194 SINGING BIRDS. 
insidious enemies of the human species, when approaching the 
helpless or unfledged young, every art is displayed; threats, 
entreaties, and reproaches the most pathetic and powerful, are 
tried in no equivocal strain; they dart at the ravisher in wild 
despair, and lament, in the most touching strains of sorrow, the 
bereavement they suffer. I know of nothing equal to the burst 
of grief manifested by these affectionate parents excepting the 
afflicting accents of suffering humanity. 
Their food consists of worms and insects generally; also 
caterpillars, beetles, and other coleopterous tribes, as well as 
various kinds of berries. In the month of January I observed 
this Thrush and the Mocking Bird feed on the berries of the 
sumach. Sometimes they raise up a few grains of planted 
corn, but this is more the effect of caprice than appetite, as 
the search for grubworms is what commonly induces this 
resort to scratching up the soil. The Thrasher is an active, 
watchful, shy, and vigorous species, generally flying low, dwel- 
ling among thickets, and skipping from bush to bush with his 
long tail sometimes spread out like a fan. About the first week 
in October, after moulting, they disappear for the season and 
pass the winter in the Southern States. By the middle of 
February, or early in March, they already display their vocal 
powers in the warmer parts of Georgia and West Florida. 
They are easily reared, and become very familiar and amusing 
companions, showing a strong attachment to the hand that 
feeds and protects them. In their manners, intelligence, song, 
and sagacity, they nearly approach to the Mocking Bird, being 
equally playful, capricious, petulant, and affectionate. 
The Thrasher is abundant in Massachusetts, and is found in Ver- 
mont and New Hampshire, but near the Atlantic seaboard does 
not go farther north than southern Maine. It occurs regularly in 
the vicinity of Montreal, and is common in Ontario and Manitoba. 
It winters from about 37° southward. 
