Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)
About 11 inches. Breeds from the Gulf to southern Canada and west
to Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana; winters in the southern half of
the eastern United States.
The brown thrasher is more retiring than either the mockingbird or
catbird, but, like them, is a splendid singer. Not frequently, indeed, its
song is taken for that of its more famed cousin, the mockingbird. It is
partial to thickets and gets much of tits food from the ground. Its
search for this is usually accompanied by much scratching and
scattering of leaves; whence its common name. Its call note is a
sharp sound like the smacking of lips, useful in identifying this longtailed,
thicket-haunting bird, which does not relish close scrutiny. The
brown thrasher is not so fond of wild fruit as the catbird and mocker,
but devours a much larger percentage of animal food.