FERRUGINOUS THRUSH. 
235 
any plaster. The eggs are five, thickly sprinkled with ferru- 
ginous grains, on a very pale bluish ground. They generally 
have two broods in a season. Like all birds that build near the 
ground, he shews great anxiety for the safety of his nest and 
young, and often attacks the black snake in their defence; 
generally, too, with success, his strength being greater, and 
his bill stronger and more powerful, than any other of his tribe 
within the United States. His food consists of worms, which 
he scratches from the ground, caterpillars, and many kinds of 
berries. Beetles, and the whole race of coleopterous insects, 
wherever he can meet with them, are sure to suffer. He is 
accused, by some people, of scratching up the hills of Indian 
corn, in planting time ; this may be partly true ; but, for every 
grain of maize he pilfers, I am persuaded he destroys five 
hundred insects ; particularly a large dirty-coloured grub, with 
a black head, which is more pernicious to the corn, and other 
grain and vegetables, than nine-tenths of the whole feathered 
race. He is an active, vigorous bird, flies generally low, from 
one thicket to another, with his long broad tail spread like a 
fan; is often seen about brier and bramble bushes, along 
fences ; and has a single note or chuck, when you approach 
his nest. In Pennsylvania, they are numerous, but never fly 
in flocks. About the middle of September, or as soon as they 
have well recovered from moulting, in which they suffer 
severely, they disappear for the season. In passing through 
the southern parts of Virginia, and south as far as Georgia, in 
the depth of winter, I found them lingering in sheltered situa- 
tions, particularly on the border of swamps and rivers. On the 
first of March, they were in full song round the commons at 
Savannah, as if straining to outstrip the Mocking Bird, that 
prince of feathered musicians. 
The Thrasher is a welcome visitant in spring, to every 
lover of rural scenery and rural song. In the months of 
April and May, when our woods, hedgerows, orchards, and 
cherry trees, are one profusion of blossoms, when every object 
around conveys the sweet sensations of joy, and Heaven’s 
