Chapter M: PYGOPODES. Feet palmate or lobate. Tibiæ feathered, often (2)

_Turdus aliciæ_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 217, plate 81, f. 2.—IB.
Review Am. Birds, I, 1864, 21.—COUES, Pr. Ac. N. Sc. Aug. 1861,
217 (Labrador).—IB. Catal. Birds of Washington.—GUNDLACH,
Repertorio, 1865, 229 (Cuba).—LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. IX, 91 (Costa
Rica).—DALL and BANNISTER, Birds Alaska.—RIDGWAY, Report.

SP. CHAR. Above nearly pure dark olive-green; sides of the head ash-gray; the chin, throat, and under parts white; purest behind. Sides of throat and across the breast with arrow-shaped spots of dark plumbeous-brown. Sides of body and axillaries dull grayish-olivaceous. Tibiæ plumbeous; legs brown. Length, nearly 8 inches; wing, 4.20; tail, 3.20; tarsus, 1.15.

HAB. Eastern North America to shores of Arctic Ocean, and along northern coast from Labrador to Kodiak, breeding in immense numbers between the mouths of Mackenzie and Coppermine. West to Fort Yukon and Missouri River States. Winters south to Costa Rica. Chiriqui, SALVIN; Cuba, GUNDLACH.

As originally described, this species differs from _swainsoni_ in larger size, longer bill, feet, and wings especially, straighter and narrower bill. The back is of a greener olive. The breast and sides of the head are entirely destitute of the buff tinge, or at best this is very faintly indicated on the upper part of the breast. The most characteristic features are seen on the side of the head. Here there is no indication whatever of the light line from nostril to eye, and scarcely any of a light ring round the eye,—the whole region being grayish-olive, relieved slightly by whitish shaft-streaks on the ear-coverts. The sides of body, axillars, and tibiæ are olivaceous-gray, without any of the fulvous tinge seen in _swainsoni_. The bill measures .40 from tip to nostril, sometimes more; tarsi, 1.21; wing, 4.20; tail, 3.10,—total, about 7.50. Some specimens slightly exceed these dimensions; few, if any, fall short of them.

In autumn the upper surface is somewhat different from that in spring, being less grayish, and with a tinge of rich sepia or snuff-brown, this becoming gradually more appreciable on the tail.

A specimen from Costa Rica is undistinguishable from typical examples from the Eastern United States.

HABITS. This species, first described in the ninth volume of the Pacific Railroad Surveys, bears so strong a resemblance to the Olive-backed Thrush (_T. swainsoni_), that its value as a species has often been disputed. It was first met with in Illinois. Since then numerous specimens have been obtained from the District of Columbia, from Labrador, and the lower Mackenzie River. In the latter regions it was found breeding abundantly. It was also found in large numbers on the Anderson River, but was rare on the Yukon, as well as at Great Slave Lake, occurring there only as a bird of passage to or from more northern breeding-grounds.

In regard to its general habits but little is known. Dr. Coues, who found it in Labrador, breeding abundantly, speaks of meeting with a family of these birds in a deep and thickly wooded ravine. The young were just about to fly. The parents evinced the greatest anxiety for the safety of their brood, endeavoring to lead him from their vicinity by fluttering from bush to bush, constantly uttering a melancholy _pheugh_, in low whistling tone. He mentions that all he saw uttered precisely the same note, and were very timid, darting into the most impenetrable thickets.

This thrush is a regular visitant to Massachusetts, both in its spring and in its fall migration. It arrives from about the first to the middle of May, and apparently remains about a week. It passes south about the first of October. Occasionally it appears and is present in Massachusetts at the same time with the _Turdus swainsoni_. From this species I hold it to be unquestionably distinct, and in this opinion I am confirmed by the observations of two very careful and reliable ornithologists, Mr. William Brewster of Cambridge, one of our most promising young naturalists, and Mr. George O. Welch of Lynn, whose experience and observations in the field are unsurpassed. They inform me that there are observable between these two forms certain well-marked and constant differences, that never fail to indicate their distinctness with even greater precision than the constant though less marked differences in their plumage.

The _Turdus aliciæ_ comes a few days the earlier, and is often in full song when the _T. swainsoni_ is silent. The song of the former is not only totally different from that of the latter, but also from that of all our other Wood Thrushes. It most resembles the song of _T. pallasi_, but differs in being its exact inverse, for whereas the latter begins with its lowest notes and proceeds on an ascending scale, the former begins with its highest, and concludes with its lowest note. The song of the _T. swainsoni_, on the other hand, exhibits much less variation in the scale, all the notes being of nearly the same altitude.

I am also informed that while the _T. swainsoni_ is far from being a timid species, but may be easily approached, and while it seems almost invariably to prefer the edges of the pine woods, and is rarely observed in open grounds or among the bare deciduous trees, the habits of the _T. aliciæ_ are the exact reverse in these respects. It is not to be found in similar situations, but almost always frequents copses of hard wood, searching for its food among their fallen leaves. It is extremely timid and difficult to approach. As it stands or as it moves upon the ground, it has a peculiar erectness of bearing which at once indicates its true specific character so unmistakably that any one once familiar with its appearance can never mistake it for _T. swainsoni_ nor for any other bird.

The nests measure about 4 inches in diameter and 2¾ in height. The cavity is 2 inches deep, and its diameter 2½ inches. They are unusually compact for the nest of a thrush, and are composed chiefly of an elaborate interweaving of fine sedges, leaves, stems of the more delicate _Equisetaceæ_, dry grasses, strips of fine bark, and decayed leaves, the whole intermingled with the paniculated inflorescence of grasses. There is little or no lining other than these materials. These nests were all found, with but few exceptions, on the branches of low trees, from two to seven feet from the ground. In a few exceptional cases the nests were built on the ground.

Occasionally nests of this species are found constructed with the base and sides of solid mud, as with the common Robin (_Turdus migratorius_). In these, as also in some other cases, their nests are usually found on or near the ground. So far as I am aware neither its occasional position on the ground, nor its mud frames, are peculiarities ever noticeable in nests of _T. swainsoni_.

