



The Brown Thrush, or as it is more 

 often called, the Brown Thrasher, is 

 an abundant bird throughout the eastern 

 United States, its range westward being 

 apparently limited by the Rocky Mountains, 

 among which it was found in Colorado by 

 Mr. Allen up to a height of 7,500 feet. It 

 winters in the Southern States in great 

 numbers, and is there called French Mock- 



