Everyday birds; (1901) (14775168703)

Identifier: everydaybirds00torr (find matches)

Title: Everyday birds;

Year: 1901 (1900s)

Authors: Torrey, Bradford, 1843-1912. (from old catalog)

Subjects: Birds

Publisher: Boston and New York, Houghton, Mifflin and company

Contributing Library: The Library of Congress

Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

Text Appearing Before Image:

e, — and so much alike that it is hard to tellone from the other, — he is known as the brownmocking-bird. He would deserve the title butfor one thing — he does not mock. In that re-spect he falls far short of his gray cousin, who notonly has all the thrashers gift of original song,but a most amazing faculty of imitation, as everyone knows who has heard even a caged mocking-bird running over the medley of notes he haspicked up here and there and carefully rehearsedand remembered. The thrashers song is a med-ley, but not a medley of imitations. I have said that the thrasher keeps near theground. Such is his habit; but there is oneexception. When he sings he takes the verytop of a tree, although usually it is not a tallone. There he stands by the half-hour together,head up and tail down, pouring out a flood ofmusic; sounds of all sorts, high notes and lownotes, smooth notes and rough notes, all jum-bled together in the craziest fashion, as if themusician were really beside himself.

Text Appearing After Image:

BROWN THRASHER/, 2y J. Males. 4. Female THE BROWN THRASHER 17 It is a performance worth buying a ticket forand going miles to hear; but it is to be heardwithout price on the outskirts of almost any vil-lage in the United States east of the RockyMountains and south of Maine. You must goout at the right time, however, for the bird singsbut a few weeks in the year, although he remainsin New England almost six months, or till themiddle of October. He is one of the birds thatevery one should know, since it is perfectly easyto identify him ; and once known, he is never tobe forgotten, or to be confounded with anythingelse. The thrashers nest is a rude, careless-lookingstructure, made of twigs, roots, and dry leaves,and is to be looked for on the ground, or in abush not far above it. Often it has so much theappearance of a last years affair that one istempted to pass it as unworthy of notice. I havebeen fooled in that way more than once. The bird sits close, as the saying is, and asshe stare

everyday birds 1901 toxostoma rufum illustrations book illustrations ornithology zoological illustration birds new england high resolution images from internet archive library of congress

1901

Library of Congress

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