SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTIONUNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMBulletin 196
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICANTHRUSHES, KINGLETS, ANDTHEIR ALLIESORDER PASSERIFORMES
BYARTHUR CLEVELAND BENTTaunton, Massachusetts
UNITED STATESGOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICEWASHINGTON : 1949
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C.Price 31.50
ADVERTISEMENTThe scientific publications of the National Museum include twoseries known, respectively, as Proceedings and Bulletin.The Proceedings series, begun in 1878, is intended primarily as amedium for the publication of original papers, based on the collectionsof the National Museum, that set forth newly acquired facts in biology,anthropology, and geology, with descriptions of new forms and re-visions of limited groups. Copies of each paper, in pamphlet form,are distributed as published to libraries and scientific organizationsand to specialists and others interested in the different subjects. Thedates at which these separate papers are published are recorded in thetable of contents of each of the volumes.The series of Bulletins, the first of which was issued in 1875, con-tains separate publications comprising monographs of large zoologi-cal groups and other general systematic treatises (occasionally in sev-eral volumes), faunal works, reports of expeditions, catalogs of typespecimens, special collections, and other material of similar nature.The majority of the volumes are octavo in size, but a quarto size hasbeen adopted in a few instances in which large plates were regardedas indispensable. In the Bulletin series appear volumes under theheading Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, inoctavo form, published by the National Museum since 1902, whichcontain papers relating to the botanical collections of the Museum.The present work forms No. 196 of the Bulletin series.Alexander Wetmore,Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.
CONTENTS
PageIntroduction. _ vOrder PasserifokmesFamily Turdidae: Thrushes, bluebirds, stonechats, and solitairesTurdus musicus coburni: Iceland red-winged thrushHabitsDistribution 7Turdus pilaris: Fieldfare 9Habits 9Distribution 13Turdus migratorius migratorius : Eastern robin 14Habits _ _ 14Distribution 40Turdus migratorius achrusterus: Southern robin 45Habits 45Turdus migratorius caurinus: Northwestern robin 48Habits __ 48Turdus migratorius propinquus: Western robin 52Habits 52Turdus migratorius nigrideus: Black-backed robin 64Habits 64Turdus confinis: San Lucas robin 66Habits _ 66Distribution 70Turdus merula merula: European blackbird 70Habits _ _ 70Distribution 83Ixoreus naevius naevius: Pacific varied thrush 84Habits ..__ _ 84Distribution 95Ixoreus naevius meruloides: Northern varied thrush 97Habits 97Hylocichla mustelina: Wood thrush 101Habits _ 101Distribution 121Hylocichla guttata guttata: Alaska hermit thrush 123Habits 123Distribution 127Hylocichla guttata nanus: Dwarf hermit thrush 130Habits... 130Hylocichla guttata slevini: Monterey hermit thrush 132Habits _ 132Hylocichla guttata sequoiensis: Sierra hermit thrush. 134Habits _ 134Hylocichla guttata polionota: Mono hermit thrush 137Habits _ _ 137in
IV BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMOrder Passeriformes?Continued PasreFamily Turdidae: Thrushes, bluebirds, stonechats, and solitaires
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ContinuedHylocichla guttata auduboni: Audubon's hermit thrush 139Habits 139Hylocichla guttata faxoni: Eastern hermit thrush 143Habits 143Hylocichla ustulata ustulata: Russet-backed thrush 163Habits 163Distribution 171Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni : Olive-backed thrush 174Habits 174Hylocichla ustulata almae: Western olive-backed thrush 188Habits 188Hylocichla minima minima: Gray-cheeked thrush 188Habits 188Distribution 197Hylocichla minima bicknelli: Bicknell's thrush 199Habits 199Hylocichla fuscescens fuscescens: Veery 217Habits 217Distribution 228Hylocichla fuscescens salicicola: Willow thrush 231Habits 231Hylocichla fuscescens fuliginosa: Newfoundland veery 233Habits 233Sialia sialis sialis : Eastern bluebird 233Habits 233Distribution 258Sialia sialis fulva: Azure bluebird 261Habits 261Sialia sialis episcopus: Tamaulipas bluebird 262Sialia sialis grata: Florida bluebird 262Habits --. 262Sialia mexicana bairdi : Chestnut-backed bluebird 262Habits 262Distribution 264Sialia mexicana occidentalis : Western bluebird 266Habits 266Sialia mexicana anabelae : San Pedro bluebird 274Habits 274Sialia currucoides : Mountain bluebird 276Habits 276Distribution 286Oenanthe oenanthe oenanthe : European wheatear 288Habits 288Distribution 300Oenanthe oenanthe leucorhoa : Greenland wheatear 300Habits 300Cyanosylvia suecica robusta : Red-spotted bluethroat 303Habits 303Distribution 312
CONTENTS VOrder Passeriformes?Continued PageFamily Turdidae: Thrushes, bluebirds, stonechats, and solitaires
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ContinuedCalliope calliope camtschatkensis: Greater Kamchatka nightin- 313gale 313Habits 317Distribution 317Myadestes townsendi : Townsend's solitaire 317Habits 328Distribution 330Family Sylviidae: Warblers, gnatcatchers, and kinglets 330Acanthopneuste borealis kennicotti: Kennicott's willow-warbler. 330Habits. 338Distribution _ 340Locustella ochotensis : Middendorff's grasshopper-warbler 340Habits 344Distribution 344Polioptila caerulea caerulea : Blue-gray gnatcatcher 344Habits 344Distribution 361Polioptila caerulea amoenissima : Western gnatcatcher 364Habits 364Polioptila caerulea obscura: San Lucas gnatcatcher 368Habits 368Polioptila melanura melanura : Plumbeous gnatcatcher 369Habits 369Distribution - 371Polioptila melanura margaritae : Margarita gnatcatcher 372Habits. 372Polioptila melanura abbreviata : Xantus's gnatcatcher 373Habits 373Polioptila melanura californica: Black-tailed gnatcatcher 374Habits 374Polioptila melanura lucida: Sonora gnatcatcher 382Polioptila melanura pontilis: San Francisquito gnatcatcher 382Regulus satrapa satrapa: Eastern golden-crowned kinglet 382Habits 382Distribution 394Regulus satrapa olivaceus: Western golden-crowned kinglet 397Habits 397Regulus satrapa apache : Arizona golden-crowned kinglet 399Habits 399Regulus calendula calendula: Eastern ruby-crowned kinglet 400Habits 400Distribution 410Regulus calendula cineraceus: Western ruby-crowned kinglet 413Habits 413Regulus calendula grinnelli: Sitka kinglet 416Habits 416Regulus calendula obscurus: Dusky kinglet 417Habits 417Literature cited 419Index 441
INTRODUCTIONThis is the seventeenth in a series of bulletins of the United StatesNational Museum on the life histories of North American birds.Previous numbers have been issued as follows:107. Life Histories of North American Diving Birds, August 1, 1919.113. Life Histories of North American Gulls and Terns, August 27, 1921.121. Life Histories of North American Petrels and Pelicans and Their Allies.October 19, 1922.126. Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl (part), May 25, 1923.130. Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl (part), June 27, 1925.135. Life Histories of North American Marsh Birds, March 11, 1927.142. Life Histories of North American Shore Birds (pt. 1), December 31, 1927.146. Life Histories of North American Shore Birds (pt. 2), March 24, 1929.162. Life Histories of North American Gallinaceous Birds, May 25, 1932.167. Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey (pt. 1), May 3, 1937.170. Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey (pt. 2), August 8, 1938.174. Life Histories of North American Woodpeckers, May 23, 1939.176. Life Histories of North American Cuckoos, Goatsuckers, Hummingbirds,and Their Allies, July 20, 1940.179. Life Histories of North American Flycatchers, Larks, Swallows, and TheirAllies, May 8, 1942.191. Life Histories of North American Jays, Crows, and Titmice, January 27.1947.195. Life Histories of North American Nuthatches, Wrens, Thrashers, and TheirAllies. July 7, 1948.The same general plan has been followed, as explained in previousbulletins, and the same sources of information have been utilized.The nomenclature of the 1931 Check-list of the American Ornitholo-gists' Union has been followed.An attempt has been made to give as full a life history as possibleof the best-known subspecies of each species and to avoid duplicationby writing briefly of the other subspecies. In many cases certainhabits, probably common to the species as a whole, have been recordedfor only one subspecies; as such habits are mentioned only under thesubspecies on which the observations were made, it would be well toread all the accounts in order to get the whole story for the species.The distribution deals with the species as a whole, with only roughoutlines of the ranges of the subspecies, which in many cases cannotbe accurately defined.The egg dates are the condensed results of a mass of records takenfrom the data in a large number of the best egg collections, as well asVI
INTRODUCTION VHfrom contributed notes and from a few published sources. They showthe dates on which eggs have been actually found in various parts ofthe country, giving the earliest and latest dates and the limits betweenwhich half the dates fall, indicating the height of the season.The plumages are described in only enough detail to enable thereader to trace the sequence of molts and plumages from birth tomaturity and to recognize the birds in the different stages and at thedifferent seasons. No attempt has been made to describe fully theadult plumages ; this has been well done already in the many manualsand State books. Partial or complete albinism is liable to occur inalmost any species; for this reason, and because it is practicallyimpossible to locate all such cases, it has seemed best not to attemptto treat this subject at all. The names of colors, when in quotationmarks, are taken from Ridgway's Color Standards and Color Nomen-clature (1912). In the measurements of eggs, the four extremes areprinted in boldface type.Many who have contributed material for previous volumes havecontinued to cooperate. Receipt of material from over 500 con-tributors has been acknowledged previously. In addition to these,our thanks are due to the following new contributors: G. D. Alcorn,Amelia S. Allen, A. E. Allin, James Bond. W. H. Carrick, C. D. Carter,H. L. Cogswell, Fred Evenden, Jr., Mae Halliday, F. V. Hebard, H.W. Higman, E. W. Jameson, Jr., G. F. Knowlton, H. C. Kyllingstad,R. E. Lawrence, D. J. Magoon. A. H. Miller, R. F. Miller, R. H.Mills, Tilford Moore, James Murdock, J. W. Musgrove, H. R. Myers,L. N. Nichols, G. A. Petrides, A. L. Pickens, W. T. Shaw, W. E.Shore, J. C. Tracy, H. O. Wagner, G. J. Wallace, Florence G. Weaver,George Willett, and William Youngworth.If any contributor fails to find bis or her name in this or some pre-vious volume, the author would be glad to be advised. As the demandfor these bulletins is much greater than the supply, the names of thosewho have not contributed to the work during the previous 10 yearswill be dropped from the author's mailing list.Photographs for this bulletin were contributed by the Museum ofVetebrate Zoology, University of California, and by the University ofMinnesota.This has been, indeed, a cooperative volume. Bernard W. Tuckerhas contributed eight complete life histories and Dr. Winsor M.Tyler has written three, besides rendering valuable assistance in readingand indexing a large part of the literature on North American birds.Dr. Alfred O. Gross, Dr. George J. Wallace, Mrs. Florence G. Weaver,Francis M. Weston, and Robert S. Woods have each contributed onecomplete life history.
VIII BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMEgg measurements were furnished especially for this volume byDean Amadon (for the American Museum of Natural History),James Bond, John R. Cruttenden, Charles E. Doe, Wilson C. Hanna,Wm. George F. Harris (for the Museum of Comparative Zoology),Ed N. Harrison, A. D. Henderson, Turner E. McMullen, Dr. RobertT. Orr (for the California Academy of Sciences), Lawrence Stevens,George H. Stuart, 3d, and Margaret W. Wythe (for the Museum ofVertebrate Zoology). The greater part of the measurements weretaken from the register sheets of the United States National Museumby Wm. George F. Harris, who also relieved the author of a vastamount of detail work by collecting and figuring hundreds of eggmeasurements and by collecting, sorting, and arranging several thou-sand nesting records to make up the "egg dates" paragraphs.Through the courtesy of the Fish and Wildlife Service, Miss May T.Cooke has compiled the distribution and migration paragraphs. Theauthor claims no credit and assumes no responsibility for these data,which are taken from the great mass of records on file in Washington.The manuscript for this bulletin was completed in 1943. Contribu-tions received since then will be acknowledged later. Only informa-tion of great importance could be added. The reader is remindedagain that this is a cooperative work; if he fails to find in these volumesanything that he knows about the birds, he can blame himself for nothaving sent the information to
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The Author.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICANTHRUSHES, KINGLETS, AND THEIR ALLIESORDER PASSERIFORMES (FAMILIES TURDIDAE ANDSYLVIIDAE)By Arthur Cleveland BentTaunton, Mass.Order PASSERIFORMESFamily TURDIDAE: Thrushes, Bluebirds, Stonechats, and SolitairesTURDUS MUSICUS COBURNI SharpeICELAND RED-WINGED THRUSHCONTEIBUTED BT BERNARD WlLLIAM TUCKERHABITSThe redwing of British ornithologists is an accidental visitor toGreenland. Schi0ler (1926), the eminent Danish authority, in theannotated list of Greenland birds in his great work "DanmarksFugle," lists the Greenland visitors as definitely of the Iceland race,Arceuthornis musicus coburni (Sharpe), and on geographical groundsthis is what would be expected. Dr. J. Reinhardt (1861) recorded twoexamples, one of which was sent to Dr. Paulsen in 1845, while the otherwas shot at Frederikshaab, on the west coast, on October 20 of thatyear and was sent to the Copenhagen Museum, where no doubt it stillis. The species is known also from the east coast. Helms (1926)states that Johan Petersen, superintendent of the colony of Angmag-salik, who for many years made observations on the birds occurringthere, received three specimens during the period 1894 to 1915. OnOctober 20, 1904, two were shot by the colony. They were flyingfrom one ice floe to another down by the beach, looking for food, andevery now and then they made a trip to the shore, where they doubt-less caught sandskippers, small snails, and other prey. They were onlyslightly shy and were easy to shoot. On October 31, 1906, he receivedone from a Greenlander who had shot it on the beach.
