BROWN THRASHER. 
BROWN THRUSH. 
HaRPORHYNCHUS RUFUS. 
Char. Above, bright reddish brown or rufous ; beneath, white, tinged 
with rufous or buff; breast and side spotted with brown; bill about as 
long as the head. Length io% to 12 inches. 
A’est. In a thicket or low bush, and sometimes on the ground ; bulky, 
and loosely constructed of twigs, roots, and dried grass, sometimes lined 
with horse-hair or feathers. 
Eggs. 3-6 (usually 4) ; dull white with buff or green tint, marked with 
minute spots of reddish brown; i.oo X 0.80. 
This large and well-known songster, inferior to none but the 
Mocking Bird in musical talent, is found in every part of this 
continent, from Hudson’s Bay to the shores of the Mexican 
Gulf, breeding in all the intermediate space, though more 
abundantly towards the North. It retires to the South early in 
October, in the States north of the Carolinas, and probably ex- 
tends its migrations at this season through the warmer regions 
towards the borders of the tropics. 
From the T5th of April to early in May these birds begin to 
revisit the Middle and Northern States, keeping pace in some 
measure with the progress of vegetation and the comparative 
