BY THE WAY BIDE 
43 
' 
were only drunk and not poisoned. In 
any event, it is just as well when one 
is where these trees grow, to sit under 
their fine shade and enjoy the perfume 
of their fragrant blossoms, but to let the 
fruit alone even if one is hungry. And, 
if I knew bird language, I would trans- 
late this story and send a copy to every 
spotted-breast robin that is at this mo¬ 
ment hopping about my lawn, so that they 
might be warned,, in time and stick to 
angleworms and cherries as the best 
food for them to eat. t _ ■ 
1 _ ;-;- 
\ . . . r ' !>jfi aLii'L 
" * i T ;* v : ;• “ i f' 
OUR BROWN THRUSHES 
k.' 1 -y -V 
By Rebbecca H. Kauffman, Oregon, Illinois 
For the past four years, during the 
time of summer birds in our part of 
Northern Illinois, a pair of brown 
thrushes has made the grounds about 
our home,—and that part of the grounds 
which is near to the house—their own 
abiding place, seeming to feel quite as 
much at heme as if the premises were 
theirs. Almost unconsciously some fine 
j morning in early spring I hear a fam’l- 
iar sound, and from the top of a tall 
hickory cr the crown of a big oak issues 
the striking and beautiful song of the 
brown thrush, announcing the arrival 
• of our own particular pair of summer 
; residents. 
The brown thrush loves low bushes 
and hedges, loves to flit in and out of 
a leafy screen near the ground, even 
though the male bird takes so high a 
i station to pour forth the sweet notes 
that ripple from his musical throat. In 
an early day, the pioneers in this region 
edged their fields with rows of osage 
orange. Frequently these hedges were 
left untrimmed and grew to a height 
! of eight or ten feet; and all sorts of 
wild plants, vines and shrubs found 
a friendly lodging place along these 
rews. The birds and many other wild 
creatures loved their shelter. It was 
while first driving along the highways 
roundabout here, now many years ago, 
that I made the acquaintance of the 
brown thrushes ,—l do not like to call 
them thrashers. The name is too 
common for these attractive birds. 
These thrushes were very numerous 
then and lived and nested in the osage 
orange hedges. As we would drive 
along and disturb them, they would fly 
ahead of us, keeping close to their pre¬ 
empted section, stopping occasionally 
to rest a bit, then finally dropping be¬ 
hind. These bird coverts are mostly 
gone now from the farm tracts, and in 
lieu of them if any bird and nature 
lover has a hedge and leafy shelter about 
his or her home, the owners are sure to 
have the brown thrushes take the prem¬ 
ises in fee simple. In return for their 
unasked consent they will be entertained 
by song and an intimate konwledge of 
all the family life of these most attrac¬ 
tive members of the thrush kin. To 
emphasize this, seemingly, as I write, 
sitting' by the north window of our dining 
room overlooking the hickory tree fif¬ 
teen feet away, upon which I keep my 
suet box for feeding birds in winter, and 
under which I keep a kettle of fresh 
water for the birds all the year, the 
mother bird of our pair of brown 
Continued to pa^e 46 
