THKASHEES. 



85 



first migrants of this species arrive at Helena about the middle of 

 April, and the last birds leave about the first week in October. The 

 last one seen at Delight was noted October 10. A few winter in 

 favorable localities in the State and McAtee noted them as fairly 

 common in Crittenden and St. Francis Counties November 12-18, 1910. 

 The Biological Survey's study of the catbird's food habits indicates 

 that it subsists largely on fruit, of which about one-third is cultivated, 

 the remainder of wild species, such as blackberries, wild cherries, mul- 

 berries, elderberries, and the fruit of the dogwood, sour gum, sumac, 

 and poison ivy. Insects constituted about 44 per cent of the total 

 food in the stomachs examined, and included ants, beetles, cater- 



FiG. 4. — Breeding area of the brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) in Arkansas. 



pillars, and grasshoppers. Though sometimes a pest where small 

 fruits are raised, this bird on the whole does more good than harm. 



Brown Thrasher. Toxostoma rufum. 



This bird, frequently called the "brown thrush," is a common mi- 

 grant and a rare summer resident in the northern part of the State. 

 It is reported as nesting at Clinton and Newport, and I found it 

 breeding in small numbers at Conway and Mammoth Spring. At the 

 latter place a nest with young was found June 15. At Helena it 

 does not breed but is reported as a rare migrant, arriving from the 

 south about March 15 (earliest, March 1) and passing south in 

 October and November (last seen, November 13). A few pass the 



