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 yé-ow, yé-ow, and the low, 
guttural, angry ’ésh ’¢sh ’ésh "tsh. 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 