The eggs were usually four in number. Their color is either a deep green tint, or green slightly tinged with blue; and they are marked with spots of russet and yellowish-brown, varying both in size and frequency. Their mean length is .92 of an inch, and their mean breadth .64. The maximum length is .94 and the minimum .88 of an inch. There is apparently a constant variation from the eggs of the _T. swainsoni_; those of the _aliciæ_ having a more distinctly blue ground color. The nests are also quite different in their appearance and style of structure. The _Hypnum_ mosses, so marked a feature in the nests of _T. swainsoni_, as also in those of _T. ustulatus_, are wholly wanting in those of _T. aliciæ_.

This bird and the robin are the only species of our thrushes that cross the Arctic Circle to any distance, or reach the shore of the Arctic Ocean. It occurs from Labrador, all round the American coast, to the Aleutian Islands, everywhere bearing its specific character as indicated above. It is extremely abundant on and near the Arctic coast, between the mouth of the Mackenzie River and the Coppermine, more than 200 specimens (mostly with their eggs) having been sent thence to the Smithsonian Institution by Mr. MacFarlane. In all this number there was not a single bird that had any approach to the characters of _T. swainsoni_, as just given. From the Slave Lake region, on the other hand, _T. swainsoni_ was received in nearly the same abundance, and unmixed during the breeding season with _T. aliciæ_.

Turdus swainsoni, CABANIS.

OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH; SWAINSON’S THRUSH.

_Turdus swainsoni_, CAB. Tschudi, Fauna Peruana, 1844-46,
188.—? SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 6 (Guatemala).—SCLATER, P.
Z. S. 1858, 451 (Ecuador); 1859, 326.—IB. Catal. 1861, 2, no.
11.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 216; Rev. Am. B., 1864,
19.—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 324 (Cuba).—IB. Repert. 1865,
229.—PELZELN, Orn. Brazil. II. 1868, 92 (Marambitanas, Feb. and
March).—LAWR. N. Y. Lyc. IX, 91 (Costa Rica).—RIDGWAY.—
MAYNARD.—SAMUELS, 152.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 6.—DALL & BANNISTER.
_Turdus minor_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 809 (in part). _Turdus
olivaceus_, GIRAUD, Birds L. Island, 1843-44, 92 (not of LINN.).
_(?) Turdus minimus_, LAFRESNAYE, Rev. Zoöl. 1848, 5.—SCLATER, P.
Z. S. 1854, 111.—BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1860, 226
(Bogota).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. 1863. (Birds Panama, IV, no.
384.)

SP. CHAR. Upper parts uniform olivaceous, with a decided shade of green. The fore part of breast, the throat and chin, pale brownish-yellow; rest of lower parts white; the sides washed with brownish-olive. Sides of the throat and fore part of the breast with sub-rounded spots of well-defined brown, darker than the back; the rest of the breast (except medially) with rather less distinct spots that are more olivaceous. Tibiæ yellowish-brown. Broad ring round the eye, loral region, and a general tinge on the side of the head, clear reddish buff. Length, 7.00; wing, 4.15; tail, 3.10; tarsus, 1.10.

HAB. Eastern North America; westward to Humboldt Mountain and Upper Columbia; perhaps occasionally straggling as far as California; north to Slave Lake and Fort Yukon; south to Ecuador and Brazil. Cuba, GUNDLACH; Costa Rica, LAWR.

Specimens examined from the northern regions (Great Slave Lake, Mackenzie River, and Yukon) to Guatemala; from Atlantic States to East Humboldt Mountains, Nevada, and from intervening localities. The extremes of variation are the _brownish_-olive of eastern and the clear _dark_ greenish-olive of remote western specimens. There is no observable difference between a Guatemalan skin and one from Fort Bridger, Utah.

HABITS. The Olive-backed Thrush, or “Swamp Robin,” has very nearly the same habitat during the breeding season as that of the kindred species with which it was so long confounded. Although Wilson seems to have found the nest and eggs among the high lands of Northern Georgia, it is yet a somewhat more northern species. It does not breed so far south as Massachusetts, or if so, the cases must be exceptional and very rare, nor even in Western Maine, where the “Ground Swamp Robin” (_T. pallasi_) is quite abundant. It only becomes common in the neighborhood of Calais. It is, however, most widely distributed over nearly the entire continent, breeding from latitude 44° to high Arctic regions. It winters in Guatemala and southward as far as Ecuador and Brazil.

In its habits this thrush is noticeably different from the _T. pallasi_, being much more arboreal, frequenting thick woods; rarely seen, except during its migrations, in open ground, and seeking its food more among the branches of the trees.

Mr. Ridgway found this species very abundant among the Wahsatch Mountains, where it was one of the most characteristic summer birds of that region. It was breeding plentifully in the cañons, where its song could be heard almost continually. It inhabited an intermediate position between _T. auduboni_ and _T. fuscescens_, delighting most in the shrubbery along the streams of the cañons and passes, leaving to the _T. auduboni_ the secluded ravines of the pine regions higher up, and to the _T. fuscescens_ the willow thickets of the river valleys. He did not meet with it farther west than the East Humboldt Mountains. The song, in his opinion, resembles that of the Wood Thrush (_T. mustelinus_) in modulations; but the notes want the power, while they possess a finer and more silvery tone.

The song of this species has a certain resemblance to that of _T. pallasi_, being yet quite distinct, and the differences readily recognized by a familiar ear. It is more prolonged; the notes are more equal and rise with more regularity and more gradually, are richer, and each note is more complete in itself. Its song of lamentation when robbed of its young is full of indescribable pathos and beauty, haunting one who has once heard it long after.

When driven from the nest, the female always flies to a short distance and conceals herself; making no complaints, and offering no resistance.

These birds, in a single instance, have been known to reach Eastern Massachusetts early in April, in an unusually early season, but they generally pass north a few weeks later. They make no prolonged stay, and are with us rarely more than three or four days. Their return in the fall appears to be, at times, by a more inland route. They are then not so numerous near the coast, but occasionally are abundant.

Their nests in Nova Scotia, wherever observed, were among the thick woods, on horizontal branches of a forest-tree, usually about five feet from the ground. Those observed in the Arctic regions by Mr. Kennicott were frequently not more than two feet from the ground.

