"By no means. The perching birds grasp a twig firmly with their very limber toes and sharp claws, and put their head under their wing; but many others, like tame Geese and Ducks, sleep standing on the ground on one foot or sometimes floating on the water. "The Thrasher is a Ground Gleaner, who spends most of his time in the underbrush, having a great appetite for the wicked May beetle; but he does not live near the ground only, mounting high in a tree when he wishes to sing, as if he needed the pure high air in order to breathe well, and he never sings from the heart of a thick bush, as the Catbird does so frequently. "But I am wrong in saying that he _only_ goes up into trees to sing, for there is no denying that he visits cherry trees to pick cherries, in spite of the fact that he is neither invited nor welcome. Yet we must remember that if he does like fruit for dessert he has also first eaten caterpillar-soup and beetle-stew, and so has certainly earned some cherries." "Hush!" whispered Olive; "our Thrasher is singing now in the birch tree, where you can both see and hear him." "That's a sure sign his nest is not very near," said Rap; "for they never sing close by their nests." This Thrasher was clinging to the end of a slender branch, one claw above the other, so that his head, which was thrown back, looked straight up to the sky. He seemed to be half talking and half singing, as if giving directions to some unseen performer, then following these by two or three clear notes. "What is he saying?" said Dodo. "He is telling you who he is, and what he sees from the tree-top," said the Doctor. "Olive, dear, I am going to repeat to the children the jingle you made about the Thrasher." Though Olive then blushed and said it was only nonsense, the children were delighted with it. "My creamy breast is speckled (Perhaps you'd call it freckled) Black and brown. "My pliant russet tail Beats like a frantic flail, Up and down. "In the top branch of a tree You may chance to glance at me, When I sing. "But I'm very, _very_ shy, When I silently float by, On the wing. "_Whew_ there! _Hi_ there! Such a clatter! What's the matter--what's the matter? Really, really? "Digging, delving, raking, sowing, Corn is sprouting, corn is growing! Plant it, plant it! Gather it, gather it! Thresh it, thresh it! Hide it, hide it, do! (I see it--and you.) Oh!--I'm that famous scratcher, _H-a-r-p-o-r-h-y-n-c-h-u-s r-u-f-u-s_--Thrasher-- Cloaked in brown." [Illustration: The Brown Thrasher] The Brown Thrasher Length eleven inches. Above bright reddish-brown, with two light bands on each wing. Beneath yellowish-white, spotted with very dark brown on the breast and the sides. Very long tail--about five inches--fan-shaped. A Summer Citizen of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. A famous Ground Gleaner and Seed Sower. THE ROCK WREN