LAND BIRDS. 661 
410-411). Only one out of 213 Catbirds [stomachs] contained an earth- 
worm. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Adult: Most of the plumage clear slate-color or slate gray, darker above, lighter below; 
top of head and upper surface of tail glossy black; under tail-coverts rich chestnut; bill 
black; iris dark. Young similar, but head and tail not so black, and under tail-coverts 
lighter brown. 
Length of male 8 to 9.35 inches; wing 3.45 to 3.75; tail 3.70 to 4.25; culmen .65 to .75. 
Female slightly smaller but otherwise like the male. 
302. Brown Thrasher. Toxostoma rufum (Linn.). (705) 
Synonyms: Thrasher, Brown Thrush, Red Thrush, Sandy Mockingbird, 'rench Mock- 
ingbird, Brown Mocker.—Turdus rufus, Linn., 1758, Vieill., 1807, Wilson, 1810, Aud., 
1834.—Orpheus rufus, Swains., 1831, Nutt., 1832.—Harporhynchus rufus, Baird, 1858, 
A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most subsequent authors. 
Plates LXV and LXVI, and Figure 145. 
The large size (nearly a foot long), rust-red back, and heavily brown- 
spotted breast on a buffy white background are sufficient to discriminate 
this bird from any other. It may be confused by the beginner with some 
of the true thrushes, but its larger size, much longer tail, and bright yellow 
eyes should prevent this. 
Distribution.—Eastern United States, west to the Rocky Mountains, 
north to southern Maine, Ontario and Manitoba. Breeds from the Gulf 
States, including eastern Texas, northward. 
The Brown Thrasher is a summer resident of all parts of the state, but 
like the Catbird, is most abundant in the southern half, becoming less 
common over a large part of the Upper 
Peninsula and even rare in some sections. ; : 
Its large size, conspicuous color and po ee Re 
striking song seldom fail to attract at- ta : 
tention and it therefore seems to be 
more abundant than really is the case. Fig. 145. Wing of Brown Thrasher, showing 
Probably in most sections there are short first primary. (Original.) 
from three to six times as many Catbirds 
as Thrashers, yet the two birds are almost equally well known. 
This species arrives from the south somewhat earlier than the Catbird, 
the average date of arrival at Ann Arbor for twenty-five years being the 
third week in April, although twice it has been recorded in March, on 
the 16th in 1894, and on the 18th in 1903 (N. A. Wood). In Ingham 
county we do not expect to hear its song before the last week in April, 
and the first nests are not built until about the middle of May. From 
that time, however, until the first of June fresh eggs may be looked for 
and second sets are often found late in June or early in July, which makes 
it probable that as a rule two broods are reared each season. 
The nest is a bulky affair built of twigs, weed-stalks and many roots, 
and almost invariably lined with a profusion of fine roots. It is placed 
sometimes on the ground, sometimes in a brush heap, and sometimes in a 
thicket or a low tree, but rarely more than six or eight feet from the ground. 
It is claimed that the earlier nests, built before the foliage has appeared, 
are invariably placed upon the ground, while second nests are always in 
shrubs or trees, but this is by no means true, early nests being fre- 