The nests average about four inches in diameter and two in height, the cavity being three inches wide by about one and a half deep. They are more elaborately and neatly constructed than those of any other of our thrushes, except perhaps of _T. ustulatus_. Conspicuous among the materials are the _Hypnum_ mosses, which by their dark fibrous masses give a very distinctive character to these nests, and distinguish them from all except those of the _T. ustulatus_, which they resemble. Besides these materials are found fine sedges, leaves, stems of equisetaceous plants, red glossy vegetable fibres, the flowering steins of the _Cladonia_ mosses, lichens, fine strips of bark, etc.

The eggs, which are four or five in number, exhibit noticeable variations in size, shape, and shades of coloring, bearing some resemblance to those of _T. ustulatus_ and to the eggs asserted to be those of _T. nanus_, but are sufficiently distinct, and are still more so from those of _T. aliciæ_. They range in length from .83 to .94, with a mean of .88, their mean breadth is .66, the maximum .69, and the minimum .63. Their ground color is usually bluish-green, sometimes light blue with hardly a tinge of green, and the spots are of a yellowish-brown, or russet-brown, or a mixture of both colors, more or less confluent, with marked variations in this respect.

Turdus swainsoni, var. ustulatus, NUTTALL.

OREGON THRUSH.

_Turdus ustulatus_, NUTTALL, Man. I, 1840, 400 (Columbia
River).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 215, pl. lxxxi, fig. 1.—IB.
Rev. Am. B. 1864, 18.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. Rep. XII, II,
1860, 171.—RIDGWAY, Pr. A. N. S. Philad. 1869, 127.—DALL &
BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Acad.—COOPER, Birds Cal., 5.

SP. CHAR. General appearance of _fuscescens_, but with pattern of _swainsoni_; the buff orbital ring as conspicuous as in latter. The olive above is more _brown_ than in this, and less yellowish than in _fuscescens_, becoming decidedly more rufescent on wings and less observably so on tail. Pectoral aspect different from _fuscescens_, the spots narrower and cuneate, sharply defined, and arranged in longitudinal series; in color they are a little _darker_ than the crown. Length, 7.50; wing, 3.75; tail, 3.00; tarsus, 1.12.

HAB. Pacific Province of United States. Tres Marias Isl., Guatemala (winter), Mus. S. I.

This well-marked race is to be compared with _swainsoni_, not with _fuscescens_, as has generally been done; the latter, except in shade of colors, it scarcely resembles at all; still greater evidence that such is its affinity is that the _T. ustulatus_ builds its nest on a tree, and lays a spotted egg, like _swainsoni_, while _fuscescens_ nests on or near the ground, perhaps never in a tree, and lays a plain blue egg. The song of the present bird is also scarcely distinguishable from that of _swainsoni_. Upon the whole, we see no reason why this should not be considered as a Pacific Province form of the _Turdus swainsoni_; at least it becomes necessary to do so, after referring to _T. pallasi_ as geographical races, the _T. auduboni_ and _T. nanus_.

HABITS. So far as we are aware, this thrush has a very limited distribution, being mainly restricted to the Pacific coast region from California to Alaska in the breeding season, though migrating southward in winter to Guatemala. Dr. Kennerly found it in great abundance breeding at Chiloweyuck Depot, July 3, 1859. Dr. Cooper also found it one of the most abundant of the summer residents in Washington Territory, arriving there in May and remaining until the beginning of September. Three specimens of this thrush were obtained at Sitka, by Mr. Bischoff. Mr. Ridgway met with only a single specimen east of the Sierra Nevada, though on that range he found it an abundant summer bird.

In its general appearance it has a marked resemblance to Wilson’s Thrush (_T. fuscescens_), but its habits and notes, as well as its nest and eggs, clearly point its nearer affinity to Swainson’s Thrush (_T. swainsoni_), its song being scarcely different from that of the latter species. Like this species, it frequents the thickets or brushwood along the mountain streams, and, except just after its arrival, it is not at all shy. In crossing the Sierra Nevada in July, 1867, Mr. Ridgway first met with this species. He describes it as an exquisite songster. At one of the camps, at an altitude of about 5,000 feet, they were found unusually plentiful. He speaks of their song as consisting of “ethereal warblings,—outbursts of wild melody.” “Although its carols were heard everywhere in the depth of the ravine, scarcely one of the little musicians could be seen.” “The song of this thrush,” he adds, “though possessing all the wild, solemn melody of that of the Wood Thrush (_T. mustelinus_) is weaker, but of a much finer or more silvery tone, and more methodical delivery. It is much like that of the _T. swainsoni_, but in the qualities mentioned is even superior.”

Dr. Cooper found its nests with eggs about the middle of June. These were most usually built on a small horizontal branch, and were very strongly constructed of twigs, grasses, roots, and leaves, usually covered on the outside entirely with the bright green _Hypnum_ mosses peculiar to that region, which in the damp climate near the coast continue to grow in that position, and form large masses. The number of eggs is usually five.

Dr. Cooper states that these thrushes sing most in the early morning and in the evening, when numbers may be heard answering one another on all sides. They do not affect the darkest thickets so much as the Hermit Thrush, but are often seen feeding in the gardens in the open sunshine.

Dr. Suckley, who found them quite abundant in the neighborhood of Fort Steilacoom, on the edge of the forest, and in swampy land, describes the song as a low, soft, sad, and lively whistle, confined to one note, and repeated at regular intervals. Mr. Nuttall, the first to describe this form, speaks of it as shy and retiring, and as in the habit of gathering insects from the ground. His ear, so quick to appreciate the characteristics of the songs of birds, which showed a close resemblance between the notes of this bird and that of Wilson’s Thrush (_T. fuscescens_), enabled him to detect very distinct and easily recognizable differences. It is much more interrupted and is not so prolonged. The warble of this bird he describes as resembling _wit-wit t´villia_, and _wit-wit, t´villia-t´villia_. His call when surprised was _wit-wit_.

All the nests of this species that have fallen under my observation are large, compact, strongly constructed, and neat. They measure about 5 inches in their external diameter, with a depth externally of 3; the cavity is comparatively shallow, being rarely 2 inches in depth. The external portions are constructed almost entirely of _Hypnum_ mosses, matted together and sparingly interwoven with dry leaves and fine fibrous roots, and are lined with finer materials of the same kind. These nests most nearly resemble in their material and in their position those of Swainson’s Thrush.

