270 
The Brown Thrasher 
A Varied 
Song 
and far-reaching, but hardly possesses the sweetness of tone so char-il 
acteristic of the Wood Thrush and the Veery. The bird’s fame is based!' 
rather on the wide variety and clearness of the notesji 
it produces, aided perhaps by the fact that it sing^i 
much of the time within sight and hearing of ouij 
garden-walks and house-windows. 
Upon arriving in the spring from his winter home in the Southern;: 
States, this bird usually announces his presence by a voluble song, with!; 
which he floods the morning air from his perch on a neighboring tree. 
The worry and responsibility of domestic life which shortly come upow 
him, in common with many other singing birds, do not, to any notable 
extent, lessen the force or frequency of his music. | 
The nest of the Brown Thrasher is, for the size of the bird, a rather! 
bulky structure. It is composed mainly of dead twigs, and has a lining i 
of rootlets. This nest is usually placed in a bush or thick cluster of ! 
vines, where it is well concealed from the eye of anyone passing. I recall;] 
finding a nest in the main fork of an old pear-tree about three feet from |j 
the ground, and another situated on a small stump, and well screened k 
from view by the sprouts which had grown up above it. Occasionally I 
the nest is even placed on the ground, always well 
The Nest hidden by vegetation ; and observers have recorded ? 
that they have seen ground-built nests made in situa- 
tions so wet that the dampness, working up through the nesting-material, 
caused the eggs to addle. The parent-birds, failing to recognize the 
misfortune which had come to their treasures in some such instances, 
continued to sit on them for several weeks. 
The eggs, which are usually four in number, are thickly and uni- 
formly covered with fine dots of cinnamon or rufous brown. 
When one approaches the nest of the Crow, if one of the birds is at 
home, it will usually leave, and will frequently not again be observed 
until the intruder has left the neighborhood, and some other birds have 
this habit of deserting their nest on the approach of real or imaginary j 
danger. This, however, is not the case with the Brown Thrasher. When 
an enemy approaches both birds instantly become alert, or if one chances 
to be away the scolding notes of the one on guard soon recall the absent 
companion. Together they fly in and out of the bushes, constantly voic- 
ing their alarm and disapproval, and often darting viciously at the crea- 
ture which has trespassed upon their privacy. They 
Habits become especially excited and annoyed upon the ap- 
pearance of that most dreaded of all birds’ enemies 
— the house-cat; and their alarm is not without reason, for seldom is a 
Thrasher’s nest built in such a situation as to be safe from the agile 
activities of this marauder. 
One of the saddest sights in the bird-world is to witness the de- 
jected movements, and hear the piteously mournful notes, of a pair of 
Brown Thrashers whose nest has been despoiled by Grimalkin. 