2 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
7 In the British Isles, where both the Iceland and typical forms occur,the red-winged thrush is a familiar winter visitor of markedly gregari-ous habits, feeding in scattered flocks on open pastures and grasslandsor sometimes in stubble and root fields, but perching freely in hedge-rows and trees. In northern Europe and Asia it is one of the charac-teristic birds of the Arctic and sub-Arctic birch forests, though it isalso found more sparingly about scrub growth of birch and willow evenbeyond the tree limit. In Iceland, where woodland is almost absent,the typical haunts of the species are necessarily different from those ofthe European mainland; it is found in broken, often rock-strewn,country, most commonly where birch scrub exists, but also even inareas almost devoid of scrub. The Iceland race is rather darker abovethan the typical form, with the underparts more heavily marked andthe breast and flanks more washed with olive-brown. The Icelandbirds are also generally a trifle larger. Witherby (1938, vol. 2) givesthe wing measurements of males as 119-128 mm. (one 117) against 113-119 (one 122) for the typical form; and of females as 120-128 mm.against 113-119 mm. Ticehurst (1925) in a considerable series foundthat 75 percent of Icelandic birds had the wing 122 mm. or over, thislength, as will be seen from the figures just given, being very rare inthe typical form.Courtship.?Unfortunately, nothing whatever has been recordedabout the courtship or display of this species.Nesting.?While its relative and frequent associate the fieldfare isgregarious both at its nesting places and in winter, the redwing isgregarious in winter only, nesting in scattered pairs and being evi-dently territorial in its habits, for Hantzsch (1905) states that inIceland the males are quarrelsome and pugnacious and drive offneighboring males from their domains. In the case of the typicalform, however, it is not unusual to find a pair or two nesting in orclose to a fieldfare colony. In fact, this is so frequent that it canhardly be considered fortuitous; probably the redwings gain protectionby nesting near their larger and more aggressive relatives. In Europethe breeding haunts are chiefly the woodlands of birch and alder,though the birds may also be found nesting in pines where the trees arerather small, and they seem to have a distinct partiality for the vicin-ity of swampy ground. The nest may be placed at a height of 20feet or so in a tree, but more often lower, and very commonly on alow stump or actually on the ground at the foot of a tree, beneath abush, or in a bank. Although in northern Europe and Asia the red-wing is primarily a bird of wooded country, it nevertheless rangeswell beyond the forest limit and then habitually nests on the groundamong scrub or in a bank or similar site. Seebohm (1879) found itstill common in the Yenisei Valley as far as latitude 71?, but not
ICELAND RED-WINGED THRUSH 3farther north. Ground sites among rocks and scrub are also typicalin Iceland. The Iceland form will also nest on buildings and hasestablished itself as a regular breeder in the town of Reykjavik. Thenest is of typical thrush type, built of dry grasses, bents, and finetwigs, lined with a thin but hard layer of mud, which is covered byan inner lining of grass.Eggs.?The eggs have a greenish ground finely mottled with red-dish brown. They are, in fact, extremely like very small eggs of theEuropean blackbird. Jourdain (1938, vol. 2) gives the followingmeasurements based on 116 eggs of the typical form: Average, 25.8by 19.2 mm.; maximum, 29.5 by 20.3 and 27.6 by 20.6 mm.; minimum,21.9 by 18.5 and 24.6 by 17.5 mm. His figures for the Iceland raceare: Average of 38 eggs, 26.0 by 19.4 mm.; maximum, 29 by 19.2 and26 by 21 mm. ; minimum, 23.5 by 19.5 and 25.2 by 18 mm. In Europethe usual clutch is five or six, but two, three, four, and seven are allrecorded. In Iceland the usual number is four to six, but there arerecords of three and seven. In Europe most eggs are laid in Juneand July, but some in the latter half of May, while in Iceland theyare found from mid-May onward, though also in June and July(Jourdain).Young.?According to Jourdain, incubation by birds of the typicalrace may begin with the first egg or the last but one. In the case ofthe Iceland race it has been stated to begin with the third (G. Timmer-mann, 1934). The period has been given as about 13 days for thetypical form and 14-15 days for the Iceland one, but more data areneeded ; there is no reason to suppose that there is really any differencebetween the two. The male appears to take some real share in thetask of incubation, but here again fuller observation is needed. A. H.Daukes (1932), observing a pair that bred in Scotland, "noticedthat both birds incubated, although there did not appear to be anydefinite period when the cock took over from the hen," and Timmer-mann has stated that in Iceland the hen is relieved by the cock atmidday in the earlier stages only. The fledgling period is given asabout 12-14 days for musicus and 11-14 days for coburni. The latteris on the authority of B. Hantzsch, whose "Beitrag zur Kenntnis derVogelwelt Islands" (1905) is still one of the chief sources of informa-tion on Icelandic ornithology. Both sexes feed the young, andTimmermann states of the Iceland race that the feces are regularlyswallowed by the parents after feeding. The species is double-brooded in Europe and probably at times in Iceland.Plumages.?The plumages are fully described by H. F. Witherby(1938, vol. 2) in the "Handbook of British Birds." In the nestlingthe fawn-colored down is distributed on the inner supraorbital, occip-ital, spinal, humeral, and ulnar tracts, and is long and plentiful on all
4 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMbut the first of these, where it is scanty. The interior of the mouthis gamboge yellow with no spots, and externally the flanges are ivory-colored. In the juvenal plumage the upperparts are less uniform thanin the adult, the feathers having darker tips and pale-buflish, drop-shaped central streaks, while the rufous on the flanks is scarcely devel-oped. At this stage it is extremely like the young song thrush,except for the prominent light eye stripe, which at once distinguishesit. The first winter plumage can only be distinguished from that ofthe adult by white tips to the innermost secondaries and pale bufftips to the greater coverts. In the subsequent summer these distinc-tive tips often wear off.Food.?Jourdain (1938, vol. 2) states that the food of the typicalrace in winter is as follows: "Worms, Mollusca (snails, Helix aspersaand nemoralis, slugs, Agriolimax and even Avion, lacustrine univalvesand bivalves, Sphaerium, etc.). Insects: Coleoptera (Melolonthalarvae, weevils, etc.), Lepidoptera (Noctuidae, larvae and pupae),Diptera (larvae of Tipulidae), Orthoptera, etc. On sea-shore Crus-tacea (small crabs, Talitrus and Orchestia). Berries of hawthorn,yew, rowan, holly, Vaccinium."No exact details on food in the breeding season seem to be availablefor the typical race. In Iceland the food is recorded as consisting ofinsects (Coleoptera and larvae of Lepidoptera), worms, and manyberries and skins of berries of the previous year, and the young are fedon caterpillars, small Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and worms (Hantzsch).In British-killed examples of the Iceland race Dr. J. W. Campbell hasrecorded Mollusca (Cochliocopa lubrica and Succinea sp.), Coleoptera(larvae of Carabidae and Barynotus), and Diptera (larvae of Bibion-idae and ? Tabanidae).In general, the redwing tends to take more animal food and is lessaddicted to feeding on berries in winter than other thrushes, though,as noted above, it does take berries to some extent.Behavior.?To observers in the British Isles the arrival of the red-wings is one of the notable ornithological events of autumn, for thisspecies and its relative the fieldfare are the two most generally dis-tributed and common winter visitors. One day, probably in October,redwings will be found once again feeding in the fields, or perhaps thefirst notice of their arrival will be given by their unmistakable thinflight call as flocks pass over at night. Outside the breeding seasonthe redwing is thoroughly gregarious. The birds get most of theirfood on open grassland, and the delicately built, dark forms widelyscattered over the fields, and often mingled with the larger and morerobust-looking fieldfares, provide a pleasant picture. Their food,which, as more fully described in the relevant section, consists mainlyof worms, insects, and other invertebrates, is obtained from among
ICELAND RED-WINGED THRUSH 5the grass and from the surface soil and often by rooting about amongdead leaves when the birds are feeding near trees or hedgerows or onthe outskirts of a wood. On the ground their carriage and gait arethose of a typical thrush; they move by a short run or succession ofhops followed by a pause and then repeated. When disturbed orresting and when preparing to roost they perch freely in trees andhedges, and it is from the branches of the still bare trees that partiesmay be heard uttering their low babbling subsong on genial daysearly in spring while still in their winter quarters. The flight is director only slightly undulating.Voice.?The call note, used especially in flight, is a soft, thin seek.Feeding flocks have also a soft chup, and another, quite different buthighly characteristic note, much heard at roosts and to some extentat other times, is a very hard-sounding chittuck, or chittick, withvariations. This is also the regular alarm note of breeding birds asheard in northern Europe, where I have also noted the call of fledgedyoung birds as a husky chucc.With regard to the song of the redwing there has been some dif-ference of opinion. In Scandinavia it has been called the ' 'northernnightingale," and various observers, among them the great Linnaeus,have praised its song in terms which others have thought quiteextravagant. At least a partial explanation of this divergence ofopinion is that the redwing thrush has two perfectly distinct songs.The one by far the most frequently heard is a simple refrain consistingof several, commonly three or four, clear fluty notes generally, butnot always, followed by a poor, low, chuckling warble. This song isusually delivered from a pine or other tree, sometimes exposed toview on the top, but often in cover. An interesting feature is itsremarkable proneness to local dialects. Thus in Lapland in 1937 Ifound all or nearly all the birds in one district singing the same verysimple stereotyped phrase, which could be rendered as trui-trui-trui,while in another district not 30 miles away they were a trifle moreambitious and sang tee- (or sometimes tee-tu) ti ruppi-ti ruppi-ti ruppiwith only insignificant variations. The fluty notes are quite musicaland pleasing, but the unvarying repetition is monotonous and anycomparison with the nightingale would be absurd to anyone familiarwith that bird.There is, however, what must be regarded as a premating song,which appears really to merit the praise bestowed on it. It is thusdescribed by H. W. Wheelwright (1871):Of all the northern songsters, perhaps the redwing stands first on the list, andis with justice called the northern nightingale, for a sweeter song I never wish tolisten to when this rich gush of melody is poured out from the thick covert of afir in the "silence of twilight's contemplative hour," or often in the still hour of
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midnight when all else in nature is at rest. But as soon as the breeding seasoncommences this beautiful song ceases, and is now changed to a kind of call
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"Twee, twee, twee, twee, tweet," ending with a little trill.
i ; The "kind of call" is unmistakably the simple form of song describedabove, which was all I ever heard in the latter part of June, but inSwedish Lapland two friends and correspondents whom I have quotedin the "Handbook of British Birds" heard, even when most birdswere incubating, a few individuals singing what was clearly a form,even if an inferior one, of the full song, which they describe as muchlike that of a song thrush, but rather lower-pitched with many phraseseach repeated several times.Yet a third performance is the subsong, which can be regularlyheard from flocks in their winter quarters on sunny days in Februaryand March. This I have described in the "Handbook of British Birds"(1938), already quoted, as "a low babbling affair of twittering andwarbling notes not infrequently punctuated by the fluty vtrui'," and
"at times song not apparently differing in any material respect fromthe simpler phase of true song may be heard from individual birds."The chorus may even be varied with what sound like genuine snatchesof full song, but with one recent exception there is no clear record ofthe full song ever being heard before the return to the breeding ground.Field marks.?The redwing is an obvious thrush, a little larger thana wood thrush, with the usual spotted, or in this case more strictlystreaked, breast of the group, but at once distinguished from anyother American or European thrush by its conspicuous pale eye stripeand chestnut-red flanks. The Iceland form is rather darker than thetypical one, and in certain of the Scottish islands, where both formsoccur regularly, at least two competent and experienced observers havestated that the Icelanders, or at aDy rate the more strongly charac-terized specimens, are recognizable even in the field by their darkercoloration, an opinion they have confirmed by shooting. But forobservers without their exceptional experience and opportunities ofcomparison the races cannot be considered separable in the field.Enemies.?There is not much that can be said about enemies of theredwiDg beyond the kind of general statement that can be made aboutall the thrushes and other birds of similar size and habits. Like otherTurdidae it is subject to the attacks of hawks and perhaps more sothan some on account of its being mainly a bird of open ground. Itfigures in the dietary of the (European) sparrow hawk, goshawk, andat times of the peregrine (duck hawk), and even the little merlin(pigeon hawk). The last-named must be presumed to be the chiefenemy of the Iceland form on its breeding ground. Roosting birdsare sometimes taken by owls. It is also recorded that hawks mayaccompany the migrating flocks and take a toll of the wanderers.