Mr. Hepburn found these birds very abundant about Victoria. It does not usually breed there before the last of May, though in one exceptional instance he found a nest with young birds on the 24th of that month.

The eggs vary in size and shape, ranging from .77 to .94 in length, and from .65 to .69 in breadth. They also vary in their ground color and in the tints of the spots and markings. The ground color is light green or light blue, and the markings are variously yellowish-brown and lilac, or dark brown and slate.

Mr. Grayson found this thrush very abundant in the month of January, in the thickest of the woods, in the islands of the Three Marias, on the Pacific coast of Mexico. They were very timid and shy, more so than any bird that he saw on those islands. It frequently uttered a low plaintive whistle, and seemed solitary in its habits.

Turdus pallasi, CABANIS.

RUFOUS-TAILED THRUSH; HERMIT THRUSH.

_Turdus pallasii_, CABANIS, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1847 (I),
205.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 212.—IB. Rev. Am. B. 1864,
14.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 325 ??.—IB. Catal. 1861, 2, No.
7.—RIDGWAY.—MAYNARD.—SAMUELS, 148. _Turdus solitarius_, WILSON,
Amer. Orn. V, 1812, 95 (not of LINNÆUS).—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857,
212. _Turdus minor_, BON. Obs. Wilson, 1825, No. 72. _Turdus
guttatus_, CABANIS, Tschudi, Fauna Peruana, 1844, 187 (not
_Muscicapa guttata_ of PALLAS).
Additional figures: AUD. Birds Am. III, pl. cxlvi.—IB. Orn. Biog.
I, pl. lviii.

SP. CHAR. Tail slightly emarginate. Above light olive-brown, with a scarcely perceptible shade of reddish, passing, however, into decided rufous on the rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail, and to a less degree on the outer surface of the wings. Beneath white, with a scarcely appreciable shade of pale buff across the fore part of the breast, and sometimes on the throat; the sides of the throat and the fore part of the breast with rather sharply defined subtriangular spots of dark olive-brown; the sides of the breast with paler and less distinct spots of the same. Sides of the body under the wings of a paler shade than the back. A whitish ring round the eye; ear-coverts very obscurely streaked with paler. Length, 7.50 inches; wing, 3.84; tail, 3.25; tarsus, 1.16; No. 2,092.

HAB. Eastern North America. Mexico? Not found in Cuba, _fide_ GUNDLACH.

In spring the olive above is very much that of eastern specimens of _swainsoni_; in winter specimens it is much browner, and almost as much so as in _fuscescens_. Young birds have the feathers of the head, back, and wing coverts streaked centrally with drop-shaped spots of rusty yellowish.

HABITS. Until quite recently the “Ground Swamp Robin,” or Hermit Thrush, has not been distinguished from the closely allied species _T. swainsoni_, and all accounts of writers have blended both in singular confusion. My colleague, Professor Baird, in the summer of 1844, was the first to suggest the distinctness of the two species. By the common people of Maine and the British Provinces this difference has long been generally recognized, this species being known as the “Ground Swamp Robin,” and the other as the “Swamp Robin.”

The present species is found throughout Eastern North America to the Mississippi, and breeds from Massachusetts to high arctic regions. It is only occasionally found breeding so far south as Massachusetts; through which State it passes in its spring migrations, sometimes as early as the 10th of April; usually reaching Calais, Maine, by the 15th of the same month.

It is a very abundant bird throughout Maine, where it begins to breed during the last week of May, and where it also probably has two broods in a season.

The greater number appear to pass the winter in the Southern States; it being common in Florida, and even occasionally seen during that season as far north as latitude 38° in Southern Illinois, according to Mr. Ridgway.

It rarely, if ever, sings during its migrations; appears in small straggling companies, frequents both thickets and open fields, and is unsuspicious and easily approached.

The song of this species is very fine, having many of the characteristics of that of the Wood Thrush (_T. mustelinus_). It is as sweet, has the same tinkling sounds, as of a bell, but is neither so powerful nor so prolonged, and rises more rapidly in its intonations. It begins with low, sweet notes, and ends abruptly with its highest, sharp ringing notes.

Taken from the nest they are easily tamed, and are quite lively and playful; but their want of cleanliness renders them very undesirable pets. When their nest is visited they make no complaints, but retire to a distance. Not so, however, when their natural enemy, the hawk, appears; these they at once assail and seek to drive away, uttering loud and clear chirps, and peculiar twittering sounds.

The nest of this thrush is always built on the ground, most generally either under low bushes or in the open ground, rarely, if ever, among thick trees, and for the most part in low swampy places. Both nest and eggs closely resemble those of Wilson’s Thrush (_T. fuscescens_). In Parsboro, Nova Scotia, I found one of the nests built in the very midst of the village, close to a dwelling, though on a spot so marshy as to be almost unapproachable. The nests are 3 inches in height and 5 in diameter, with a cavity 3¼ inches wide by 1¾ deep. They are composed of decayed deciduous leaves, remnants of dried plants, sedges and grasses, intermingled with twigs, and lined with finer grasses, sedges, and strips of bark.

The eggs are of a uniform bluish-green color, and range in length from .88 to .94, with an average of .63 of an inch.

Turdus pallasi, var. nanus, AUDUBON.

DWARF HERMIT THRUSH.

_Turdus nanus_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 201, pl. cci.—BAIRD, Birds
N. A. 1858, 213; Rev. Am. B. 1864, 15.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
1859.—IB. Catal. 1861.—DALL & BANNISTER.—COOPER, Birds Cal., p.
4. _Turdus pallasi_, var. _nanus_, RIDGWAY, Rep. Kings Exped. V,
1872. _? Turdus aonalaschkæ_, GMELIN, S. N. I, 1788, 808. _??
Muscicapa guttata_, PALLAS, Zoög. Rosso-Asiat. II, 1811, 465.

