258 



THE BROWN THRASHER. 



open air, the jubilant boasting of a soul untamed. Each phrase is repeated 

 twice. 



"That's the wise thrush ; he sings each song twice over, 



Lest )'ou think he never could recapture 



The first fine careless rapture." 



He opens his bill wide, his body vibrates with emotion, and each note is 

 graced by a compensating movement of the drooping tail. 



Altho the Brown Thrasher does not make such hopeless confusion of jest 

 and earnest as does the Catbird, there is still something of the buffoon about 

 him, and his ways in the bush are not altogether above criticism. Possibly 



Photo by E. B. Williamson. 

 NEST OF THE BROWN THRASHER. 



with the best of motives, but still in a very annoying fashion the bird sneaks 

 about through the brush and insists upon knowing your business. From time 

 to time it utters a sharp repulsive tsook, and occasionally a suggestive vou-nh, 

 which makes one feel couspicuous and uncomfortable. The bird's eve too, 

 with its orange iris, while it must be admitted to harmonize perfectly with the 

 warm russet of the j^lumage, has a sinister cast which might prejudice the 

 unthinking. 



