Plate XXXI. 



HARPORHYNGHUS RUFUS-Brown Thrush. 



The Brown Thrush, or Thrasher, arrives often as early as April the 10th. The nest is usually 

 constructed by the latter part of the same month qr the first of May. The last week in May I have 

 frequently seen young birds large enough to fly.. May 14th, 1880, I found a number of nests containing 

 the full complement of eggs, and one that contained half-grown young. The second brood is ordinarily 

 hatched early in July. There are, however, always to be found a number of birds that do not build 

 until about the first of June. Such hatch but one set of eo-o-s durino* the season. 



LOCALITY: 



Borders of upland woods and cultivated fields with here and there clumps of trees and bushes, are 

 the places most frequented for nesting. Although the Brown Thrush and the Wood Thrush are often 

 found together in woods with thick undergrowth, they do not, as a rule, choose the same localities ; the 

 latter generally preferring places that are too secluded, damp, and lonely for the former. Thorn-trees, haw- 

 trees, briers, and stunted elms ai^e the most frequented building sites. Occasionally a nest is to be found 

 upon a flat fence-rail, stump, post, or in a brush-heap. It is not uncommon to find the nest in some 

 small tree or bush along the most public country thoroughfares ; and I have often noticed that such 

 structures are rarely robbed. It is but seldom that the Thrasher builds in towns. 



POSITIO]^ : 



The nest is placed either upon or above the ground. When in the former position, it rests in a 

 slight concavity, among grass and dead leaves. Just what numerical proportion such nests bear to the 

 others is difficult to estimate. I believe the position is an exceptional one, and only rarely observed. 

 When the nest is above the ground, it is generally situated in a perpendicular fork formed by a number 

 of small irregular branches, or in some tangle of twigs and stems. Occasionally it, rests upon a mat of 

 horizontal twigs, or upon a number of long thorns growing from the trunk of a honey-locust. Still more 

 rarely, it is placed upon the horizontal surface of a worm-fence rail, stump, or post. The third or fourth 

 rail from the bottom is the one usually selected, the nest being situated at the corner where the ends of 

 the rails cross. The nest is seldom more than five, and, ordinarily, but two or three feet high. 



MATERIALS : 



The foundation of the nest above ground is composed of course sticks, varying in diameter from one- 

 sixteenth to one-quarter of an inch, and in length from two or three inches to a foot or more. The num- 

 ber and size of the sticks vary with the position chosen, sometimes they are out of all pi'oportion to the 

 size of the nest proper; and sometimes they are but few in number. 



The superstructure is composed principally of the dead leaves of the trees in the locality, combined 

 with a few slender weed-stems, rootlets, and grass. The lining consists of a rather thick and compact 



113 



