258 THE BROWN THRUSH. 



the nests are placed quite a distance from the ground, and 

 always above the highest mark of the flood. 



When the nest of this species is approached, especially if 

 the young are hatched, the parents become greatly excited, 

 uttering a strong, metallic chip, which is alike noticeable 

 and characteristic. 



Some 11.25 long and 13.30 in extent, the entire upper 

 parts reddish-brown, the lower parts, except the throat, 

 creamy-white, spotted and streaked with brown or black, 

 thus showing a relation to the Thrushes — it is especially 

 noticeable by means of its long tail, which it drops and 

 partly spreads as, with head and somewhat long bill thrown 

 forward, it perches and sings in full view.- 



Audubon's fine picture of a scene he witnessed — a group of 

 Brown Thrushes driving the black snake from a nest as he 

 twines around its support, jostling out the eggs and squeezing 

 the life out of the mother-bird — represents the neighborly 

 spirit and noble courage of this species. It is easily domesti- 

 cated and capable of remarkable friendship for man. One 

 kept by Dr. Bachman used to follow him about the yard and 

 garden. "The instant it saw me take a spade or a hoe,'' he 

 says, " it would follow at my heels, and as I turned up the earth 

 would pick up every insect or worm thus exposed to view. I 

 kept it for three years, and its affection for me cost it its life. 

 It usually slept on the back of my chair, in my study, and one 

 night the door being accidentally left open, it was killed by 

 a cat. I once knew a few of these birds to remain the 

 whole of a mild winter in the State of New York in a wild 

 state." 



Mr. Bartram, the distinguished naturalist of Philadel- 

 phia, and the friend of Wilson, furnished the latter with 

 the following note, concerning the sagacity of a Brown 

 Thrush which he had domesticated. " Being very fond of 