ICELAND RED-WINGED THRUSH 7A list of parasites recorded from the species is given by Niethammer(1937).Fall and winter. ?Something of the general habits of the red-wingedthrush at this period of the year has been indicated under "Behavior."In spite of its breeding in the far north it is not a very hardy bird, andduring hard weather in its winter quarters it suffers severely. Atsuch times "weather movements" to milder regions take place, butmany birds remain in the frost-bound districts and many pay thepenalty of this deficiency in adaptation, perishing from starvation. Itis chiefly under stress of hard weather that redwings may be foundfeeding on berries in the hedgerows if such are available. At othertimes they are much less addicted to this diet than are fieldfares andsome other thrushes, though it is not true?as has been asserted?thatthey never resort to it except when forced by hunger.Thoroughly gregarious iD its winter quarters by day, the red-wingedthrush is, in a sense, even more so at night, when the constituents ofmany flocks that have been scattered over the farmlands during thedaytime will often gather together to roost in the shrubberies of parksand large gardens or in suitable plantations and thickets. Such roostsare very commonly shared with fieldfares, blackbirds, and a few songthrushes. Smaller numbers roost in old, untrimmed hedgerows.In some of the treeless Scottish islands the winter haunts arenecessarily somewhat different from those of the agricultural districtsof England, and it is of interest that in these islands, where the Icelandrace occurs regularly, as well as the typical one, a distinct differencein habits has been observed. Thus in Fair Isle, between Shetland andOrkney, the very capable observer George Stout (Witherby et al.,1938), has stated that the Iceland birds tend to keep to crops, whilethose of the typical race prefer the cliffs and bare hillsides. In theOuter Hebrides, where from November to February most of the birdsseem to be of the Iceland race, they frequent arable grassland, heathercountry, and rocky shores, but also the vicinity of habitations, stack-yards, etc., and roost in such places as stone dikes and peat stacksor in long heather and willow scrub (J. W. Campbell, Witherby et al.,1938). DISTRIBUTIONBreeding range.?The breeding range of the typical race is describedas extending in Europe north to 70? in Norway, North Sweden,Finland, Russia (Archangel Government), and south to Gotland inthe Baltic, northeast Poland, the Baltic States, and in Russia to theMinsk, Chernigov, Kaluga, Tula, Ryazan, Nizhni Novgorod, Kazan,Ufa, and Orenburg Governments. Also in Siberia, north to the
8 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMtree limit, east to the River Kolyma and south to about 54? in thewest, but in the east only to Yakutsk (about 63?). It also breeds insmall numbers in Germany and exceptionally in Belgium, and a pairhas been recorded nesting in two successive years in Scotland. Therace T. m. coburni breeds in Iceland and sparingly in the Faeroes, anda pair believed to be of this race has once been recorded nesting inthe Shetland Islands.Winter range.?British Isles and southern Europe to the Mediter-ranean and Black Seas; also Asia Minor, Syria, and Iran, rarelyreaching the Mediterranean islands and Palestine. The Icelandform has been identified on passage and in winter in the Faeroes,Holland, and France. (Jourdain.)Spring migration.?The migratory movements of the typical raceare essentially the same as those of the fieldfare (pp. 13-14), but depar-tures from the British Isles appear to average a fortnight earlier and tofinish soon after mid-April. May records are exceptional, and theonly three available for the period May 4-25 come from the Scottishislands. Three June dates are recorded for England and Wales,viz, June 9, 13, and 27 (N. F. Ticehurst, 1938, vol. 2). Alexander(1927) records his latest date for the hill country near Rome as March21. In Germany the passage extends from the second, or more rarelythe first, half of March to about mid-April or in East Prussia regularlyto the beginning of May (Niethammer, 1937). Arrival is recorded atVadso on the Arctic coast of Norway on May 16 (Blair, 1936), atUst Zylma in Arctic Russia on May 17, and on the Arctic Circle inthe Yenisei Valley on June 5 (Seebohm, 1901, 1879). In Iceland,however, according to Hantzsch (1905), it arrives at the end ofMarch and beginning of April (earliest date March 20), which seemssurprisingly early for that bleak land.Fall migration.?Small numbers begin to reach the British Isles atthe end of September and the beginning of October, but the mainarrival is in October and November. Three July records (earliestJuly 5) are available (Ticehurst), but these are highly exceptional,and even arrivals in August and the first half of September are veryunusual. Niethammer describes the beginning of the passage asusually in the second half of October in central Germany, but at theend of September in East Prussia. In the Mediterranean regionAlexander found the arrival in the Rome district very regular aboutNovember 1.Casual records.?Typical race: Spitsbergen, Bear Island, Faeroes,Madeira, Canaries. Iceland race: Bear Island, Greenland, JanMayen.
FIELDFARE VTURDUS PILARIS LinnaeusFIELDFAREContributed by Bernard William TuckerHABITSThe fieldfare has been added to the American fauna since thepublication of the 1931 A. 0. U. list. In The Auk for 1940 (vol. 57)P. A. Taverner described a specimen from the southeastern coast ofJens Munk Island, at the head of Foxe Basin, Arctic America, takenduring the summer of 1939 and received by the National Museum ofCanada from Graham Rowley. "It is a roughly made, semi-mummi-fied skin but quite complete and recognizable. Mr. Rowley foundit in the possession of an old Eskimo woman who recognized it asunusual and was keeping it as a curiosity." Mr. Taverner believedthis to be the first record for the American list, but there is in factan earlier authentic record from Greenland. This refers to a maleshot on November 24, 1925, at Fiskenaesse on the southwest coastand sent by K. H. Petersen, of Godthaab, along with the skins ofseveral other rarities, to H. Scheel (1927), by whom it was recorded.This specimen was evidently subsequently set up and returned to theGreenland Museum at Godthaab, for in a later article by K. Oldendow(1933) it is recorded that a fieldfare, with the same data as above, ispreserved there and constitutes the first record for Greenland. Aphotograph of a group of birds in the Museum is given on page 187,including an unmistakable fieldfare, which is obviously the specimenin question. A third record can now be added. C. G. and E. G.Bird (1941) record that an adult male was obtained by a norwegiantrapper, Magne Raum, near Cape Humboldt on Ymer Island, north-east Greenland, on January 20, 1937. This specimen is preserved inthe British Museum (Natural History). The records justly observethat "this is a rather remarkable record, as January is, of course, oneof the dark months. The weather for three weeks previously hadbeen one long succession of snowstorms." They add the further note-worthy point that several fieldfares appeared on the island of JanMayen on the same date.The fieldfare, like its relative and frequent associate the red-wingedthrush, is a characteristic bird of the forest belt of northern Europeand Asia. But although it ranges quite as far north as the redwing?and indeed, in Europe at any rate, even a little farther?it also extendsconsiderably farther south, breeding locally in parts of central Europe.Courtship.?The only observer who has described the courtshipbehavior of the fieldfare appears to be E. J. M. Buxton, who contrib-uted a note on the subject to the "Handbook of British Birds" (1938,792825?49 2
10 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
vol. 2). The display as he describes it resembles the European black-bird's. The hen stands motionless on the ground with the head onone side, while the cock struts round her many times with the tailfanned and pressed on the ground, the feathers on the rump ruffledup and the bill pointing to the ground. Although the song itself isof the feeblest description, it may be associated with a special displayflight, with a peculiar wing action in which the wings are held stifflyout, not fully extended, between the beats, conveying the impressionof abnormally slow progress forward.Nesting.?In its typical northern haunts the fieldfare is first andforemost a bird of the birch forests, iu which, unlike the other Euro-pean thrushes, it breeds in colonies. But it also breeds freely in pineforest, as well as in alders, and in the more southern parts of its rangein a variety of other trees. Sometimes colonies may be found inparks, orchards, and gardens, even in towns, and I recall such a colonyin trees in a public square in the little town of Kristiansund in Norway.In my experience the nests have generally been about 8 to 18 or 20feet up, but they may be either higher or lower and occasionally evenon the ground or in such other situations as sheds or woodstacks.They are generally fairly widely scattered, and in the Scandinavianbirch woods, at any rate, there is not ordinarily more than one in atree. But in larger trees it is recorded that several nests in one treeare not unusual. Quite small colonies and even isolated nests may befound, especially, though by no means only, toward the limits of forestgrowth, as well as large ones with scores of nests in a comparativelysmall area. The species may also be found breeding sparingly evenon the high fells above the forests and on open tundra and barrenground beyond the tree limit. Here it is the rule for only an odd pairor two to be found here and there and the nests are built in low scrubor among rocks or on the ground.The nest is much like that of the European blackbird, built of drygrasses and bents mixed with mud and with a layer of mud beneaththe inner lining of fine grass, occasionally with a few twigs or a littlemoss in the foundation. When built in a tree it is usually placed in afork or at the base of a branch against the trunk, but it may be placedsome way out on a side branch. Whether the male takes any part inbuilding does not appear to be recorded.Eggs. ?The eggs in general closely resemble those of the Europeanblackbird, that is, they are closely freckled with reddish brown on apale bluish-green ground, but they are much more variable than black-birds', being often much more richly and boldly marked, sometimeswith a well-marked cap or zone at the broad end. There is a typewith a bright blue ground more or less prominently spotted andblotched, and unmarked blue eggs are also recorded. The usual clutch
FIELDFARE 11
is five or six, but seven and even eight occur and occasionally full setsof only three or four are found. Jourdain (1938) gives the measure-ments of 100 eggs as: Average 28.8 by 20.9 mm.; maximum, 33.5 by23.4 mm.; minimum, 25.5 by 21 and 29.5 by 19 mm. Eggs may befound from April in Poland, from the last third of April, but usuallyin May or June, in Germany, and from May to July in Scandinavia.Young.?According to Jourdain incubation often begins with thefirst egg and is performed by the hen chiefly if not entirely. Theperiod is given by Armberg as 13-14 days. Both sexes feed the youngand the fledgling period is given by Jourdain as 14 days. He statesthat probably a second brood is sometimes reared. The parent birdsare bold and noisy in defense of the nest, and I have seen a pairmobbing a hooded crow with considerable effect. Undoubtedly thesocial breeding habits are an added protection, for intending marauderswill be attacked by a number of birds.Plumages.?The plumages of the fieldfare are fully described byH. F. Witherby (1938, vol. 2) in the "Handbook of British Birds."The nestling has fairly long and plentiful buff-colored down dis-tributed on the outer and inner supraorbital, occipital, spinal, humeral,and ulnar tracts; it is short on the first of these. The juvenal plumageis not unlike the adult's but a good deal duller, with the head, neck,and rump, which are gray in the adult, washed with brown and withpale shaft streaks to the feathers of the upperparts. After the autumnmolt the young birds resemble the adults, though the males have thegrays rather browner, and in both sexes the greater coverts generallyhave whitish tips, which the adults lack.Food.?Though largely insectivorous in the broad sense, whichgenerally means feeding on a variety of small invertebrates, the field-fare is a great eater of berries in fall and winter. The flocks mayoften be seen feasting on berries in the hedgerows, and in places whereberry-bearing shrubs are numerous fieldfares may be expected tocongregate.More precisely, the dietary is summarized as follows by Jourdain(1938, vol. 2): "In winter varied, animal and vegetable: Mollusca(slugs and small land-shells) , Annelida (earthworms) ; insects ; Coleop-tera (Sitona, Otiorrhynchus, Megasternum, Homalota, Quedius, Elater,Curculionidae, Agriotes and larvae), Diptera (larvae of Tipulidae,etc.). Also spiders. Many kinds of berries (hawthorn, holly, rowan,yew, juniper, dog-rose, Pyracantha, etc.). Swedes attacked in hardweather; fallen apples, grain, and some seeds."Behavior.?It has been mentioned that the fieldfare is gregariousboth in and out of the breeding season. In its winter quarters theflocks lead a wandering existence, roving the fields and hedgerows,often in company with red-winged thrushes. When feeding on grass-
12 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMland both species scatter fairly widely, the fieldfares standing outamong their companions by their larger size and bolder, more assertivebearing. But for all this they are wary and alert and not easy toapproach very closely. When disturbed from the ground they flyup into any trees that may be at hand, and indeed when not actuallyfeeding they perch freely enough in trees, usually all facing in thesame direction with a unanimity appropriate to a social species.The carriage on the ground is much like that of any large thrush.When standing still the position is rather upright, head well up andtail down, and it moves in the usual manner of thrushes in short runsor a succession of hops with pauses between. The flight is fairlydirect, with a perceptible but not very noticeable closure of the wingsevery few beats, and the flocks fly in a rather loose and stragglingformation. Except in the breeding season they are characteristicallybirds of the open. They will resort at times to open woodland ifthere is a good crop of berries there; indeed on the Continent thiswould seem to be a more regular habit than it is as a rule in England.But they are not by nature woodland birds and never normally takeshelter in bushes or cover of any kind.Voice.?The ordinary note of the fieldfare is the rather harsh cha-cha-cha-chack already mentioned, and the more subdued, conver-sational chatter of parties in the trees is a variation of this. In thebreeding colonies the birds have other more or less similar harsh orchattering notes of alarm or anger. A quite distinct note, a call thatwith minor variations from species to species is common to a numberof thrushes, is a soft prolonged seeh. The only note I have heardfrom young birds on the breeding ground is a shrill chizzeek. Incontrast to those of many thrushes the song?it really hardly qualifiesto rank as more than a subsong?is a remarkably unimpressiveperformance, consisting of some not unmusical warbling notes mingledwith chuckling, whistling, and harsh squeaky sounds and variations ofthe harsh call. It is more often uttered in flight than from a perch.It is natural to correlate the lack of any highly developed song withthe colonial nesting habits of the species. In spring, while the birdsare still in their winter quarters, a low guttural warbling subsongmay sometimes be heard from parties in the trees, as well as atroosting places, and this seems to be merely a subdued version ofthe breeding-season song.Field marks.?The fieldfare is a large, robustly built thrush about10 inches long, with slate-gray head, nape, and rump contrastedwith chestnut back and black tail. The female is like the male, buta little duller. It is largely a bird of open ground, getting much ofits food in the fields, but perching freely in trees and hedgerows. Itis strongly gregarious and generally seen in parties or flocks, which
FIELDFARE 13may be of considerable size, though single birds or little groups oftwo or three may sometimes be met with. The rather harsh note,cha-cha-cha-chack, helps to identify flocks on the wing.Enemies.?Fieldfares not uncommonly fall victims to the (European)sparrow hawk, goshawk, peregrine falcon, and other birds of prey.In the breeding season their chief enemies are egg-robbing Corvidae,but their bold disposition and colonial habits help to afford protectionto the nests and young.Fall and winter.?Something of the general habits of fieldfares intheir winter quarters has been indicated under "Behavior." Inhard weather, when other food is difficult to come by, the movementsof the flocks are much influenced by the supply of berries, and thickold hedgerows are much frequented. At such times they will alsoresort to root fields and feed upon swedes or turnips. At dusk num-bers gather together to roost in company. It has been asserted thatthey always or normally roost on the ground and only roost off it insevere weather, or again in an equally sweeping manner that theyonly roost on the ground of necessity when suitable shrubberies orthickets are not available. Neither is correct. Both types of siteare resorted to regularly, and the birds may be found roosting, toquote the summary given by the present writer in the "Handbook ofBritish Birds" (1938), in "rank grass amongst bushes or in youngplantations, amongst rushes and marsh plants or other ground vege-tation in the open or in woods, in stubble, and in furrows of ploughedfields; but also regularly in tall, thick hedgerows and shrubberies,and even in trees, especially pines and evergreens."DISTRIBUTIONBreeding range?The European breeding range is given by Jour-dain (1938, vol. 2): "Norway to 71?, N. Sweden, Finland, Russia toPetchora and east to Perm, south to Poltava, Kiev, Voronezh, Saratovand Orenburg Govts., and south to Gotland and Oland, in Germanysouth to Upper Bavaria, Switzerland, Austria, Czecho-Slovakia, Hun-gary, and Poland. Has bred Faeroes: also occasionally in Hollandand E. France." In Siberia north to the mouth of the river Ob andto 70K? on the river Yenisei, east to lake Baikal and the river Aldan,south to Semipalatinsk and the Altai and Sayan Mountains.Winter range.?British Isles, central and southern Europe, butrare in the Mediterranean region, though sometimes occurring inEgypt and northwest Africa. Also in Persia, Transcaspia, KirghizSteppes, and Turkestan and rarely in Asia Minor, Palestine, andnorthwest India.Spring migration.?Leaves winter quarters rather late, parties inMay in the British Isles being not uncommon. Departure of winter
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residents and passage migrants takes place throughout April to early,or sometimes mid, May and even later. A number of late dates arerecorded for England and Scotland for the latter part of May, June2, 3, 6, 10, and 29, and even July 11 and 29 (Ticehurst, 1938). TheJuly dates suggest failure to migrate altogether. Birds reach the Ger-man breeding places in March and April and up to the third week ofMay (Niethammer, 1937). Blair (1936) records first arrivals on theArctic coast of Norway on May 23, and Seebohm (1901) noted thefirst appearance of birds on the Arctic Circle in the valleys of thePetchora and Yenisei on May 17 and June 8, respectively.Fall migration.?Arrives British Isles in small numbers last week ofSeptember and early October, followed by large numbers till thirdweek of November (Ticehurst); earliest dates: Fair Isle, August 5;mainland of Scotland, August 10; England (east coast) August 10;Ireland, September 7. In central Germany passage generally fromsecond week of October, in east Prussia from end of September,lasting till first third of November (Niethammer). In Italy from endof October (Arrigoni, 1929). In Rumania from end of October(Dombrowski, 1 903) . In Greece recorded from November 8 ; Bulgaria,from mid-November, but one record as early as October 19 (Reiser,1905, 1894). Recorded in Egypt from November 13 (Meinertzhagen,1930).Casual records.?In addition to the Greenland occurrences, Jourdain(1938) mentions: Jan Mayen, Iceland, Spitsbergen, Canaries, Madeira,Balearic Island, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Cyprus.TURDUS MIGRATORIUS MIGRATORIUS LinnaeusEASTERN ROBINPlates 1-5Contributed by Winsor Marrett TylerHABITS
.
