66 



KEY AND BESCRIPTION 



Brown Thrasher, 



3. Brown Thrasher (706. Harporhynchus riifus). — A common, 

 large, long-tailed, brown-backed bird, with the white under 

 parts heavily spotted or streaked with dark-brown, except on 

 the throat and middle of the belly. The wings, tail, and crown 



have the same rufous color 

 as the back. It is an inhabit- 

 ant of the ground or the 

 lower growths along fences 

 and the borders of the woods. 

 It is a rich, sweet singer 

 of its own notes, but not a 

 mocker of the notes of other 

 birds. When singing it 

 usually perches on a twig in 



a prominent position as though it wished all to know how 



melodious a vocalist it is. (Brown Thrush.) 



Length, llj; wing, 4^ (4-4J) ; tail, 5[; tarsus, If ; culmen, 1. East- 

 ern United States, west to the Rooky Mountains, north to Ontario; 

 breeding throughout and wintering north as far as Virginia. Besides 

 this species and the Curve-bill Thrasher given in the Key, there can be 

 found in Texas Sennett's 

 Thrasher (706. Harpo- 

 rhynchus longirdstris sen- 

 netti), a bird much like 

 the brown thrasher, but 



with a darker -brown ^'^i^^^^^BS^KK^ Z 



back, blacker spots on 

 the lower parts, and a 

 longer (1J-1|^) and some- 

 what decurved bill. 



4. Carolina Wren 



(718. Tfirydthorus Iti- 

 dovicicinus). — A ner- 

 vous, scolding wren, 

 distinctly barred, 



Carolina Wren 



rich-brown, with long curved bill, a very distinct whitish line 

 over the eye, and a tail the color of the back. It inhabits 

 undergrowths in wet places, and has the ability to disappear 



