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Range (Eastern North America breeds) (XXXXXI)

Eastern North America; breeds from the Gulf States to Manitoba, Maine, and Montreal: winters from Virginia southward. Washington, very common S. R., Apl. 5 to Oct. 15; occasionally winters. Sing Sing, common S. R., Apl. 22 to Oct. 28. Cambridge, very common S. R., Apl. 25 to Oct. 15.

Nest, of twigs, coarse rootlets, and leaves, lined with finer rootlets, in bushes, thickets, or on the ground. Eggs, three to six, bluish white or grayish white, thickly, evenly, and minutely speckled with cinnamon- or rufousbrown, 1.08 × 80. Hedgerows, shrubbery about the borders of woods, scrubby growth, or thickets in dry fields, are alike frequented by the Thrasher. Generally speaking he is an inhabitant of the undergrowth, where he passes much time on the ground foraging among the fallen leaves. He is an active, suspicious bird, who does not like to be watched, and expresses his annoyance with an unpleasant kissing note or sharply whistled wheèu.

Like many thicket-haunting birds, who ordinarily shun observation, he seeks an exposed position when singing. Morning and evening he mounts to a favorite perch-generally in the upper branches of a tree and deliberately gives his entire attention to his song. This is repeated many times, the bird singing almost continuously for an extended interval. He is a finished musician, and, although his repertoire is limited to one air, he rivals the Mockingbird in the richness of his tones and execution. I never listen to the Thrasher's song with- THRASHERS, WRENS, ETC. out involuntarily exclaiming, "What a magnificent performance!" Nevertheless, there is a certain consciousness and lack of spontaneity about it which makes it appeal to the mind rather than to the heart. 718. Thryothorus ludovicianus (Lath.). CAROLINA WREN. (See Fig. 55, c.) Ad. - Upper parts rufous-brown; feathers of the rump with concealed downy white spots; a long, conspicuous whitish line over the eye; wings and tail rufous-brown, finely barred with black; under parts ochraceous-buff or cream-buff, whiter on the throat; flanks sometimes with a few blackish bars. L., 5.50; W., 2·30; T., 2.00; B., 60.