BROWN THRASHER. 193 



advancement of the season. They appear always to come in 

 pairs, so that their mutual attachment is probably more durable 

 than the season of incubation. Stationed on the top of some 

 tall orchard or forest tree, the male, gay and animated, salutes 

 the morn of his arrival with his loud and charming song. His 

 voice, somewhat resembling that of the Thrush of Europe, but 

 far more varied and powerful, rises pre-eminent amidst all the 

 vocal choir of the forest. His music has the full charm of in- 

 nate originality; he takes no delight in mimickry, and has 

 therefore no title to the name of Mocking Bird. On his first 

 appearance he falters in his song, like the Nightingale; but 

 when his mate commences her cares and labors, his notes 

 attain all their vigor and variety. The young birds, even of 

 the first season, in a state of solitary domestication, without the 

 aid of the parent's voice, already whisper forth in harmonious 

 revery the pathetic and sweet warble instinctive to the species. 

 In the month of May, while the blooming orchards perfume 

 and decorate the landscape, the enchanting voice of the 

 Thrasher in his affectionate lay seems to give grateful utter- 

 ance for the bounty and teeming profusion of Nature, and 

 falls in pleasing unison with the harmony and beauty of the 

 season. 



From the beginning to the middle of May the Thrashers are 

 engaged in building their nest, selecting for this purpose usu- 

 ally a low, thick bush, in some retired thicket or swamp a few 

 feet from the earth, and sometimes even on the ground in 

 some sheltered tussuck, or near the root of a bush. They dis- 

 play the most ardent affection for their young, attacking 

 snakes, dogs, and cats in their defence. One of the parents, 

 usually the male, seems almost continually occupied in guard- 

 ing against any dangerous intruder. The cat is attacked com- 

 monly at a considerable distance from the young, and the 

 woods echo with his plaintive ye-ow, yi-ow, and the low, 

 guttural, angry 'tsh ^tsh 'tsh 'tsk. The enemy is thus pursued 

 off the field, commonly with success, as guilty grimalkin ap- 

 pears to understand the threatening gestures and complaints 

 with which she is so incessantly assailed. Towards their more 



VOL. I. — 13 