SP. CHAR. Above with the clear dark olive of _swainsoni_, but this even purer and more plumbeous. Upper tail-coverts (but not lower part of rump) becoming more rufous, the tail abruptly darker, richer, and more _purplish_-rufous, approaching to chestnut. The clear olive of the neck passes into brownish-_plumbeous_ along sides; pectoral spots more sparse and less pure black than in _T. pallasi_. The white beneath is of an almost snowy purity, appreciably different from the cottony-white of _T. pallasi_. Wing, 3.30; tail, 3.00; bill, .36; tarsus, 1.07.

A very tangible and constant character possessed by this bird is the more slender and depressed bill, as compared with that of _T. pallasi_. Specimens vary only in intensity of colors; these variations very limited, and corresponding with those of _T. pallasi_. In all cases, however, their precise pattern and peculiar distribution is retained.

HAB. Western Province of North America, eastward from Kodiak to Cape St. Lucas. Arizona, COUES.

HABITS. This small race of the Hermit Thrush was first noticed by Dr. Pickering, and described by Mr. Audubon from an imperfect skin. It has since been obtained abundantly on the Pacific slope, and Mr. Ridgway procured a specimen as far east as the East Humboldt Mountains, which he considers its eastern limit.

In its habits it is said to be, like _T. pallasi_, almost exclusively terrestrial. Dr. Heermann mentions finding it abundant in California, and breeding among the stunted oaks covering the sand-hills of San Francisco. Dr. Coues found it in Arizona, but speaks of it as rare and migratory, occurring chiefly in spring and autumn, and as a shy and retiring species. Dr. Cooper, in his Report on the Birds of California, describes it as shy and timid, preferring dark and shady thickets, feeding chiefly on the ground, running rapidly, and searching for insects among the leaves.

Near San Diego they began to sing about the 25th of April. The song, consisting of a few low ringing notes, resembles that of Wilson’s Thrush (_T. fuscescens_), and also that of _T. ustulatus_, but is not so loud. Their note of alarm is a loud and ringing chirp, repeated and answered by others at a long distance.

At Santa Cruz, on the first of June, Dr. Cooper met with several of their nests, which, though probably erroneously, he supposed to belong to the Dwarf Hermit Thrush. They were all built in thickets under the shade of cottonwood-trees. Each nest was about five feet from the ground, and all contained eggs, from two to four in number, in differing stages of incubation. The nests were built of dry leaves, roots, fibres, grasses, and bark, without any mud, and were lined with decayed leaves. Their height and external diameter measured 4 inches. The diameter of the cavity was 2½ inches and the depth 2¼. The eggs measured .90 by .70 of an inch. They are of a pale bluish-green, speckled with cinnamon-brown, chiefly at the larger end.

The nest, supposed to be of this species, supplied by Dr. Cooper, is large for the bird; constructed of a base loosely made up of mosses, lichens, and coarse fibres of plants. It is a strong and compact structure of matted leaves, put together when in a moist and decaying condition; with these there are interwoven roots, twigs, and strong fibres, surrounding the nest with a stout band and strengthening the rim. In fact, it corresponds so well—as do the eggs also—with those of _T. ustulatus_, that it is extremely probable that they really belong to that species. The only observable difference is the absence of the _Hypnum_ mosses characteristic of northern _ustulatus_.

Dall and Bannister mention in their list of Alaska birds that the species is not common there. It was also taken at Sitka and Kodiak by Bischoff.

The fact that this thrush builds its nest above the ground, and lays spotted eggs, if verified, would at once warrant our giving it independent rank as a species, instead of considering it as a local race of _pallasi_.

Turdus pallasi, var. auduboni, BAIRD.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HERMIT THRUSH.

_Turdus auduboni_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 16.—RIDGWAY, P. A.
N. S. 1869, 129.—ELLIOT, Illust. (fig.). _Merula silens_,
SWAINSON, Philos. Mag. I, 1827, 369 (not _Turdus silens_ of
VIEILLOT, Encycl. Méth. II, 1823, 647, based on _T. mustelinus_,
WILS. = _T. fuscescens_).—IB. Fauna Bor.-Amer. II, 1831,
186.—BAIRD, Birds N. Amer. 1858, 213, and 922.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
1858, 325 (La Parada), and 1859, 325 (Oaxaca).—IB. Catal. Am.
Birds, 1861, 2, no. 9.

SP. CHAR. Colors much as in _Turdus nanus_, but the upper tail-coverts scarcely different from the back. Tail yellowish-rufous. Length of wing, 4.18; tail, 3.60; bill from nostril, .45; tarsus, 1.26.

HAB. Rocky Mountains, from Fort Bridger south into Mexico. Orizaba (Alpine regions), SUMICHRAST.

This is a very distinct race of thrushes, although it may be questioned whether it be truly a species. It is, however, sufficiently distinct from the eastern and western Hermit Thrushes to warrant our giving it a place of some kind in the systems.

The young plumage differs from that of _pallasi_ as do the adults of the two, and in about the same way. The olive is very much purer, with a greenish instead of a brownish cast, and the tail is very much lighter, inclining to dull ochraceous instead of rufous; this yellowish instead of rufous cast is apparent on the wings also. The yellowish “drops” on head, back, etc., are very much narrower than in _pallasi_, while the greater coverts, instead of being distinctly tipped with yellowish, merely just perceptibly fade in color at tips.

HABITS. At present we have but little knowledge of the habits of this form of _T. pallasi_, and no information whatever regarding its nesting or eggs.

In its distribution it is confined to the central range of mountains from Fort Bridger to Southern Mexico. This species, there known as “Solitario,” is common in the Alpine region of Vera Cruz (as well as in all the elevated regions of Central Mexico), frequenting the pine woods in the district of Orizaba. Mr. Sumichrast obtained it at all seasons of the year at Moyoapam, in that vicinity; a locality the height of which approximates 2,500 metres. It is also found at a height of 1,200 metres, near the city of Orizaba.