The robin, the largest thrush in North America, is widely andfamiliarly known in the United States and Canada. To millions ofpeople it is as well known as the crow, and far more popular.The early English colonists gave it its name, doubtless because itresembled in coloration the robin redbreast of England, but theyfailed to notice the close relationship between our robin and theirblackbird, which is a true thrush, Turdus, the two birds being verysimilar in habits, general deportment, and voice, although differentin plumage.H. C. Kyllingstad writes to us from Mountain Village, Alaska:The robin here is not the confiding creature that it is in the States.
EASTERN ROBIN 15Most frequently it nests away from the village as the native childrenlike robin eggs to eat as well as those of any other bird. The old birdsdo come about the cabins while feeding or hunting food for the young,but the young are almost never seen, and the old birds keep a sharpwatch and will not allow one to approach closely.
"Robins are fairly common in the willow and alder thickets along theYukon and its branches, but in two years I have found no nests inthese places. The only nests I have seen were on the edge of thevillage under a lean-to attached to a small warehouse. I was able tokeep the children away from one nest and the three young left theday after I banded them. The robins are very suspicious of mybanding traps; not one has been trapped in two years."Spring.?From the warm Southern States the robin starts north-ward early in the year, often in nights of impressive magnitude.George H. Mackay (1897) reports an enormous flight of robins inFlorida on February 14, 15, and 16, 1897, observed by James K.Knowlton about 100 miles south of St. Augustine. He says: "Theycame from a southerly direction, and were continually passing, alight-ing and repassing, on the above dates, the general movement being ina northerly direction. The air was full of them, and their numbersbeyond estimate, reminding him of bees. Mr. Knowlton heard thatthis movement of Robins had been noted for a distance of ten milesaway, across the flight." And Peter A. Brannon (1921) writes fromAlabama: "The annual migration of Robins through the city ofMontgomery, took place this year, during the latter part of February,and for ten days thousands were observed on the city streets."As the robins move northward, they follow very closely the advanceof the average daily temperature of 37?, and we may look for them ineastern Massachusetts soon after March 10. They take their placeat this time in the opening scene of the grand, dramatic pageant ofthe long spring migration that follows our bleak, and often com-paratively birdless, New England winter.The robin, however, does not play a leading part in this initialscene; he is a minor character, not at his best so early in the spring.The main actors in the play are the blackbirds, streaming onto thestage in murky, clattering clouds; the bluebirds, mated already,warbling their charming songs to their ladyloves; the song sparrows,filling every acre with their tinkling music.Wendell Taber and I watched a typical arrival of robins on themorning of March 15, 1936, a day when there was a general influx ofthe birds into Massachusetts. Looking southward across a broadmeadow, we saw them coming toward us, the first we had seen, a flockof a dozen or more, flying in open order, but rather evenly spaced, notclosely packed like blackbirds. When they came to the northern edge
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of the meadow and caught sight of a patch of greensward, theychecked their flight and settled on the grass, joining other robins thatwere running about there, and, after feeding a little while, passed onagain to the north. All through the day, spent between Boston andNewburyport, the robin was a prominent bird, chiefly during themorning hours, mostly in small flocks, but sometimes collected indozens, spread over the open fields. This day's observation is char-acteristic of the early spring robin flight. It is not spectacular; thegreat gatherings of the South have thinned out before reaching NewEngland, leaving only small flocks of wild, wary male birds, whichwander restlessly about the country, perching in high trees, or feedingin neglected fields or, more commonly, in the cedar pastures wherethey pluck off the berries. The birds are not in song at this season.They are comparatively silent (i. e., compared to their noisy com-panions in the migration), expressing themselves only in nervousexclamations.Early in April we note a sudden, marked change in the behavior ofthe robins we see about us. We meet many of the birds now in thesettled districts of the towns, in our gardens, running familiarly overthe lawns. They are tamer than the first migrants and act as if theywere our local birds returned to their last year's homes.The arrival of the female birds at this time precipitates a period ofnoisy activity. For days our lawns and dooryards become the sceneof countless combats and shrieking pursuits full of liveliness andexcitement. A male bird will often run at another, seeming to jostlehim, and both may then jump into the air against each other, suggest-ing a fight between gamecocks, or one bird may fly off pursued by theother.When the noisy pursuits are in full swing, early in April, we some-times see two robins dash past us, one bird following the other, a hand'sbreadth apart, sweeping along not far above the ground at a speed soreckless, with hghtninghke twists and turns, that collision seemsinevitable. Yet they continue on without mishap and pass out of oursight so rapidly that we cannot be sure of their respective sex, and weare left in doubt whether the pursuits are amatory or hostile. Thespecial feature of these pursuits is that only two birds engage in them,and that the flights are maintained for a long distance.At this season there is still only fitful singing, chiefly in the morning,but all day we hear the long, giggling laugh, he-he-he-he, and thescream of attack.The ground is softening now, and the earthworms, near the surface,are available as food for the next generation of robins.Courtship.?John Burroughs (1894) ably describes a phase of robinactivity, familiar to us all, in which the noisy pursuits assume an
EASTERN ROBIN 17
element of true courtship. He says: "In the latter half of April wepass through what I call the 'robin racket'?trains of three or fourbirds rushing pell-mell over the lawn and fetching up in a tree or bush,or occasionally upon the ground, all piping and screaming at the topof their voices, but whether in mirth or anger it is hard to tell. Thenucleus of the train is a female. One cannot see that the males inpursuit of her are rivals; it seems rather as if they had united tohustle her out of the place. But somehow the matches are no doubtmade and sealed during these mad rushes."Bradford Torrey (1885) speaks of a quieter courtship:How gently he approaches his beloved! How carefully he avoids ever comingdisrespectfully nearl No sparrow-like screaming, no dancing about, no melo-dramatic gesticulation. If she moves from one side of the tree to the other, orto the tree adjoining, he follows in silence. Yet every movement is a petition,an assurance that his heart is hers and ever must be. * * * On one occasion,at least, I saw him holding himself absolutely motionless, in a horizontal posture,staring at his sweetheart as if he would charm her with his gaze, and emitting allthe while a subdued hissing sound. The significance of this conduct I do notprofess to have understood; it ended with his suddenly darting at the female,who took wing and was pursued.It is not uncommon to hear a robin give this hissing note when it is,apparently, alone?standing motionless, as Torrey says, and with itsbill pointing slightly upward and the tail expanded. Sometimes,also, a male will utter the hissing sound in phrases much like his song,suggested by the whispered syllables hissilly, hissilly. I heard thenote once, given in this form when the bird was on the wing.Audubon (1841) describes what is evidently the culmination ofcourtship: "During the pairing season, the male pays his addresses tothe female of his choice frequently on the ground, and with a fervourevincing the strongest attachment. I have often seen him, at theearliest dawn of a May morning, strutting around her with all thepomposity of a pigeon. Sometimes along a space of ten or twelveyards, he is seen with his tail fully spread, his wings shaking, and histhroat inflated, running over the grass and brushing it, as it were,until he has neared his mate, when he moves round her several timeswithout once rising from the ground. She then receives his caresses."Nesting.?The robin's nest appears as a rather large heap of coarsematerials. It is rough on the outside, even unkempt sometimes,because many of the loose ends of grass stalks, twigs, and bits ofstring or cloth of which the nest is made are not tucked in or neatlywoven into the body of the nest, but protrude or hang down from theouter wall. At the top is a deep depression like a round, smooth cupformed by a thick layer of mud, which extends upward to a firm rim,the cup being lined with a little fine, dry grass.T. Gilbert Pearson (19 10) [describes thus the structure of a nest
18 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMbuilt in a balsam: "In its building, a framework of slender balsamtwigs had first been used. There were sixty-three of these, some ofwhich were as much as a foot in length. Intertwined with these weretwenty fragments of weed stalks and grass stems. The yellow claycup, which came next inside, varied in thickness from a quarter of aninch at the rim to an inch at the bottom. Grass worked in with theclay while it was yet soft aided in holding it together, and now, lastof all, came the smooth, dry carpet of fine grass. The whole structuremeasured eight inches across the top; inside it was three inches inwidth, and one and a half deep."Reginald Heber Howe, Jr. (1898), describes the bird's method ofbuilding the nest:After the site has been chosen the building of a substantial foundation of twigs,grasses, string, etc., is begun; this finished, finer grasses are brought and the birdstanding in the centre of the foundation draws them round. After the sides of thenest have been fairly well made the bird by turning around in the nest shapesit to the exact contour of its body, and by pushing its breast far down into thenest and raising the primaries, it presses the nest with the wrist of the wing intoa compact and perfect mass. The next work is the plastering with mud; a rainyday is generally chosen for this work; the bird brings the mud in its bill and,placing it on the inside of the nest, flattens it into shape by exactly the methodsjust described. All that remains now is the lining, which is made of fine grassesand which adheres to the mud, making a substantial though not a particularlybeautiful nest.The average measurements of nest are; depth, outside, 3 inches; depth, inside,2% inches; breadth, outside, 6% inches; breadth, inside, 4 inches.J. H. Rohrbach (1915) points out that robins may use worm castsas a mud lining for their nests. He says: "A heavy rain of fourteenhours' duration came just at plastering-time. Mud was abundant.Then I observed what was new to me?the Robins passed by allkinds of mud except the castings of earthworms, which they gatheredand used for nest-building."Katharine S. Parsons (1906) describes a nest from which hung"two fringed white satin badges, fastened by mud and sticks" andnear them "a knot of coarse white lace" and "two white chickenfeathers," and Henry Mousley (1916) states that "Robins here[Hatley, Quebec] are particularly fond of using pearly everlasting(Anaphalis margaritacea) in the foundations of their nests."In early days, before the forests were cleared away, robins presum-ably built mainly on horizontal limbs of trees or in crotches betweenthe branches as many robins build now in the wilder, heavily woodedparts of the country, but when man felled the trees and replacedthem by buildings, he supplied the bird with countless additionalsites which afford an ample support, the chief requirement for arobin's nest. Concealment, it seems, is of minor importance to therobin, perhaps because it is difficult to hide so large a nest, perhaps
EASTERN ROBIN 19because the bird is well able to defend it. In response to the chaDge inconditions the robin has not only adopted many man-made structuresas a site for its nest, but has also accepted man as a neighbor, breedingfreely even in large cities in an environment completely changed fromthat of long ago. At the present time there are probably many timesas many robins breeding in the United States as there were in Colonialdays.Frank L. Farley (MS.) makes an interesting comment on this sub-ject in a letter to Mr. Bent: "During the last half century the robinhas increased in Alberta at least 100 percent. This is in about thesame ratio as the country has become settled. When the hard prairielands were broken up, it was noted that earthworms were absent,but with the arrival of the settlers, it was not long before the wormsbegan to appear, especially in the gardens surrounding the buildings.The birds increased in numbers at about the same rate as the growthof garden space. It is believed that the settlers inadvertently in-troduced the worms with the potted plants and shrubs which theybrought with them."There are many records in the literature of robins nesting in varioussituations which were not available years ago, such as on a rail fence,a fence post, a gate post, or a clothes-line post; Stanley Tess (1926)reports a nest "on the top of a gate-post which forms part of the gateitself. This is not a rarely used gate but, on the contrary, one in thepublic stockyards where it shuts off the runway leading to the loadingplatform." On buildings, nests have been placed on the ledge of awindow, on blinds, on rain pipes or gutters under the eaves, on arolled-up porch curtain, on a fire-escape, on beams inside or outsideof buildings, piazzas, or porches, sometimes several old nests showingprevious occupancy, and even on a lamp bracket in a dance hall.H. P. Severson (1921) tells of a nest that was placed on a trolley wire;
"cars passed under this nest every few minutes, their trolley beingonly a few inches below it. On each occasion the Robin stood up,then settled back on the nest." A nest on a railroad signal gate wasobserved by Ward W. Adair (1920): "This gate is swung from oneposition to another perhaps fifty times in twenty-four hours. * * *At night when the red light was placed in position, the signalman'shands were always within a few inches of the bird." A nest may beplaced on top of a bird house, or on any open shelf, but Gilbert H.Trafton (1907) tells of one that was actually in a bird-house. WilburF. Smith (1920) reports three nests inside a blacksmith's shop, re-spectively, on a wheel hub, on a smoke pipe, and "on some iron usedto re-tire wheels, and within eight feet of the anvil before which theblacksmith worked most of the day." Access was provided for thebird by removal of a windowpane.
