SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 179 



Brown Thrasher. Brown Thrush. Red Mavis. Planting Bird. 



Toxostoma rufurn. 



Length. — Nearly eleven and one-half inches. 



Adult. — Reddish-brown above, with white wing bars ; below, mainly white ; 



breast, belly, and sides of throat streaked or spotted with blackish. 

 Nest. — Loosely built of twigs, etc., on the ground or in a brush pile or low bush. 

 Eggs. — As large as the Robin's; white or greenish, thickly spotted with light 



reddish-brown. 

 Season. — April to October. 



This bird may be distinguished from the true Thrushes by 

 its large size, long tail, and long, curved beak. It arrives in 

 Massachusetts the latter part of April, and leaves for the south 

 in October. Its rich, bold, and varied song may be heard 

 along the borders of woodland, in coppice growth, or from 

 some tall tree about the farmyard or pasture. 



The song was first brought prominently to my attention 

 when as a barefoot boy of ten I was dropping corn in the field 

 at planting time. The Thrasher sat in a tree near the corn- 

 field, its swelling throat pouring forth a flood of music on 

 the warm May wind. Just over the wall in the adjoining 

 field a dusty plowman stopped his team. "There, boy," he 

 said, "that is the Planting Bird. Some folks call it the Red 

 Mavis. Hear him sing, 'Drop it, drop it, drop it ; cover it 

 up, cover it up, cover it up ; I'll pull it up, I'll pull it up.' " 

 Both words and song made so strong an impression on my 

 youthful mind that they have never been effaced from my 

 memory. Later we found that the Thrasher had kept his 

 promise, and pulled up some of the corn that we had planted. 



This is the only really harmful habit of this bird, and this 

 seems to be more local than general ; for, while it pulls a 

 little corn on some farms, there is no complaint from it else- 

 where. Thoreau reports a similar phrasing of the Thrasher's 

 song, but omits every reference to the bird as a corn puller, 

 giving the last part of the song as "Pull it up." He also 

 mentions the common name Mavis, by which I think the bird is 

 now known only among the older people. This name is prob- 

 ably of European origin, and came down to us from the early 

 settlers ; but the bird is still known among farmers in some 

 sections of the State as the Planting Bird or Brown Thrush. 



