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Brown Thrasher — Part 1
Adult--Upper parts bright orange-brown or rufous; under parts white with black spots forming longitudinal streaks; bill long with downward curve; the tail is over five inches long.
Length--11.42.
Breeding Range--From the Gulf States to Canada.
The nest is placed indiscriminately on the ground or in low bushes; it is rather bulky and roughly made of twigs, vine tendrils, roots, bark, and leaves, "lined with horse hair and a few feathers" (Davie). Those that I have found in New Jersey were in every case lined with fine black rootlets. 3 to 5 and rarely 6 eggs are laid; they are whitish, bluish, or greenish, with numerous fine light brown specks evenly distributed. Size--1.08 x .80. See Fig. 8, Plate B.
The Brown Thrasher is also known under the names of Ground thrush, Brown Thrush, and in Virginia he is known as the Sandy Mocking-bird, and further south as the French Mocking-bird. In some localities they prefer bushes and thickets, while in others they build almost exclusively on the ground. My own experience has been that most of the nests were found on the ground, near tall weeds, in an open field; very few were in bushes.
While on the nest these birds, like their relatives the wrens, sit very close, allowing themselves to be almost caught, but once they leave the nest their manner changes and they become intensely noisy, making a great pretence of attacking the intruder, uttering repeatedly their harsh, scolding note.
During the very early hours of the morning or late in the afternoon the brown thrasher may be seen perched on the topmost branch of a tree, singing a song, full and rich in tone, resembling somewhat that of the European song thrush.
The nesting season begins about the second week in May.