20 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMA. D. Du Bois refers in his notes to a nest in a cemetery, "about 5feet from the ground, on top of a plain stone base, which supportedthe sculptured figure of a standing woman."Other vagaries in nesting sites are: On a last year's hornet's nest,in a vacated nest of a catbird, on a last year's oriole's nest, on a shelfof rock in a cave, and in an old rotted-out woodpecker's hole in whicha mud nest was built. Edward C. Raney (1939) tells of a robin shar-ing a nest with a mourning dove; "the birds shared the duties of incu-bation and * * * the eggs were hatched and the young were fedand brooded for eight days." The two species had shared a nest theprevious year. Mr. Bent once found an occupied nest entirely insidean eel trap on Marthas Vineyard, Mass.; the trap was lying on openground, and the eggs could be plainly seen through the netting (pi. 4).Several cases have been reported in the literature where robins havebuilt a series of nests, placed on a row along a beam.Edward A. Preble (MS.) points out that the robin, when trees arenot available, occasionally builds a nest on low cliffs. In Appendix G,by Seton and Preble, in Seton's "The Arctic Prairies" (1912, p. 405)is this record: "The bird was not common on Pike's Portage, betweenGreat Slave Lake and Artillery Lake, but a deserted nest was seennear Toura Lake, near the summit of the divide, where nearly BarrenGround conditions prevail. There being no trees suitable for nesting,the bird had placed its home in a cranny on the face of a low cliff,where it was protected from the elements." A similar observationwas later made near the camp at the "Last Woods" on the east side ofArtillery Lake, early in the same year, 1907, when Mr. Preble saw atypical robin's nest, then deserted, on a low cliff, 5 or 6 feet from theground and at least a mile from the nearest grove of spruces, whereseveral deserted nests were observed in normal situations.There are several records of robins building their nests on theground, but the following is even more remarkable. Craig S. Thorns(1929) says: "The Robin had actually laid its clutch of eggs on thedry leaves beside a bush which was close to the house, as shown inthe photograph. There was no sign of a nest, or even of an attemptto make one."The nest is built chiefly by the female bird, although her mate aidsby bringing in material. Berners B. Kelly (1913) says of a pair whichhe watched for hours: "On every journey, practically, the femalebrought larger loads than the male, and twenty-two more of them.The actual shaping of the nest was done entirely by the female, themale usually dropping his load haphazard on the edge of the structure."Incubation, too, is performed mainly, if not wholly, by the female,the male meanwhile standing guard. Hervey Brackbill (MS.) statesthat he observed two pairs of robins marked with colored bands and
EASTERN ROBIN 21that "every time that I could determine the sex of the incubatingbird, it was the female. On one day of combined incubation andbrooding all of 13 consecutive sittings were made by that bird."Ora W. Knight (1908), however, says that "the male also takes shortturns at incubating, more often helping in this work towards theend of the incubation period." He remarks also: "I have known ofa nest being completed and the first egg laid in six days from the timewhen it was commenced, while other nests have required even up totwenty days from time of beginning to completion, but the longertime required was due to a spell of prolonged rainy weather."Mr. Preble (MS.) states: "On a morning early in June, about 1886at my boyhood home in Wilmington, Mass., I happened to see thefirst few weed stalks deposited on the sloping branch of a medium-sized white oak in our grove, about 8 feet from the ground. Atintervals through the day I observed the pair, busily engaged, andtaking a look at the site just before dark I was surprised to find thenest virtually finished, the cup of mud fully formed but still wet.The next morning when I went out about breakfast time the earthcup was furnished with the usual lining of dry grass, and an egg hadbeen laid. The clutch was completed promptly and the broodsuccessfully raised."The nest is kept scrupulously clean while the nestlings are in it,the parents seizing the fecal sacs as they are voided and frequentlyswallowing them. The male parent takes practically full charge ofthe fledglings, enabling his mate to prepare at once for another brood.In a nest I had under observation, four fertilized eggs were laid in anest six days after the young of the first brood had left it.Thomas D. Burleigh (1931), speaking of the robin in Pennsylvania,remarks: "Two and possibly three broods are reared each year," andhe gives the normal height of the nest above the ground as "varyinghere from five to thirty feet."Mr. Preble (MS.) submits notes on nesting robins received fromW. A. Brown, of Aylesford, Nova Scotia, under date of February 16,1948: "On my place last year, in an 8-inch-diameter maple, a pair ofrobins built three nests. The male had a pure-white feather inmiddle of upper tail coverts. The same year I had a robin's nest inwhich two broods were raised. A neighbor had a blue spruce inwhich, three years ago, a pair of robins raised three broods in onenest. Last year I found a robin's nest on the ground, and two yearsago one on the ground."Robins show persistency in their nesting habits, often returning tothe same nest or situation year after year. The following quotationsillustrate this habit. Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1909) says: "In the
'Birds of Essex County,' page 313, I recorded a Robin's nest that was
22 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMbuilt under the porch, on the lintel of the front door of my summerhouse, at Ipswich, Mass., and, at the time the book was published, hadbeen occupied, presumably by the same pair, for four successiveseasons. Since then it was used for two more summers, or six in all,but in the winter following the last, i. e., the winter of 1906-7, it wasblown down, and the spot has not been built on since. I think, how-ever, that the same pair have since built in a bush close to the frontdoor. This nest over the door was repaired and built a little highereach year, so that in the summer of 1906, when it was last occupied,it had attained a height of eight inches, and was practically a six-storied nest." John H. Sage (1885) reports that "a Robin built hernest five consecutive years in a woodbine that was trained up andover a piazza. We knew her by a white mark on one side of herhead."Hugh M. Halliday, of Toronto, Canada, has sent us a photograph ofa very tall nest (pi. 2), in which at least two broods a year had beenraised during six successive seasons.Eggs.?[Author's note: Four eggs comprise the usual set for therobin, but often only three are laid; five eggs in a set are rare, and Ihave taken one set of six, and sets of seven have been reported. Theeggs vary greatly in size and shape; the usual shape is typical-ovate,but some are rounded-ovate, elliptical-ovate, or even elongate-ovate.Some are quite glossy after they have been sat upon, but usually theyhave only a slight luster. Robin's-egg blue seems to be commonlyaccepted as a standard color and well known; more specifically thismeans either "Nile blue" or "pale Nile blue," as the eggs appear incollections; some freshly laid eggs may be as dark as "beryl green."I have seen some pure-white eggs. Almost invariably they are un-marked, but I have seen one set that was sparingly marked with a fewsmall spots and dots of very dark brown ; and I have heard of a numberof other spotted sets, some faintly dotted with pale brown.The measurements of 50 eggs in the United States National Museumaverage 28.1 by 20.0 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremesmeasure 31.6 by 20.3, 28.5 by 23.1, 23.8 by 18.8, and 27.9 by 16.8millimeters .1Young.?Franklin L. Burns (1915), from the records of several ob-servers, gives the incubation period of the robin as 11 to 14 days.William Edward Schantz (1939), who made an intensive study ofthree broods of robins, spending "from one to 16 hours each day indirect observation," found that "incubation began in all nests the eve-ning following the deposit of the second egg and lasted for 12K to 13days."Hervey Brackbill writes in his notes: "The incubation period for amarked egg was an hour or two less than 12 days." Of the nestlings
EASTERN ROBIN 23he says: "When I lifted them out of the nest to band them, at theage of 7 or 8 days, they clutched the bottom of the nest so tenaciouslywith their feet that they pulled? up a bit of the grass lining. Such agrip must be useful in preventing young birds from being tossed outof the nest during storms."Schantz (1939) states that one of his broods left the nest 15 and 16days and another 14 days after hatching. This is about the period ofnest life that 1 noted in a brood in 1912 (Winsor M. Tyler, 1913):These young birds (a second brood) hatched on June 25, or possiblythe day before. On the 25th their mouths were just visible above therim of the nest. On July 1 they filled the nest level full, and tossedabout restlessly, apparently preening their feathers. On July 4 theywere feathering out fast ; they reared up in the nest and flapped theirwings, in danger it seemed of falling. On July 7 they were so largethat in moving about they overflowed the nest, and one of them stoodon a branch of the crotch and moved back and forth between it andthe nest, using its wings to steady itself. On July 8 three of the birds,and perhaps the fourth, left the nest.James Russell Lowell says in his Bigelow Papers that the robinssettle down to nesting about the time when the leaves of the horse-chestnut tree begin to unfold. In a normal year we notice this phe-nomenon in eastern Massachusetts, where Lowell lived, toward theclose of April, so, allowing two weeks for the incubation of the eggs,and two weeks more for their life as nestlings, the young birds areready to fly in early June. At this time a day comes when all therobins in the neighborhood appear to be in the highest pitch of excite-ment; young birds are blundering about on the ground, and their par-ents seem distracted for their safety. We also hear a new note onthis day, a queer, loud, exclamatory seech-ook, which leads us to wherethe young robins are squatting on the grass, waiting to be fed?plump,innocent-looking birds with spotted breasts and stumpy tails, staringup at the sky with little sign of fear, a choice morsel for the house cat.They soon become wary, however, and before long are able to avoidattack by running swiftly away, or by flying out of reach. The maleparents now take full charge of the broods, and as they scud over thegrass plots in search of earthworms, the little birds follow them aboutexpectantly, waiting for them to pull out the worms, shake them, andthrust them into their throats. The fledglings rapidly acquire themanner of adult birds. In a few days they throw off the crouchingattitude of the nestling and assume the erect, proud bearing of adultbirds, and in less than two weeks are able, but not always willing, tofind food for themselves. The male parent is thus free to aid in thecare of the next brood, which is almost ready to hatch.
24 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMPlumages.?[Author's note: Dr. Dwight (1900) says that the nataldown of the robin is "mouse-gray." He gives a full account of thejuvenal plumage, but I prefer the more concise description by Mr.Ridgway (1907) as follows: "Head as in adults, but the black dullerand white orbital markings less sharply defined, sometimes buffy;back and scapulars grayish brown or olive, the feathers with centralor mesial spots or streaks of white or pale buff and blackish tips;rump and upper tail-coverts brownish gray or grayish brown, thefeathers sometimes narrowly tipped with blackish; wings and tail asin adults, but wing-coverts with terminal wedge-shaped spots orstreaks of pale rusty, buff, or whitish; chin and throat white or palebuffy, margined laterally with a stripe of blackish or line of blackishstreaks; underparts cinnamon-rufous, ochraceous-tawny, or buffyochraceous (sometimes the chest and breast much paler, occasionallywhitish), conspicuously spotted with black, the lower abdomen whiteor pale buffy." There is much individual variation in the amountof rufous on the underparts; some juvenals have the sides of thebreast largely as bright rufous as in adults, and others have little ornone of this color.A postjuvenal molt, involving all the contour plumage, the wingcoverts, and tertials, but not the rest of the wings or the tail, takesplace from August to October, the date depending largely on the dateof hatching. This produces a first winter plumage which is similarto the winter plumages of the adults of the respective sexes, but thecolors are duller and more veiled, browner above, head not so dark,and the white spots on the tail feathers are smaller. The first nuptialplumage is produced by wear; much of the white edging on the breastis lost so that the breast becomes redder; the head becomes blackerand the chin clearer black and white.Young and old birds become indistinguishable after the next post-nuptial molt, which is complete, in August and September. Thesexes are alike in the juvenal plumage, but after that the females arealways somewhat duller in color, the upperparts fighter and browner,the head not so black, and the breast paler, often edged with whitish.Dr. Harold B. Wood, who has made a thorough study of the whitetail markings of eastern robins, tells me that there is great individualvariation in the extent and shape of these markings, which are constantfrom year to year in individual birds. His studies were based onthe examination of 162 robins trapped from 1938 to 1943, and theresults will be published.Albinism is common in the robin. I have seen many partial andsome fully albino birds, both in life and in museums. While visitingwith Hon. R. M. Barnes, at Lacon, 111., I saw a beautiful perfectalbino robin that had been living in his conservatory for some time.
