216 cassell's book ok birds. 



the ferruginous mocking bird, or thrasher. 



The Ferruginous Mocking Bird, or Thrasher {Taxostoma rufum), has a slender body, long 

 wings, a short tail, and a powerful foot. The upper part of the body is brownish red ; the under 

 side, reddish white, striped with blackish brown upon the sides and breast ; the small feathers on the 

 wing-covers are edged with white, and thus form two light borders to the pinions ; the eye is yellow, 

 the beak blueish, and the foot brown. Its length is about twelve inches ; this measurement includes 

 the tail, which is nearly six inches. The wing is four inches and one-third. 



" This large and well-known songster," says Nuttall, " is found in all parts of America, from 

 Hudson's Bay to the shores of the Mexican Gulf, breeding everywhere, though most abundantly in 

 the northern portions. Early in October these birds retire to the south, and probably extend their 

 migrations at that season through the warmer regions towards the borders of the tropics. From the 

 fifteenth of April till early in May they begin to revisit the Middle and Northern States, keeping pace 

 in some measure with the progress of vegetation. They appear always to come in pairs, so that their 

 mutual attachment is probably more durable than the season of incubation. Stationed near the top 

 of some tall orchard or forest tree, the gay and animated male salutes the morn with his loud and 

 charming song. His voice — resembling that of the Thrush of Europe, but far more powerful and 

 varied — rises pre-eminent amidst all the choir of the forest. His music has all the full charm of 

 originality; he takes no delight in mimicry, and, therefore, really has no right to the name of 

 Mocking Bird. From the beginning to the middle of May the Thrasher is engaged in building his 

 nest, usually selecting for this purpose a low thick bush in some retired thicket or swamp, a few feet 

 from the earth, or even on the ground in some sheltered tussock, or near the root of a bush. It has a 

 general resemblance to the nest of the Cat Bird ; outwardly being made of small interlacing twigs, and 

 then layers of dry oak or beech leaves. To these materials generally succeed a stratum of strips of 

 grape-vine or red cedar bark ; over the whole is piled a mass of some coarse root fibres, and the 

 finishing lining is made of a layer of finer filaments of the same. The eggs (never exceeding 

 five) are thickly sprinkled with minute spots of palish brown on a greenish ground. In the Central 

 States these birds rear two broods in the year ; in other parts of America but one. Both parents 

 display the most ardent affection for their young, and attack dogs, cats, and snakes, in their defence. 

 Towards their most insidious enemies of the human race, when the latter are approaching their 

 helpless young, every art is displayed— threats, entreaties, and reproaches, the most pathetic and 

 powerful, are tried ; they dart at the ravisher with despair, and lament the bereavement they suffer 

 in the most touching strains. I know nothing equal to the bursts of grief manifested by these 

 affectionate parents except the accents of human suffering. Their food consists of worms, insects, 

 caterpillars, beetles, and various kinds of berries. The movements of the Thrasher are active, 

 watchful, and sly; it generally flies low, dwelling among thickets, and skipping from bush to busli 

 with his long tail spread out like a fan." 



THE CAT BIRD. 



The Cat Bird ( Galeoscoptes Carolincnsis) is almost entirely slate-grey, which is darkest on the back 

 and lightest on the under side ; the top of the head is brownish black, the throat light grey, and the 

 lower wing-covers rust-red. Its length is nine inches, the wing four inches, and the tail four inches 

 and three lines. The best account of this bird has been given by Wilson, who has described it at 

 great length. 



" The Cat Bird," says that graphic writer, " is very common in the United States, and arrives in the 

 lower parts of Georgia from the south about the twenty-eighth of February, and probably winters in 



