218 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



GENUS HARPORHYNCHTJS. OABANIS. 

 705. Harporhynchus rufus. (LiNN.) 



Brown Thrasher. 



DESCRIPTION. (Plate 44.^ 



Length, about 11^ inches; extent, about 13 inches; tail, 5 or 6 inches; bill, black, with 

 base of lower mandible yellow ; legs, pale brown; iris of adult yellow; iris of young 

 brown ; upper parts reddish brown ; greater wing-coverts edged with and middle 

 lower parts white; breast, sides and crissum strongly tinged with reddish brown; 

 breast, sides and flanks conspicuously spotted with dark brown. 



Hab. Eastern United States, west to Rocky Mountains, north to southern Maine, 

 Ontario and Manitoba, south to the Gulf States, including eastern Texas. Accidental 

 in Europe. 



Common summer resident from about April 20 to late in September. 

 The Brown Thrush, as this bird is usually called, is found in thickets 

 and shrubbery ; he frequently, especially in the morning and evening, 

 repairs to the tops of trees, where for hours at a time he sings his 

 varied and beautiful song. Like our common domestic fowls, he fre- 

 quently may be seen scratching among the dead leaves or dusting him- 

 self by the roadside. He sometimes visits fields, where corn is being 

 planted, to pick up the scattered grains of maize, and some farmers 

 assert that he often " pulls up corn " when it first appears above the 

 ground. This species breeds usually in low bushes, in briery thickets, 

 sometimes on the tops of old stumps covered with thick vines ; very 

 rarely, with us, do they build on the ground. The nest is a loose and 

 bulky structure composed of small twigs, strips of bark, leaves, root 

 lets, etc. The eggs, four or five in number, are a light greenish or 

 buffy color, thickly speckled with reddish brown. They are a little 

 more than an inch long, and about three-fourths wide. 



Although these birds are generally shy and retiring, they will, if 

 their eggs or young are disturbed, display great bravery in defending 

 them. They will fly violently into a person's face and strike with 

 both bill and claws. When their home is invaded by a black snake, 

 they assail such intruder in a most vigorous manner. I once saw a 

 dog, which had upset a nest containing young Thrushes, forced to make 

 a speedy retreat when attacked by the old birds, who flew at his head 

 and struck him in the eyes. The Brown Thrush feeds chiefly on in- 

 sects, berries and small seeds. 



SUBFAMILY TEOGLODYTIN^I. WRENS. 



[NOTE. Thirteen species, also " six geographical forms" and one "local race" of 

 this subfamily are recorded in the fauna of the United States. Of these twenty 

 species and varieties, but six species* are found in Pennsylvania. The House Wren, 

 Bewick's Wren, also the Marsh Wrens are found here only as summer residents. 

 The Carolina Wren is most abundant in the summer ; though sometimes during 



* See Appendix for technical names of species occurring- in Pennsylvania. 