EASTERN ROBIN 25Melanism, the excess of black pigment in the plumage, is much lesscommon, but it occurs occasionally. Sometimes both phases ofabnormal plumage may occur in the same individual, and either maybe replaced by normal plumage at the next molt. For further infor-mation on albinism, melanism, and other items about robins, thereader is referred to a series of papers by Dr. Earl Brooks, publishedin the Indiana Audubon Society's Yearbooks for 1931 to 1935.Hugh M. Halliday has sent me a beautiful series of photographs(pi. 5) of a pair of nesting robins, one pure white and the other innormal plumage; they have been mated together and nested for threesuccessive years at 78 Broadway Avenue, Toronto; they have raisedtwo broods of three and one brood of four young during the threeyears, all of which have developed normally colored plumage.]Food.?Waldo L. McAtee (1926), in his study of the relation ofbirds to woodlots, makes a distinction between the food of the wood-land robins and those which live in our dooryards. He writes thefollowing comprehensive report of the robins' food:Our knowledge of the feeding habits of the Robin is based mainly of course onstudies of the bird as it ordinarily occurs, near to man and his works. We donot have particular information on the mode of life of the woodland Robins.We may, however, be assured on two points, namely that cultivated fruits do notplay the part in the diet of these birds that they do in the case of our (in thisrespect, too familiar) neighbors, and that wild berries therefore are of much greaterimportance to this fruit-loving bird.Like the true thrushes the Robin approves of a 60-40 dietary composition, butin a reverse sense, the larger item in its case being vegetable rather than animalfood. There is no question about Robins sometimes taking too much cultivatedfruit, thus necessitating reduction in their numbers. However, the woodlandRobins with which we are here especially concerned have little or no part in thesedepredations, and their fruit-eating is a benefit rather than an injury because itresults in the planting of numerous trees and shrubs. The favorite wild fruits ofNew York robins are those of red cedar, greenbrier, mulberry, pokeweed, june-berry, blackberry and raspberry, wild cherry, sumac, woodbine, wild grape, dog-wood, and blueberry.Beetles and caterpillars are the items of animal food taken in greatest quantityby the Robin, with bugs, hymenoptera, flies, and grasshoppers of considerablyless importance. Spiders, earthworms, millipeds, sowbugs, and snails are addi-tional sorts of animal food worth mentioning.Various insects which are pests or near pests in woodlots have been identifiedfrom stomachs of Robins and we may be sure that a special study of Robinsactually living in forests would greatly increase the list. * * *In the economic court the Robin of the forest, and the Robin of the houseyard,must be adjudged separately, and regardless of the fact that it is differences inopportunities largely, that gives the former a much better character than thelatter. The forest Robin has no chance at cultivated fruits and it has muchgreater opportunities to devour woodland insect pests. As we have seen, it im-proves these opportunities and should be credited accordingly. In the woodlotthe Robin is certainly more beneficial than injurious.792825?i9 3
26 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMF. E. L. Beal (1915a) in a report of an extensive study of therobins' food carefully weighs the benefit that the robin renders manby consuming harmful insects against the birds' depredations upon thefruit in his orchards. In his summary he says: " While the animalfood of the robin includes a rather large percentage of useful beetles,it is not in the consumption of these or any other insect that this birddoes harm. A bird whose diet contains so large a percentage of fruit,including so many varieties, may at any time become a pest whenits natural food fails and cultivated varieties are accessible. Whilethe robin to-day probably is doing much more good than harm, itmust be acknowledged 1that?the4]bird is potentially harmful."Professor Beal (1915a) ^suggests a means by which we can divertthe robin's attention from our fruit trees. "For a number of years,"he says
?
the writer was engaged in the cultivation of small fruits in Massachusetts, andalthough robins were abundant about the farm they did no appreciable damage.On the farm where the writer lived when a boy was a fine collection of the choicestvarieties of cherries. The fruit first to ripen each year was shared about equallyby the birds and the family, but that which matured afterwards did not attractthe birds, probably because in that section the woods and swamps abound withmany species of wild fruits.Reports of depredations upon fruit by birds come principally from the prairieregion of the West. This is just what might be expected, for but few prairieshrubs produce the wild berries that the birds prefer and for lack of these thebirds naturally feed upon the cultivated varieties available. Reports of fruitlosses caused by birds in the East are usually from the immediate vicinity ofvillages or towns where there is no natural fruit-bearing shrubbery. From thisit follows that an effective remedy for the ravages of birds upon cultivated fruitsis to plant the preferred wild varieties.The following food-bearing trees, shrubs, and herbs appear on hislist: Ked cedar, common juniper, bayberry, hackberry, mulberry,pokeberry, sassafras, juneberry (Amelanchier) , spiceberry (Benzoin),mountain-ash, chinaberry, hawthorn, burningbush (Evonymus),woodbine, flowering dogwood, and other cornels and viburnums.Professor Beal also gives a list of over 200 species of insects and 7species of mollusks that have been found in the stomachs of robins.W. J. Hamilton, Jr. (1935), during a study of four robins' nests,found that the food fed to the nestlings "during late May and earlyJune consisted principally of cutworms." He says: "From theearliest period these larvae form a prominent share of the menu."Dr. Hamilton continues:In order to determine the quantity of food eaten by the young birds, the freshlyfed cutworm, adult insects, worms, etc., were occasionally removed from theyoung with blunt forceps, immediately upon being fed by the parent birds, andimmediately weighed. This procedure was inaugurated while the birds werebut a day or two old, and continued on alternate days until the young left the
EASTERN ROBIN 27
nest. By this method it was estimated the birds brought to the young approxi-mately two grams of food at each visit, or a daily feeding of 200 grams of animalmatter to the nestlings, be they three, four, or five.The estimate is high for the early days in the nest and low for the days immedi-ately preceding the time of leaving the nest. It is thought to be fairly accurateand, at least, gives some clue to the amount of food eaten. Robins feed theiryoung, apparently regardless if there be three or five, approximately 3.2 poundsof food during the two weeks while in the nest. The observations were madeseveral weeks before cherries ripened and, because of this, the food consistedalmost entirely of animal matter.In a more recent article Dr. Hamilton (1943) gives the followinginteresting analysis "of 200 Kobin droppings collected between May1 and June 12, 1942. The figures indicate the percentage of fre-quency of occurrence of the different food items.
"Plants, 81.5: barberry, 61.0; sumach, 29.0; coral berry, 4.5.
"Animals, 93.5: beetles, *** 82.5; millipedes, 38.5; ants, *** 27.0;cutworms, 9.5; sowbugs, 6.5; wireworms, 4.0; flies, 3.0; cockroaches,1.5."A. W. Perrior (1899) writes that the young birds are sometimes fedon hairy caterpillars, the "larvae of Clisicocampa (probably C. ameri-cana)"; Lotta A. Cleveland (1923) says that in 1922 the 17-yearlocusts on their emergence from the ground were used extensively asfood for the young; John C. Phillips (1927) reports a remarkableinstance of robins catching trout fry at the State Hatchery at Sutton,Mass.; A. C. Bent (MS.) speaks of the robins' fondness for crabapples; and Floyd Bralliar (1922) tells of the intoxicating effect ofthe berries of the "umbrella china" tree. "They fall to the ground,"he says, "and lie on their side, occasionally feebly fluttering, appar-ently as happy as any drunkard in his cups."One of the familiar features of summer to those of us who live inthe Northern States within sight of a bit of greensward is the patrolof the robins over the grass in search of earthworms. Almost everylittle New England village has its common, a level bit of "green" nearthe town center, and these grass plots, from April, when the wormsbegin to stir, until the parching droughts of August dry up the grass,become the feeding grounds of all the robins in the neighborhood.Sometimes half a dozen or more birds, widely scattered, may beseen running over the closely cropped grass, generally in amity, al-though sometimes one will fly at another and drive him off a little way.The birds take a short, straight run with a quick, tripping gait, thenpause to look or listen for their prey. As they run, the back is nearlyparallel to the ground, and the head is drawn back and settled betweenthe shoulders, in the position of a decoy duck. When they stop toinvestigate the grass, they lean forward, turning the head to one side,bringing eye or ear to bear on a suspected spot, resembling the little
28 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMsemipalmated plovers as they feed on the wet sand of the seashore.The robin thrusts his bill deep among the grass blades, prods about theroots and, seizing a worm, leans backward, and bracing his feet againstthe pull, carefully draws the worm from the ground. Then, looping itup in his bill, he flies off to his nest or perhaps continues his searchfor another worm.Robins are not always on the lookout for worms when they courseover the grass. Often, early in spring, before the worms are withinreach, and late in autumn, after they have retired deep under groundfor the winter, robins frequent grassy fields. Here they are seekingsmaller game which they see, apparently, above the ground. Wemay watch them snatching up, over and over again, little bits of food,tiny insects perhaps, which seem very numerous at these seasonsamong the grass and weeds of the open fields. Sometimes, when thegrass is too long for the bird to run over it easily, he hops along withhis head high and his primaries lowered, almost sweeping the grass,suggesting the Hylocichlae as they spring over the forest floor.Tilford Moore writes from St. Paul, Minn., that the robins thereseem to be fond of honeysuckle berries and feed them to their young.They "seem to prefer the red berries of the pink honeysuckle to theorange ones of the white honeysuckle. In fact, the yellow ones seemrarely to be touched until all the red berries are gone."Behavior.?The robin impresses us as a bird of a nervous, highlyexcitable character, ever on the point of flaring up to an excess ofemotion amounting almost to uncontrolled hysterics. For this reasonit is a relief to see him in the role described above, quietly feeding onour lawn. The most frequent notes we hear the robin utter, perhaps,are fretful expressions of uneasiness, complaint, or resentment at ourpresence or at some other distraction, yet it is characteristic of himto break out with a phrase or two of song even in the midst of com-plaint. He seems always apprehensive, often standing alert and rest-less, wing tips lowered or twitching, head high, and tail pumping, onthe watch for danger, and the least alarm upsets his equilibrium andstartles him into vociferous, unrestrained remonstrance. Not anattractive nature, we think. How different the calm preoccupationof the little brown creeper!Yet the robin has many good qualities: he is robust, confident, astraightforward personality, and no more nervous, perhaps, thanmany another American. Morning and evening he adds a charminghour to the summer day when he and all his neighbors join in a chorusof singing, in the twilight before the sun rises and after it sets.It is easy to recognize the robin on the wing, even at a distance.He flies with a very straight back, like a runner with head thrown back,and his breast appears puffed out, expanded, giving a curved outline
EASTERN ROBIN 29to the underparts in contrast to the long, straight line of the back andtail. The wings, at the end of a stroke, are not clapped close to thesides, as in the flight of a blackbird or woodpecker. The robin never-theless accomplishes a full stroke by flipping the tips of the wings wellbackward so that, at the end of the stroke, the primary feathers ofeach side are nearly parallel, while the wrist remains out a little wayfrom the body. The wings move rapidly and regularly and there iscommonly no soaring or sailing.A. Dawes DuBois (MS.) sends a note to Mr. Bent describingfearless behavior of the robin. He says: "The robins that nestedon my rain pipe became almost entirely fearless. When there werewell-grown young in the nest, the male, darting from a tree, struck mea sharp blow on the forehead when I looked out of my window, andone day, when I was at the window, the female flew into the room andgrabbed me by the hair with her claws." He adds: "A nest built ina Virginia-creeper was only about 3 feet from a house wren's nestingbox. Sometimes the robins drove the wrens away, but usually thereseemed to be no friction between the two species."A. C. Bent (MS.) speaks of the robins' sun bath. "Even on thehottest days," he says, "I often see a robin taking a sun bath on mylawn; he crouches on the grass with wings spread, or lies over on oneside, with the wing on the sunny side uplifted, so that the sun pene-trates under the fluffed-out feathers of the body. It may remain inthis position for several minutes, sometimes for many minutes, as ifit enjoyed the warmth of the sun, or derived some hygienic benefitfrom it. Again in a light, drizzling rain, I have seen them takingrain baths, standing erect for some time, with the bill pointing up-ward, so that the rain washed the plumage and drained off."Speaking of territory, Aretas A. Saunders (1938) says: "Robinsseem to have territories and to guard them, but they must be small,and probably a large part of the area, where food is found, such asgroups of berry-bearing bushes, forms neutral territory. One getsthe same impression of neutral territory in this bird, when notingseveral robins hunting earthworms on a lawn during the nesting season.There seem to be no earthworm hunting tracts here [Allegany StatePark], for earthworms are scarce and hard to find. How small theterritories are, is shown by finding nests rather close to each other onthe school grounds."This report is in accord with Hervey BrackbilTs experience. Hestates (MS.): "The extreme points at which I saw one pair of color-banded robins that nested in a suburban neighborhood of detachedhouses indicated a territory extending about sixty yards north andsouth and sixty yards east and west. Other robins nested closelyabout on all sides. Both adults defended the territory. Of seven
30 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMdefences which I saw, the male made five and the female two. Strangerobins, both adult and immature, were the object of attack five times,a blue jay once, and a gray squirrel once."There are three records, W. A. Marshall (1921), F. G. Mcintosh(1922), and Harry F. Binger (1932), each describing a robin's captureof a small snake, presumably as food for its young.Robins not infrequently attack their own images reflected in awindowpane, sometimes returning to the attack for days. J. A. Allen(1879) reports a yellow warbler acting in the same manner, but mostof the records of this habit refer to the robin, probably because it isthe most conspicuous bird of a belligerent nature which breeds aboutour houses.J. W. Lippincott (1912) speaks of robins feeding on the ocean beach.He says: "On August 20, 1912, a number of unusually large, dark-colored birds could be seen running along the beach [at Watch Hill,R. I.], which, upon closer inspection, proved to be Robins. Theydid not mingle with the little shore birds, but followed the retreatingwaves in much the same manner as these, and evidently ate the samefood," and Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1905) says that they frequent
"the dry parts of the beaches, the sand dunes, and the salt marshes."May Thacher Cooke (1937) reports on the age of a bird. A robin,"banded at Philadelphia, Pa., on August 18, 1925, by Dr. WilliamPepper, was retrapped at the same place on September 25, 1929, andMay 5, 1932," and Alexander Wilson (Wilson and Bonaparte, 1832)recounts the following story: "A lady, who resides near Tarrytown,on the banks of the Hudson, informed me that she raised and keptone of these birds for seventeen years; which sung as well, and lookedas sprightly, at that age as ever; but was at last unfortunatelydestroyed by a cat."Margaret Morse Nice (1933) speaks of a pair of robins "having beenmated three years in succession. In 1932 the male arrived February10; in 1933 on January 25th. * * * His mate never comes tillMarch."It was not until comparatively recently that the robins' habit ofroosting during the breeding season was brought to the attention ofornithologists. The older writers, Wilson, Nuttall, and Audubon,say nothing of the habit.In 1890 William Brewster published a comprehensive account of therobin roosts in the neighborhood of Cambridge, Mass., and showedthat a large number of the breeding birds in the region gathered everyevening at a roost and spent the night there during most of the breedingseason. He had been aware of the habit for over 20 years, and hetraces the history of several roosts during this period. He says (1890)
:
