_Toxostoma rufum. Case 4, Fig. 82; Case 6, Fig. 72_
Tail and bill much longer than in the Thrushes;
white wing-bars; eye pale yellow. L. 11-1/2.
_Range._ Nests from Florida and Louisiana to
Canada; winters from North Carolina and SE.
Missouri to Florida and Texas.
Washington, very common S.R., Apl. 8-Oct.;
occasionally winters. Ossining, common S.R., Apl.
22-Oct. 28. Cambridge common S.R., Apl. 36-Oct.
20. N. Ohio, common S.R., Apl. 6-Oct. 15. Glen
Ellyn, common S.R., Apl. 9-Oct. 11. SE. Minn.,
common S.R., Apl. 15-Oct. 7.
In the wealth of new experiences and awakened associations which crowd
the bird-lover's days in April and May, none stands out more clearly in
my memory than the first Thrasher's song.
The rich, distinctly enunciated notes ring loud and clear above all
other songs as the bird from some tree-top gives his musical message to
the world. The performance concluded he returns to the undergrowth
whence one may hear his explosive, whistled _wheèu_ or sharp kissing
note. The nest is built in bushy growths or on the ground in May. The
3-6 eggs are grayish white finely speckled with reddish brown.