Mr. Ridgway calls this bird the “Rocky Mountain Hermit Thrush.” He states that he found it common in the Wahsatch Mountains, but that, on account of its retiring habits, it was seldom seen. It there lives chiefly in the deep ravines in the pine region, exhibiting an attachment to these solitudes rather than to the thickets along the watercourses lower down; the latter it leaves to the _T. swainsoni_. Owing to the reserved manners of this bird, as well as to the great difficulty of reaching its abode, there were few opportunities presented for learning much concerning its habits, nor did he hear its song. In its flight the pale ochraceous band across the bases of its quills was a very conspicuous feature in the appearance of its species, leading Mr. Ridgway to mistake it at first for the _Myiadestes townsendii_,—also an inhabitant of the same localities,—so much did it look like that bird, which it further resembled in its noiseless, gliding flight.

SUBGENUS TURDUS, LINN.

[Line drawing: _Turdus iliacus._
1718]

Of _Turdus_, in its most restricted sense, we have no purely American representatives, although it belongs to the fauna of the New World in consequence of one species occurring in Greenland, that meeting-ground of the birds of America and Europe; which, however, we include in the present work, as related much more closely to the former.

This Greenland species, _Turdus iliacus_, is closely related to _T. viscivorus_, the type of the genus, and comes much closer to the American Robins (_Planesticus_) than to the Wood Thrushes (_Hylocichla_).

Turdus iliacus, LINN.

REDWING THRUSH.

_Turdus iliacus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. 1758, 168, and of
European authors.—REINHARDT, Ibis, 1861, 6 (Greenland). BAIRD,
Rev. Am. B. 1864, 23 (Greenland).

SP. CHAR. This species is smaller than our Robin (_T. migratorius_), but of a similar grayish-olive above, including the head. The under parts are white; the feathers of the lower throat and breast streaked with brown. The sides, axillars, and inner wing-covert are reddish-cinnamon. A conspicuous white streak over the eye and extending as far back as the nape. Bill black, yellow at base of lower jaw. Legs pale-colored. Second quill longer than fifth. Length, about 8.25; wing, 4.64; tail, 3.45; bill, from gape, 1.07; from nostril, .44; tarsus, 1.16; middle toe and claw, 1.15. Specimen described: 18,718, ♂, a British specimen received from the Royal Artillery Institution, Woolwich.

HAB. Greenland, in the New World.

The occurrence of this well-known European species in Greenland brings it within the limits of the American Fauna. Two Greenland specimens are recorded by Dr. Reinhardt: one of them shot at Frederickshaab, October 20, 1845.

HABITS. The Redwing can probably only claim a place in the fauna of North America as an occasional visitant. Of the two specimens observed in Greenland, one was shot late in October. It is not known to breed there.

This species, during its breeding season, is found only in the more northern portions of Europe; only occasionally, and very rarely, breeding so far south as England. It makes its appearance in that kingdom on its southern migrations, coming in large flocks from Northern and Northeastern Europe, and arriving usually before the end of October. During their stay in England they frequent parks and pleasure-grounds that are ornamented with clumps of trees. During mild and open weather they seek their subsistence in pasture lands and moist meadows, feeding principally on worms and snails. In severe winters, when the ground is closed by frost or covered by snow, the Redwings are among the first birds to suffer, and often perish in large numbers.

During the winter they extend their migrations to the more southern portions of Europe, to Sicily, Malta, and even to Smyrna. In early spring they return to the more central portions of the continent, and leave in May for their more northern places of resort.

They nest in trees in the moist woods of Norway and Sweden. Their nests resemble those of the common Fieldfare, _T. pilaris_. The outside is composed of sticks, weeds, and coarse grass, gathered wet, and matted with a small quantity of moist clay. They are lined with a thick bed of fine grass.

The Redwing is said to possess a delightful note, and is called the Nightingale of Norway. Linnæus, speaking of this bird, claims that its high and varied notes rival even those of that far-famed vocalist.

During the summer the Redwing advances to the extreme north, visiting the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Northern Russia. The general character of its food, its inability to feed exclusively on berries, and the fact that it perishes from starvation in severe winters, would seem to prove that its occurrence in Greenland so late as October must have been purely accidental. It is not probable that its presence in North America will be found to be a common event.

The eggs measure 1.06 inches in length by .81 in breadth. The ground color is a light green with a bluish tinge thickly covered with russet or reddish-brown spots, confluent at the larger end.

SUBGENUS PLANESTICUS, BONAP.

_Planesticus_, BONAP. Comptes Rendus, 1854. (Type _Turdus
jamaicensis_, GMELIN.)

[Line drawing: _Turdus migratorius._
853]

This section of the Thrushes is well represented in America, especially in its middle and southern portions, and its members have a close resemblance to the typical European species in the full form, stout legs, etc., as already stated. The spots on the throat, and their absence elsewhere on the under part of the body, are sufficient to distinguish them.

Of the two North American species one is the well-known Robin, the other a closely related form from Cape St. Lucas; which indeed is probably only a local race or variety, although nothing exactly like it has yet been found away from Lower California. The following diagnosis may serve to distinguish the two birds:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Throat white with dark streaks. Rest of under parts, including lining of wing, reddish or ochraceous; the anal region whitish; lower eyelid white. Nest on trees. Eggs plain blue.

Above slaty-olive, approaching to black on the head. Beneath
rufous-chestnut. Spot in lore and on upper eyelid of white.
Tail, 4.25. _Hab._ Whole of North America; Mexico, south to
Oaxaca and Cordova; Cuba (very rare) and Tobago, of West Indies …
var. _migratorius_.

Above dull grayish-ash, not darker on the head. Beneath pale
yellowish-buff; tinged with ashy across breast; a continuous
white stripe from the lores over and a quarter of an inch
behind the eye. More white on belly and flanks than in _T.
migratorius_. Bill stouter; tail only 3.75, while the wing is
the same. _Hab._ Cape St. Lucas, Lower California …
var. _confinis_.

Turdus migratorius, var. migratorius, LINN.

ROBIN; AMERICAN REDBREAST.

