THE PERcHING Birps. 49 
tall, slender birch, and while the bended twig swayed 
with the bird’s weight and motion, this forerunning 
thrasher filled the whole air with melody. The united 
voices of the rest- 
less red-wings, the 
twanging of the 
grakle’s wiry 
tongue, the cry of the spar- 
row-hawk, and the morning 
hymn of the foxie sparrows 
could not drown it. Of all 
spring-tide sounds, it most 
thoroughly puts the world 
in touch with the new year, 
with the days of budding trees and 
the greening of the grass. 
The thrasher locates his nest in such 
a variety of places that it is difficult 
to know where to look for it, but Wil- 
son does not mention the fact that it 
is very often directly upon the ground, 
and I have often heard the name _ Brown Thrasher. 
“ground-thrush” given to it on ac- 
count of this habit. On the other hand, it is often 
built in a pretty elevated position. For several years 
a nest of this bird was rebuilt among the rank cables 
of a poison-ivy that covered the trunk of a large 
sassafras. The nest was about twenty feet from the 
ground. There were always two broods raised. 
It is scarcely safe to speak too confidently of the 
character of a bird’s nest, unless you hold one in 
your hand and describe it. The great degree of 
c a 5 
