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THE NATURALIST AND COLLECTOR 
Birds in the Thickets. 
r\ THICKET of hazel and blackberry 
J X bushes presents an animated 
appearance on a brig'ht June 
morning. Where the blackberry and 
hazel bushes and wild grape vines 
unite in forming an almost impene¬ 
trable thicket, and, as is usually the 
case, a stream flowing quietly by, 
with just enough murmur to lull one 
to repose, is a veritable paradise to the 
lover of nature—a place where he is 
fain to linger and study his favorites. 
Here no petty cares of life intervene to 
interrupt the grandeur of his thoughts. 
In the early dawn when the first light 
comes softly over the tops of the east¬ 
ern hills, tinging the edges of the 
clouds with crimson and making the 
dew on the grass sparkle like diamonds, 
the birds begin to bestir themselves, 
and begin their morning songs. The 
voice of the farmer calling his cows 
from the pasture, mingles with the 
songs of the birds, and makes a melody 
that is charming to the ear of the 
naturalist. As the day wears on the 
songs gradually become fainter and 
farther apart, till at the sultry hours 
of noon-day the only sounds which 
break the death-like stillness which 
pervades the place, are the occasional 
tappings of a woodpecker, or the trill¬ 
ing of an Indigo bird as it sits securely 
hid in the foliage of some tall tree. 
Prominent among the birds inhabit¬ 
ing the thickets along the streams, is 
the lYellow-breasted Chat. It is ex¬ 
ceedingly animated and tuneful during 
the breeding season. It mounts to the 
top of a tree by short flights and jumps, 
singing loudly'the whole time, and 
then descends by odd jerks and with 
much dangling of the legs and flirting 
of the tail, to the thicket. Next to 
the Mockingbird, it posseses a greater 
variety of notes than any other species. 
On account of its exceeding loqua¬ 
ciousness it is often termed the “Yel¬ 
low Mockingbird.” It does not at¬ 
tempt to closely imitate other species 
but, never-tlie-less, approaches their 
songs. Thus one of them closely im¬ 
itates the mewing of a cat; another, the 
barking of a dog; and a third, the 
whistling sound produced by a duck’s 
wings when flying. This last sound 
is the one most frequently heard, and 
may be easily imitated by a good 
whistler, and the bird brought to the 
spot, where it dodg*es in and out utter¬ 
ing • a deep-toned, emphatic, “tac.” 
Its notes are heard frequentlv during 
moon-light nights, throughout the 
breeding season, when they unite with 
the cries of the Screech owls in giving 
the woods an awesome air. 
The nest is built in a thicket, usually 
in a thorny bush or thick vine. It is 
quite bulky, composed of dry leaves, 
strips of loose bark, vegetable fibres, 
etc., and lined with fine grass and 
fibrous roots. The eggs are from three 
to five in number, glossy white, spot¬ 
ted thickly with various shades or 
lilac and reddish brown. 
Another bird often seen and heard 
in such localities is the Chewink or 
Tow’hee. The Chewink is one of our 
most beautiful birds. It is handsome 
by reason of its bold contrasts. It 
comes very early, arriving in the Mid¬ 
dle States during the first part of 
April. It spends the most of its time 
on the ground exploring the corners 
of the old rail fence, or the brush-piles 
along-the edge of the thicket. As it 
flits from bush to bush, it opens its 
fan like tail with a jerking motion, 
contrasting the white markings very 
strongly with its jet-black figure. It 