EASTERN ROBIN 31Our Massachusetts Robin roosts are invariably in low-lying woods which areusually swampy and are composed of such deciduous trees as maples, oaks, chest-nuts, and birches, sometimes mixed with white pines. I have never knownRobins actually to spend the night, however, in the latter, or indeed in anyspecies of evergreen, except at Falmouth, Mass., where there has been a smallgathering, these past two seasons, in a white cedar swamp. The trees in the roostmay be tall and old with spreading tops, or crowded saplings only twenty tothirty feet in height, but it is essential that they furnish a dense canopy of foliageof sufficient extent to accommodate the birds which assemble there. As a rule, thewoods are remote from buildings, and surrounded by open fields or meadows, butthe latter may be hemmed in closely by houses, as is the case with a roost whichat present exists in the very heart of Cambridge. A roost once established isresorted to nightly, not only during an entire season, but for many successiveseasons. Nevertheless it is sometimes abandoned either with or without obviouscause, as the following account of the movements of the Cambridge Robinsduring the past twenty odd years will show.We can form some idea of the multitude of birds that may composethese gatherings from the following quotation from Mr. Brewster'sarticle:I made no counts at the Maple Swamp roost, but as I remember it, it nevercontained more than about 2000 birds. Its successor at Little River was notonly very much larger, but if my notes and memory can be trusted, was by farthe largest gathering that has ever fallen under my observation. Thus I findthat on the evening of Aug. 4, 1875, I estimated the Robins which came in ontwo sides only at 25,000. This estimate was not mere guess work but was basedon a count of the birds which passed during an average minute, multiplied bythe number of minutes occupied by the passage of the bulk of the flight. Sucha method, of course, is far from exact, and it very probably gave exaggeratedresults, but a deduction of fifty per cent would surely eliminate all possible exag-geration. As the birds were coming in quite as numerously on the two sidesopposite to those where my estimate was made, it follows that the total, aftermaking the above deduction, was still 25,000, and this I feel sure was far belowthe actual number.Of the dates when the roosts are resorted to, he says:During the past season Mr. Faxon saw a few Robins going to the Eeaver Brookroost as early as June 11, but I have never observed any well-marked flights atCambridge before the 20th of that month. The time probably depends somewhaton the date at which the first broods of young are strong enough to make thenecessary effort, for the earlier gatherings are composed chiefly of young birdsstill in spotted plumage. Perhaps not all of those able to undertake the journeyactually perform it at this period, for the movement, at its inception, is slight,and it gains momentum slowly. After July 1 it increases more rapidly, and bythe middle of July becomes widespread and general, although it does not usuallyreach its height until the latter part of that month or early in August. By thistime the old birds have brought out their second broods, and old and young ofboth sexes and all ages and conditions join the general throng. In fact it isnearly certain that during August practically all our Robins visit some roostnightly. * * *After the middle of September the roosting flights diminish rapidly, and by theend of the first week in October the roosts are practically deserted. The latest
32 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMdate in my possession at which any Robins have been actually found in a roostis Oct 20, 1889, when Mr. Faxon noticed a few still lingering at Beaver Brook,but my notes record that on Nov. 6, 1888, I saw a succession of flocks flying, atsunset, into these Beaver Brook woods which, at the time, were "leafless"! About200 Robins were seen on this occasion. They were in unusually large flocks,one, which passed me closely, containing fully 100 birds. If, as seems probable,they were migrants from further north it is interesting that they should havefound their way to this roost; but perhaps enough local birds were with or nearthem to serve as guides. Mr. Faxon believes that our roosts receive some acces-sion- from the north as early as September.Continuing, Mr. Brewster adds: "Most of the roosts which I havevisited are resorted to by other birds besides Kobins." Among thesehe mentions bronzed grackles, cowbirds, red-winged blackbirds,kingbirds, Baltimore orioles, cedar waxwings, and brown thrashers.Brewster (1906) also gives an interesting account of the behaviorof the robins at a roost in his dooryard in the city of Cambridge. Hesays:Late in June, 1902, they began assembling every evening?to my infinite sur-prise?in some ancient lilacs which form a dense and rather extensive thicketin the garden immediately behind our house. At first there were not more thantwenty or thirty birds, but their numbers rapidly increased until by the closeof summer we often counted as many as four or five hundred. * * * Duringthe whole of May the roost was frequented nightly by fifty or more birds, allapparently old males. By the middle of June these were joined by the firstbroods of young, and a month or so later by the old females with their secondbroods. Thus the number of Robins steadily increased until early in August,when it probably reached its maximum and when we sometimes noted upwardsof seven hundred birds in the course of a single evening. The frequent presenceof members of my family on the back piazza (which is only a few yards from thelilacs) when the evening flight was coming in, gave the Robins some concern atfirst, but they soon became perfectly reconciled to it. * * *As the piazza faces a little opening about which the lilacs are grouped on theremaining three sides, it commands an unobstructed view of the roost and affordsrare facilities for watching the birds at close range. I have been interested tolearn that a sound resembling the pattering of hail, which is heard when theyare fluttering among the foliage and which I had formerly supposed to be causedby their wings striking the leaves, is really made, at least in part, by their bills.When two or more of them are contesting for possession of the same perch theyfirst threaten one another with wide-opened beaks and then bring their mandiblesrapidly and forcibly together, thereby producing the sound above described.After they have quite ceased their calling and fluttering one may pass?even inbright moonlight?within a yard or two of branches where they are roosting bydozens without disturbing them. They invariably begin to leave the roost atdaybreak, usually departing singly or in small parties, and scattering in everydirection. When the exodus is performed in this manner, it often continues untilsunrise. On several occasions, however, I have seen practically the entire bodyof birds leave simultaneously in the morning twilight, in one immense flock, witha prodigious whirring of wings. The evening flights vary similarly in characterbut to a less degree. Ordinarily the incoming birds are arriving more or lesscontinuously for half an hour or more, but occasionally the majority of them
EASTERN ROBIN 33
will appear in the course of ten or twelve minutes, this usually happening whenthe weather is stormy.Other references to accounts of the roosting of robins are: A. J.Stover (1912), Arthur It. Abel (1914), William Youngworth (1929),Mrs. J. Frederick Clarke (1930), Joseph C. Howell (1940), and Brad-ford Torrey (1892).Tilford Moore writes to us that when some heavy bombing planeswere flying over in formation, a robin in his backyard became verymuch excited, as it would if a cat were about, flitting from one perchto another, with much flicking of wings and tail and worried calls.Voice.?The robin is at his best when he is singing. In the longchoruses at morning and evening, and frequently for shorter periodsduring the day, he devotes himself to song, and as he stands motion-less on a high perch, his head thrown back a little, whistling his happyphrases, his nerves relax, it seems, and a thrushlike calm comes overhim: for the time, he seems at peace. Cheerily, cheery is a favoriterendering of his song, aptly suggesting by sound and meaning thejoyous tenor of the phrases, and the liquid quality of the notes. Thesong lacks the artistry and poetic quality of the Hylocichlae, and thegentle charm of the bluebird's voice, but it is nevertheless an earn-est, pleasing expression of happy contentment. It is generally a long-continued performance made up of paired phrases of two or threesyllables each, often alternating up and down in pitch, given with per-fect regularity at the rate of about two phrases per second. Closeattention, however, will detect, after every few phrases, an almostimperceptible break in the beat, so that an uninterrupted run of adozen phrases is rare. Frequently in the course of a long period ofsinging the bird pauses for a longer interval, perhaps for a second'sduration, and then continues his song. Often, too, we hear a singingrobin raise the pitch of his phrases higher and higher as the songgoes on, apparently striving to attain a note beyond his range, untilhis voice breaks into hissing phrases without tone quality, the acmeof his attempt. This peculiarity is characteristic also of the hermitthrush's song.The robin's song is so characteristic, with its regular beat, its fullround tone, and the robust quality of cheerfulness that pervades it,that we recognize it instantly. Yet as we listen to the robins in ourdooryards singing day after day, we soon learn to distinguish someof the birds by slight differences in their songs; by a peculiar noterecurring in a phrase, by the number of phrases which compose agroup, or by a tempo slower or more rapid than the normal rate ofthe song. Also we notice sometimes that a bird will take a stand tosing his evening chorus on a branch, or perhaps the roof of our house,each night on the same perch, and if we are able to mark down this
34 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMbird by some peculiarity in his song, we shall find that it is alwaysthe same bird that comes to the perch and that he often returns to itto sing during the day.Aretas A. Saunders (MS.) sends this analysis of the robins' song toMr. Bent: "The song of the robin is long-continued; made up ofphrases with short pauses between them. These phrases are repeated,alternated, or otherwise arranged in groups of two to five, with longerpauses between the groups. Each phrase is composed of one to fournotes, but most commonly two or three. The notes are frequentlyjoined by liquid consonant sounds like r or 1. T have records ofportions of the songs of 49 different robins: in these the pitch variesfrom A" to B'"', one tone more than an octave. My recordsare fairly complete for 24 of these birds, and in these the averagevariation in pitch is about three tones, the least two tones, and thegreatest five and a half. The time of the song is regularly rhyth-mical, the phrases and pauses being of even length. Ordinarily therobin sings at a rate of two phrases per second. In the very earlymorning they often sing faster and more continuously, the phrasesnot being broken up into groups. Then the rate is about two and ahalf phrases per second. Individual robins differ from each other inthe phrases they use and the order in which they sing them. Whilemany of the phrases are common to robins in general, nearly everyindividual will have some peculiar phrase. The average number ofphrases used by one individual is about 10, but there is great varia-tion: one bird I listened to for some time had apparently only 2;another had but 3, while a third unusual bird had 26. Two- andthree-note phrases are the rule, but a single note used as a phrase isnot uncommon. Only twice have I heard a phrase of four notes."Hervey Brackbill (MS.) writes: "The robin frequently sings on theground, sometimes for minutes at a stretch while standing at oneplace, sometimes intermittently between hops or runs in its foraging.I have also noticed a robin singing while on the wing; one sang athree-note phrase during a fifty-foot flight from one tree to anotherin the early morning."The robin is apparently the first New England bird to awake inthe morning. A few males begin to sing in darkness, at the earliestdim sign of approaching dawn; soon, as the light strengthens, moreand more birds awake and join the singing until, gaining in volume,the song swells into a general chorus which lasts all through themorning twilight. I remember that William Brewster was muchimpressed by the element of drama in the great wave of robins' songwhich sweeps overhead every morning during the breeding season inthe darkness before daylight, and continues on, westward, keeping
EASTERN ROBIN 35pace with the sun, but beginning far in advance of its light, as itmoves across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific.As July advances, the morning chorus, which the robins have beenperforming since early in April as an almost formal observance inthe hush before dawn, begins to fade out and wane. By the middleof the month, if we listen at our window as the sun approaches thehorizon, and its light increases to the degree when robins are accus-tomed to awake and sing, there is silence?or at most a single robinsinging alone, far away; we hear only the birds of night, the killdeerand the nighthawk. But after half an hour of waiting, as day comesnearer, when the gray of night no longer shuts in our vision, and welook out on a green world again, we may see a robin shoot swiftlypast our window, then another, and then others, flying to the treesnear the house. Soon we hear them singing, rather freely to besure, but not in the organized chorus of early summer.This delay in the morning singing is doubtless due to the fact thatat this season the male robins do not spend the night near their nestingsites but at a roost to which they escort the young birds of the firstbrood. If we watch the fading sky at evening, we may see the robinsof the neighborhood start off toward the roost, trailing along in looseorder, after calling restlessly in the trees for a while, and perhapssinging a little. The evening chorus, too, is over for the season.Horace W. Wright (1912) and Francis H. Allen (1913) have pub-lished the results of careful studies of "The Morning Awakening" towhich the reader is referred.Robins sing freely from early in April to the close of the nestingseason late in July. In August and September they sing very infre-quently, but later in the autumn and even in winter we hear sporadicsongs from the wandering flocks of late migrants and wintering birds.Albert R. Brand (1938) gives the approximate mean vibration fre-quency of the robin's song as 2,800, a little lower than that of thered-eyed vireo, 3,600, and of the scarlet tanager, 2,925, birds whosesongs resemble somewhat the song of the robin. However, the highestrecorded note of the redeye is much higher, 5,850, than the highestnote of the robin, 3,300.The robin has a variety of notes in addition to his familiar song.Some of these, although as well known perhaps as the song, are noteasily suggested by syllables. Many observers have their own setof renderings in phrases and syllables, which represent to them thevarious utterances of the robin, but these renderings, even for thesame note, differ from one another in marked degree. Also, a featurethat adds to the difficulty in describing robins' notes is that theyresemble one another sometimes rather closely, so that it is hard to
36 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMdraw the line between them, to decide whether we are dealing withtwo different notes or variants of one note.The following list, it is hoped, will serve to differentiate 10 commonnotes of the robin. The syllables, of course, are merely approxima-tions of what we hear, and the few words of comment aim to helpout the shortcomings that must arise when we attempt to transcribeinto letters the voice of a bird. 1. Seech-ook; an exclamatory notewhich the young robin utters soon after leaving the nest. 2. Pleent,tut-tut-tut; the first note, which might be written plint, and sometimessounds more like week, is usually single, but may be repeated once ortwice, and may be given without the tut notes. It is a sort of gasp,accented, higher in pitch than the succeeding, more rapid tuts. Thelatter (huh suggests the aspirated quality) may be likened to the inter-jection commonly written "humph," representing a low-spokeD ex-clamation. 3. Sss, tut-tut-tut; a sibilant variation of the above, atremulous, sibilant sound, a shaky squeal, followed by troubled sob-bing. 4. Skeet, skeet; two or three high screams, uttered as if in haste.5. Seech, each-each-each; a screaming variant of 2 and 3. It may begiven see-seech with the second note accented and on a higher pitch.A common note, suggesting unrest. 6. He-he-he-he-he; a rapid, laugh-ing giggle, suggesting sometimes a note of the red-winged blackbird,or in lighter, more musical form it may run quickly up aDd down thescale. This is the note which reminded Schuyler Mathews (1921) ofthe once popular song "Hiawatha." 7. Chill-ill-ill-ill; varying from3 to 8 notes, given in a tinkling voice, the chill struck firmly, the illssuccessively losing force and dropping slightly in pitch to the final ill.The rhythm strongly suggests the ringing of the kind of bell formerlyused on ambulances and police wagons. In tone of voice and inpitch this note resembles the song but differs from it in phrasing.8. Hisselly-hisselly ; sibilant, whispered phrases arranged as in song.It is associated with courtship apparently. The hiss may also begiven in one long syllable, repeated slowly with downward inflection.9. Sssp; a faint, trembling hiss, a refinement of the shriek (4) oftengiven when a bird starts away in flight, and at the close of the dayas it flies to its roost. 10. A low, sobbing note with a deep undertone;a note of trouble. A modification of the tut or huh, but clearly recog-nizable in quality and slow delivery as an entity. It is given when acat is prowling near.Tilford Moore tells in his notes of June 19, 1941, of a young robin'sattempt at song: "He was in our lilac, not three feet from our diningroom window, facing us, so we could see his speckled breast movingwith his song. The song was a squeaky and quiet effort, much likethe baby feeding cry in tone, but definitely a song after the adultmorning song pattern."
