The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-05-15
Children's Column.
THE BROWN THRUSH.

~siderably longer than a robin, with
a ~noticeably long tail and a long,
curved bill. His upper parts are
reddish brown or cinnamon color, and
his lower parts white or wh1tlsh,
boldly streaked with black. You
will find him in ~hedgerows, in scrub
lands and about the edges of woods,
where he keeps mostly or or near
the ground. His general manner IS
that of a creature who wishes moth
ing else so much as to escape notice.
"Only let me alone" he seems to
say. If he sees you coming, as he
pretty certainly will, he lodges into
the nearest thicket or barberry-bush,
and waits for you to pass.
Farmers know him as the "plant-
ing-bird." In New England he
makes his appearance with commend
able punctuality between the TWEEN
tieth of April and the first Of May
and while the farmer is planting his
garden, the thrasher encourages him
with song. One man, who was plant
ing beans, imagined that the bird
said, Drop it, drop it! COVERT up,
cover it up!" Perhaps he did. 1t
was good advice, anyhow.
In his own way the thrasher is n
of the great singers of the world.
He is own cousin to the famous
mocking-bird and at the South,
where he and the mOcker may be
heard singing side by side,-and so
much alike that it is hard to tell n
from the Other,-he is known as the
drown mOcking-bird." He would
deserve the title but for n thing
he does not mock. In that respect
he falls far short of his gray cousin,
who not 'Only has all the thrasher's
gift Of original song, but a most
amazing faculty of imitation, as
every one knows who has heard even
a Gagged specimen running over the
medley of notes he has picked up
here and there and carefully re
hearsed and remembered. The
thrasher's song is a medley, but not
a medley of limitations.
l have said that the thrasher keeps
near the ground. Such is his habit;
but there is one exception. When
he sings he takes the very top of a
tree, although usually it is not a tall
one. There he stands by the half
hour together, head up and tail
down, just as Mr.. Thompson has de-
picted him,-pOuring out a flood of
music sounds of all sorts, high notes
and low notes, smooth notes and
rough notes, all jumbled together in
the most crazy fashion, as if the
musician we're really beside himself.
1t is a performance worth buying
a ticket for and going miles to hear
but it is to be heard without price
on the outskirts of almost any vii
lage in the United States east of the
Rocky Mountains and South of
Maine. You must go out at the
right time, however, for the bird
sings but a few weeks in the year,
although he remains in New England
almost six months, or till the middle
of October. He is one of the birds
that every one should know, since 1T
is perfectly easy to identify him, and
once known, he is never to be for
gotten or to be COMPOUNDED with any
thing else.
The thrasher's nest is a rude, care
less-loOking structure, made of twigs,
roots and dry leaves, and is to be
looked for on the ground, or IN a
bush not far above it. Often it has
so much the appearance of a last
years affair that one is tempted to
pass it as unworthy of notice. l
have been fooled in that way more
than once.
The bird sits close, as the saying
is, and as she stares at you with her
yellow eyes, full at once of courage
and fear, you will need a hard heart
to disturb her. Sometimes she will
really show fight, and she has been
known to drive a small boy off the
field. Her whistles after she has
been frightened from her eggs or
nestlings, is one Of the most pathetic
sounds in nature. should feel sorry
for the boy who could hear it with
out pity.
Besides this mournful whistle, the
thrasher has a note almost exactly
like "a smacking kiss,-very realis-
tic,-and sometimes, especially at