THE SEMI-ANNUAL. 15 



We have also learned that though his nest is rough and brushy 

 outside, it is snug and neat within. That the eggs are of a 

 nearly uniform color the country through, and about four in 

 number, very rarely six. That his nest is soon made and that 

 no time is lost after his arrival. 



Brown Thrasher, Har-porhyncJms rufus. 



SITUATION OF NEST. 



We do not seem to agree on the nest of this Thrasher so well 

 as we did on that of Catbird. It is the bii'd's fault. 

 At Berwyn, Pa., Brown Thrasher builds in almost any kind ol 

 shrubbery, without a preference for any. 4 nests were close to 

 water, 3 remote from it ; 5 were in thickets, 2 in cultivated 

 fields ; lowest 2 feet, highest 8 feet, average 4 feet. It is the 

 same at Columbia, Pa. and Perrineville, N. J. 



At Pittsburgh, Pa., " nests are placed in briars, bushes, 

 shrubbery, trees, bush-heaps and on the ground in fence corners, 

 along the borders of woods and in neglected fields." Highest 8 

 -feet, average 3 feet. 



At Wauwatosa, Wis., nests may be found in out of the way 

 places, in bushes and shrubber}-, thickets being preferred ; often 

 on the ground ; highest 20 feet, average 3 feet. 



At Grinnell, Iowa, nests in the woods are in the shrubbery 

 and bushes, preferably thorn trees. The great majority, of nests 

 are in the osage-orange hedges along roads and in fields ; here 

 nests are made in old loppings, 2 to 3 r-2 feet up. The propor- 

 tion of nests in hedges and in woods is 20 to i. Nests are rarely 

 placed on the ground, never out of the woods. Highest 6 feet, 

 average 3 1-2 feet ; usually remote from water. 



COMPOSITION OK NKST. 



The nest is made outwar<]ly of twigs, usually forming a l>road 

 bristling platform, upon which weeds, strips of bark, dead leaves 

 and grass are arranged ; the lining is of black rootlets. Nests 

 are frequently without twigs or bark. 