_Turdus migratorius_, LINN. S. N. 12th ed. 1766, 292.—SCLATER, P.
Z. S. 1856, 294; 1859, 331; 1864, 172.—IB. Catal. Am. Birds,
1861, 4.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1860, 396 (Coban).—BAIRD, Birds
N. Am. 1858, 218; Rev. Am. B. 1864, 28.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R.
R. R. XII, II, 1859, 172.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 475. (Texas,
winter).—COUES, Pr. A. N. S. 1866, 64 (Arizona).—DALL &
BANNISTER (Alaska).—COOPER, Birds Cal.—SAMUELS, 154.
Figures: VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. II, pl. lx, lxi.—WILSON, Am. Orn.
I, 1808, pl. ii.—DOUGHTY, Cab. N. H. I, 1830, pl. xii.—AUDUBON,
Birds Am. III, pl. cxlii; Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxxxi.

SP. CHAR. Tail slightly rounded. Above olive-gray; top and sides of the head black. Chin and throat white, streaked with black. Eyelids, and a spot above the eye anteriorly, white. Under parts and inside of the wings, chestnut-brown. The under tail-coverts and anal region, with tibiæ, white, showing the plumbeous inner portions of the feathers. Wings dark brown, the feathers all edged more or less with pale ash. Tail still darker, the extreme feathers tipped with white. Bill yellow, dusky along the ridge and at the tip. Length, 9.75; wing, 5.43; tail, 4.75; tarsus, 1.25.

HAB. The whole of North America; Mexico, Oaxaca, and Cordova; Guatemala; Cuba, very rare, GUNDLACH; Tobago, KIRK; Bermuda, JONES; Orizaba (Alpine regions, breeding abundantly), SUMICHRAST.

Young birds have transverse blackish bars on the back, and blackish spots beneath. The shafts of the lesser coverts are streaked with brownish-yellow; the back feathers with white.

There are some variations, both of color and proportions, between eastern and western specimens of the Robin. In the latter there is a tendency to a longer tail, though the difference is not marked; and, as a rule, they slightly exceed eastern specimens in size. The broad white tip to the lateral tail-feather—so conspicuous a mark of eastern birds—is scarcely to be found at all in any western ones; and in the latter the black of the head is very sharply defined against the lighter, clearer ash of the back, there hardly ever being a tendency in it to continue backward in the form of central spots to the feathers, as is almost constantly seen in eastern examples; of western specimens, the rufous, too, is appreciably lighter than in eastern. As regards the streaks on the throat, the black or the white may either largely predominate in specimens from one locality.

In autumn and winter each rufous feather beneath is bordered by a more or less conspicuous crescent of white; in addition to this, most of the lighter individuals (♀?), at this season, have an ashy suffusion over the breast and flanks; and this, we have observed, is more general and more noticeable in western than in eastern specimens. In fall and winter the color of the bill, too, changes, becoming at this season either partially or wholly dusky, instead of almost entirely yellow, as seen in spring and summer examples.

Mexican specimens, found breeding in the Alpine regions as far south as Orizaba and Mirador, most resemble the western series; one, however (No. 38,120 ♂, Orizaba), but in the autumnal plumage, and therefore very possibly a migrant from the North, is hardly distinguishable from No. 32,206, Georgia; it is about identical in proportions, and the rufous is of a castaneous shade, like the deepest colored eastern examples; the white tip to the outer tail-feather is as broad and conspicuous as is ever seen in the latter.

HABITS. Scarcely any American bird has a wider range of geographical distribution, or is more numerous wherever found, than this thrush. From Greenland on the extreme northeast to the plateau of Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the Robin is everywhere a very abundant species. Single specimens have been obtained as far south as Coban, Guatemala. Its distribution in the breeding season is hardly less restricted, occurring alike on the shores of the Arctic Seas and on the high lands of Vera Cruz. In the winter months it is most abundant in the Southern States, while in the Middle and even the Northern States, in favorable localities, it may be found throughout the year; its migrations being influenced more by the question of food than of climate. In the valleys among the White Mountains, where snow covers the ground from October to June, and where the cold reaches the freezing-point of mercury, flocks of the Robin remain during the entire winter, attracted by the abundance of berries.

On the Pacific Coast the Robin is only a winter visitant in California; a very few remaining to breed, and those only among the hills. They reach Vancouver Island early in March, and are very abundant.

In New England, where the Robins are held in great esteem, and where they exist under very favorable circumstances, their numbers have very largely increased, especially in the villages. They cause not a little annoyance to fruit cultivators by their depredations upon the productions of the garden, especially cherries and strawberries. They are a voracious bird, and no doubt destroy a large quantity of small fruit, but there is abundant evidence that this is more than compensated by their destruction of the most injurious insects, upon which they wage an incessant war. The investigations of Mr. J. W. P. Jenks and Professor Treadwell establish conclusively their great services in this direction.

The experiments of the latter gentleman show that the nestlings of the Robin require a vast amount of animal food, forty per cent more than their own weight being consumed by the young bird within twenty-four hours, and, what is more, demonstrated to be necessary to its existence.

1. Turdus confinis, _Baird_. Cape St. Lucas, 23789.
2. “ nævius, _Gm._ Cala., 21363.
3. “ migratorius, _Linn._ Penn., 1851.
4. “ iliacus, _Linn._ Europe.]

In Massachusetts a few Robins remain throughout the year, but the greater proportion leave early in November, returning late in February or early in March.

The song of the Robin is deservedly popular. While many of our birds possess far superior powers of melody, and exhibit a much greater variety in their song, there are none that exceed it in its duration or extent. It is the first bird in spring to open and one of the last to close the great concert of Nature. Their song is earnest, simple, and thrilling, and is said by Audubon to resemble that of the European Blackbird, _Turdus merula_.

The Robin, when taken young, may be readily tamed, and soon becomes contented and accustomed to confinement. They are devoted to their young, watchful, attentive, and provident. They begin to construct their nest in early spring before the trees put forth their leaves, and often in very exposed positions. The size of the nest, in fact, makes concealment impossible. These nests are sometimes placed in quite remarkable positions, such as the beams of a ship partly finished, and where the carpenters were every day at work, and similar situations indicating a great familiarity. Their favorite place is the horizontal branch of an apple-tree, about ten feet from the ground.

The nest of the Robin is a large and coarsely constructed combination of rude materials. It is composed of a base of straw, leaves, mosses, stems, and dry grasses, upon which a cup-shaped fabric of clay or mud is built. The whole is lined with finer dry grasses and vegetable fibres. They average 5 inches in height and the same in diameter. Their cavity is 2¾ inches deep, with a diameter of 2½ inches.

The eggs of the Robin, which are usually five and sometimes six in number, are of a uniform bright greenish-blue color, liable to fade when exposed to light, but when fresh exhibiting a very distinct and bright tint. They vary in size from 1.25 to 1.12 inches in length, and in breadth from .88 to .75 of an inch. Their mean measurement is 1.18 by .81.

Turdus migratorius, var. confinis, BAIRD.

CAPE ST. LUCAS ROBIN.

_Turdus confinis_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 29.—ELLIOT, Birds
America.—COOPER, Birds Cal., 9.

SP. CHAR. No. 23,789. Entire upper parts and sides of head and neck uniform grayish-ash, with perhaps a faint tinge of olivaceous, less than in eastern specimens of _T. migratorius_. The central portions of the feathers of the top of head are rather darker than the edges, though almost inappreciably so, and not imparting a general dusky appearance. The chin and throat are white, streaked with ashy-brown. The jugulum and breast are pale yellowish-buff; the axillars, inner wing-coverts, and sides of the breast similarly, but rather more decidedly colored. The belly and edges of the crissal feathers are white, the hinder parts of the flanks ashy. There is a distinct whitish stripe from the lores over and a quarter of an inch behind the eye; the lower eyelid is also white. The tail-feathers are worn, but there is an indication of a narrow white tip. The feathers of the jugulum, especially of the sides, are tipped with ashy like the back, as in immature specimens of _T. migratorius_. The greater wing-coverts are tipped with dull white. The bill is yellowish; the upper mandible and the tip of lower tinged with dusky. The feet are pale brown.

The length cannot be given accurately, as the skin is much drawn up. The wing, however, measures 5.10 inches, its tip reaching 1.40 beyond the longest secondary; tail, 4.10; tarsus, 1.20; middle toe and claw, 1.07; exposed portion of culmen, .92; from tip to open portion of nostrils, .60.

HAB. Todos Santos, Cape St. Lucas.

The specimen with a general resemblance to an immature _T. migratorius_ (especially the western variety) in the white superciliary streak and general markings, is much lighter beneath than in any of the many skins of _T. migratorius_ examined; there being none of the dark chestnut or cinnamon shade, but rather a light buff; the belly and flanks are much more purely white. The superciliary stripe extends farther behind the eye; indeed, in most specimens of _migratorius_ the white is nearly confined to the eyelids. The bill and wings are rather longer than usual in _migratorius_; the middle toe, on the other hand, appears shorter. Nothing is on record in regard to the habits of this bird.

SUBGENUS HESPEROCICHLA, BAIRD.

_Hesperocichla_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, I, 1864, 12. (Type _Turdus
nævius_, GM.)

[Line drawing: _Turdus nævius._
9814]

The single species of this subgenus differs in form from the Robins (_Planesticus_), in the more awl-shaped bill, the curved commissure, and the absence of a notch at the end; the longer, slenderer, and straighter claws; and in the dissimilarity in color of the sexes. In the latter respects it agrees with _Merula_ of Europe and Middle America; in which, however, the bill is distinctly notched, and less attenuated. The tail is shorter and broader than in _Planesticus_, more as in true _Turdus_ or _Hylocichla_.

Turdus nævius, GMEL.

OREGON ROBIN; VARIED THRUSH.

_Turdus nævius_, GM. S. N. I, 1788, 817.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857, 4;
1859, 331.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 219; Rev. Am. B. 1864,
32.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. R. XII, II, 1859, 172.—COUES, Pr.
A. N. S. 1866, 65. (Quotes occurrence on Colorado River, above
Fort Mohave, as exceptional.)—MAYNARD (Massachusetts!).—TURNBULL
(N. Jersey!).—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—COOPER, Birds Cal. 10.
_Orpheus meruloides_, RICH. F. B. A. II, 1831, 187, pl. xxxviii.
Other figures: VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, pl. lxvi.—AUD.
Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, pl. ccclxix, and ccccxxxiii.—IB. Birds Am.
III, pl. cxliii.

SP. CHAR. Tail nearly even; the lateral feather shorter. Above, rather dark bluish slate; under parts generally, a patch on the upper eyelids continuous with a stripe behind it along the side of the head and neck, the lower eyelids, two bands across the wing coverts and the edges of the quills, in part, rufous orange-brown; middle of belly white. Sides of the head and neck, continuous with a broad pectoral transverse band, black. Most of tail feathers with a terminal patch of brownish white. Bill black. Feet yellow. Female more olivaceous above; the white of the abdomen more extended; the brown beneath paler; the pectoral band obsolete. Length, 9.75 inches; wing, 5.00; tail, 3.90; tarsus, 1.25.

_Young_ (45,897, Sitka, Aug. 1866; F. Bischoff). Exactly resembling the adult female, _having no spots_ other than seen in the adult plumage; but the pectoral collar is composed only of badly defined blackish transverse crescents, and the upper parts anterior to the rump are of an umber brown tint. The markings about the head and on the wings are precisely as in the adult.

This species does not appear to be liable to any noticeable variation.

HAB. West coast of North America, from Behring Straits to California; straggling to Great Bear Lake. Accidental on Long Island (Cab. G. N. Lawrence), New Jersey (Cab. Dr. Samuel Cabot), and Ipswich, Mass. (Cab. Boston Society Natural History); Iowa (ALLEN).

HABITS. The accidental occurrence of a few specimens of this well-marked bird in the Eastern States is its only claim to a place in that fauna, it being strictly a western species, belonging to the Pacific Coast. It was first discovered by the naturalists of Captain Cook’s expedition, who met with it as far to the north as Nootka Sound. It is only very recently that we have become possessed of reliable information in regard to its breeding and its nest and eggs. Sir John Richardson was informed that it nested in bushes in a manner similar to that of the common robin.

Nuttall and Townsend found it abundant among the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains, near the Columbia River, in October. In the winter it became still more numerous, passing the season in that region as well as in more southern localities, associating with the robin. From this bird it may be readily distinguished by the difference of its notes, which are louder, sharper, and delivered with greater rapidity. In the spring, before leaving for their breeding-places, they are described as having a very sweet warble.