EASTERN ROBIN 37Enemies.?The three following reports show that snakes are some-times enemies of the robin: Ethel M. Spindler (1933) states that threeyoung robins were taken from a nest 13 feet from the ground andswallowed by two blacksnakes; Laura Raymond Strickland (1934)saw a blacksnake eat a robin's egg; and Harold B. Wood (1937) writesof a robin strangled by a snake, Liopeltis vernalis. "The snake waswound so tightly around the bird's neck, by four complete turns,that it could not be shaken loose."Ruthven Deane (1878) quotes from a letter written by the grand-daughter of Audubon describing a ''deadly combat" between a robinand a mole in which, apparently, they killed each other.C. M. Arnold (1907), at a time when English sparrows were moreabundant than they are at present, calls attention to their habit offollowing a robin about and snatching earthworms away from it.John Lewis Childs (1913) notes the destruction of robins by "themost severe electric storm I have ever witnessed." It "annihilatedthe Robins that live in the trees about my lawn. Thirty-six werepicked up the next morning on about an acre of ground, and othersin the near vicinity brought the total up to about fifty. The EnglishSparrows were very abundant also but very few were killed ; the Star-lings escaped uninjured as far as I can learn. * * * The birdswere evidently blown out of the trees where they were roosting andperished from the awful wetting they were subjected to on the ground."Predatory hawks often capture robins. Walter Faxon, years ago,was standing in his garden watching a robin, near at hand, runningover the grass. Suddenly, like a thunderbolt, a little sharp-shinnedhawk struck the robin, pinning it to the ground and covering it allover with its open wings. Mr. Faxon frightened the hawk away, butthe robin was dead, killed in an instant, its life snuffed out by a birdno larger than itself.The domestic cat is the most destructive enemy of the birds thatbreed about our houses. It has been estimated that a cat will cap-ture, on an average, 50 birds in a season, and the helpless young robinsprovide a large part of the kill.Herbert Friedmann (1929) says of the robin in relation to the cow-bird: "Probably an uncommon victim. It is hard to state definitelythe extent to which this bird is affected by the Cowbird because theparasitic eggs are practically always thrown out. Half a dozen ormore records from New York, Connecticut, Iowa, North Dakota, andAlberta have come to my notice."Harold S. Peters (1933 and 1936) reports the presence in theplumage of the robin of 17 species of external parasites?lice 6, flies 4,ticks 2, and mites 5.In former times a great number of robins were shot for food. Audu-
38 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMbon (1841) says: "In all the Southern States, * * * theirpresence is productive of a sort of jubilee among the gunners, and thehavoc made among them with bows and arrows, blowpipes, guns, andtraps of different sorts, is wonderful. Every gunner brings them homeby bagsful, and the markets are supplied with them at a very cheaprate. Several persons may at this season stand round the foot of atree loaded with berries, and shoot the greater part of the day, so fastdo the flocks of Kobins succeed each other. They are then fat andjuicy, and afford excellent eating."Fall.?Of the behavior of robins during the late summer andautumn William Brewster (1906) says:Soon after rearing their second broods of young?most of which are able toshift for themselves before the middle of August?our Robins change not onlytheir haunts but their habits, also. Abandoning their diet of earthworms, andassembling in flocks, they now range widely over the country in search of berries ofvarious kinds, on which they subsist almost wholly during the remainder of theyear. It is true that they revisit our city gardens in early September when therum cherries are ripe, and that even later in the year we occasionally see themrunning about in the old familiar way over our lawns and flower-beds, but through-out the autumn they spend most of their time in retired fields, pastures andwoodlands, or in swampy thickets bordering brooks and meadows. Most if notall of our local-bred birds depart for the south before the close of October. InNovember their places are taken by migrants from further north, which some-times appear suddenly in immense flocks and, after literally flooding the countryfor several successive days, pass on further to the southward. Robins are ordi-narily scarcer in December than at any other season, and occasionally they are.almost wholly absent during that month.Francis Beach White (1937), speaking of the "stragglers in thewoods" late in summer, says: "It is now that their habits undergo acomplete change, for these birds are now like different beings, shy,furtive, wary, excitable. You may hear a rustling in the foliage, asoft 'whut-whut', and all vanish unseen, or you may come on one thatassumes the motionless pose of a Hermit Thrush on a branch in a dimthicket."There are days also in mid-September when a furor of excitementseems to possess the flocks of robins in the woods. They are restlessand noisy, moving about high in the trees, and making long flights incompanies of half a dozen or more: a businesslike air of migrationpervades the gatherings.On September 4, 1931, Wendell Taber (MS.) saw robins in actualmigration. He was on the tableland on Mount Katahdin, Maine, atan elevation of 4,300 feet in a dense fog when 24 robins flew past him,near together, at close range in a southerly direction. He says(MS.): "Visibility was limited to a few yards, and I have no doubtthat I saw only a small part of the flight. A deviation of a few milesto either side would have avoided passing over the high range."
EASTERN ROBIN 39Winter.?Most of the robins pass southward in fall to spend thewinter in the milder climate of the Middle Atlantic and Gulf States,but occasionally flocks of considerable size remain in the NorthernStates and eastern Canada where they are exposed to very lowtemperatures. They have been reported as present during the winterin the Province of Quebec, Canada, by Napoleon A. Comeau (1891),in southern Maine by Nathan Clifford Brown (1911), in the UpperMississippi Valley by Miss Althea R. Sherman (1912), and in NovaScotia by Harrison F. Lewis (1919).In the Southern States robins gather in almost incredible numbers.Mrs. Lotta T. Melcher (MS.) writes to Mr. Bent of watching robinsflying to a winter roost in Florida. She estimated that no fewerthan 50,000 birds assembled to spend the night "in low evergreenbushes, in a cypress swamp." She says: "I could think of nothingbut being out in a snowstorm whose giant flakes never came to theground."Lester W. Smith (MS.) also writes of the invasions of robins duringthe winter. "When a cold snap descends into the Florida peninsula,"he says, "with real truck-killing effect, there may come an invasionof robins. A multitude of robins appears suddenly on the lawns, andparticularly in and under the cabbage palmetto trees, for it is on theabundant, wild-cherrylike fruit of this native palm that the robinsfeed, regardless of the protestations of the resident mockingbirds.When the robins arrive here in vast numbers, the cabbage palms ofthe entire district are soon stripped of their fruit."Julian D. Corrington (1922), speaking of the bird in winter inMississippi, says: "The Robin here is by no means a bird of thelawns and gardens as in the north in summer, but is as wild as thewildest and frequents only remote districts for feeding and roosting."Otto Widmann (1895) gives this interesting account of a winter robinroost in Missouri, a contrast to the summer roosts of the north:The lower parts of the marsh, with the exception of the slough itself, are over-grown with reeds five feet high, bendiDg over in all directions. These reeds arematted into a regular thicket which is not easily penetrated. In the fall thereeds are dry and yellow, some cinnamon and even dark chestnut brown.It is in these reeds that the Robin finds a safe retreat for the night, shelteredequally well from wind and cold, rain and snow, and comparatively safe fromprowling enemies. During the day nothing betrays the roost. Not a Robin isseen in the neighborhood all forenoon and for several hours of the afternoon.An hour or two before sunset a few may arrive and stay in the trees along King'sLake, but nobody would suspect anything extraordinary until half an hour beforesunset when the great influx begins.The new arrivals no more fly to the trees but alight on the ground, some in thewheat field, some in the meadows, some on the corn and hay stacks, but themajority flies directly into the reeds, while the others 6hift from place to place
40 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
until they, too, disappear. They do not come in troops like Blackbirds, but thewhole air seems for a while to be filled with them, and standing in the marsh,one can easily see that they come from all points of the compass, all aimingtoward a certain tract of reeds, a piece of about forty acres on some of the lowestground where the last remains of water are now vanishing, leaving heaps of deadand dying fishes in the puddles (mostly dog, cat, and buffalo fishes).When unmolested the Robins are not long in settling down and out of sightamongst the high and thickly matted reeds, and it is not nearly dark when thelast has disappeared and nothing indicates the presence of so many thousandRobins but an occasional clatter, soon to give way to entire silence. If one enterstheir domain at night, they start with a scold, one by one, and not until oneapproaches very closely, to drop down again at no great distance.Associating with them in the roost sleep a goodly number of Rusty Blackbirds,while the Bronzed Grackles keep somewhat apart. They arrive in troops withthe last Robins and leave also a little later in the morning.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?From extreme northern continental America to Guatemala.Breeding range.?The robin breeds north to Alaska (Cape Prince ofWales, rarely, the Jade Mountains, Alatna, Fort Yukon, and thePorcupine River); northern Yukon (Old Crow River and LapierreHouse); northern Mackenzie (east branch of the Mackenzie Delta,possibly the Arctic coast at Kittigazuit, Fort Anderson, Horton River,Coppermine River at latitude 67? 20' N., and the Thelon River);northern Manitoba (Cochrane River, Churchill, aud York Factory)
;
northern Ontario (Fort Severn and Moose Factory); and northernQuebec (Great Whale River, Chimo, and Port Burwell, rarely).East to northern Quebec (Port Burwell) ; the coast of Labrador (Ok-kak, Nain, Hopedale, Rigolet, and Henley Harbor); Newfoundland(St. Anthony, Humber River, and St. John's) ; Nova Scotia (Sidney,Halifax, and Yarmouth, occasionally Sable Island); the AtlanticCoast States south to North Carolina (Raleigh, aud has occurred insummer near Cape Fear). South to North Carolina (Raleigh andCharlotte); northern South Carolina (Rock Hill, Spartanburg, andGreenville; rarely Columbia); northern Georgia (Brasstown Bald);northern Alabama (Anniston and Birmingham ; rarely Montgomery)
;
northern Mississippi (Aberdeen); central and western Arkansas(Helena, Hot Springs, Arkadelphia, and Delight) ; eastern Texas(Tyler, Waco, Houston, and Somerset) ; western Tamaulipas (Galindo)western Veracruz (Las Vegas, Jalapa, Cdrdoba, and Orizaba); andOaxaca (Totontepee and Mount Zempoaltepec). West to Oaxaca(Mount Zempoaltepec); Guerrero (Chilpancingo) ; Jalisco (Sierra deNayarit); Nayarit (Santa Teresa); western Durango (Durango andEl Salto) ; western Chihuahua (Pinos Altos) ; eastern Sonora (Alamos,Mina Abundancis, and Oposura) ; eastern and central Arizona (Hua-chuca Mountains, Tucson, Santa Catalina Mountains, and Prescott);
EASTERN ROBIN 41
southern California (Redlands, Los Angeles, and Mount Pinos), themountains and interior valleys and the Pacific coast from Monterey-northward; the Coast Range and Willamette Valley to northwesternOregon (Pinehurst, Fort Klamath, Corvallis, Portland, Tillamook,and Astoria) ; western Washington (Vancouver, Cape Disappointment,Clallam Bay, Lake Crescent, Seattle, and Blaine); British Columbia(Vancouver Island, Metlakatla, Inverness, and Queen CharlotteIslands); and Alaska (Sitka, Yakutat, Kenai Peninsula, Nushagak,Bethel, Yukon Delta, St. Michael, Nome, and Cape Prince of Wales).Winter range.?The robin winters with considerable regularity insuitable localities north to southern British Columbia (VancouverIsland ; Victoria and Comox, Port Moody, and the Okanagan Valley) ;Washington (Blaine and Spokane); southern Idaho (Meridian),northern Utah (Bear Lake and Utah Lake Valleys); southwesternand eastern Colorado (Durango, Beulah, Colorado Springs, Denver,and Boulder); southeastern Wyoming (Laramie and Wheatland);southeastern Nebraska (Red Cloud, Lincoln, rare, and NebraskaCity); central Missouri (Kansas City, Marshall, and St. Charles);southern Illinois (Alton and Olney) ; southern Indiana (Terre Haute,Bloomington, and Richmond); central Ohio (Columbus); centralWest Virginia (Parkersburg and Charleston); and central Virginia(New Market, Variety Mills, and Bowers Hill). East to the Atlanticcoast from Virginia (Bowers Hill) to southern Florida (Royal PalmPark). South to southern Florida (Royal Palm Park) and the Gulfcoast from Florida to Texas (Galveston, Victoria, and Brownsville)
;
Tamaulipas (Matamoros); southern Veracruz (Tuxla); and Guate-mala (Coban and the Sierra Santa Elena). West to Guatemala(Sierra Santa Elena); Oaxaca (Coixtlahuaca) ; Jalisco (Zapotlan andBolafios); Sonora (San Jose de Guaymas, Sonoyta, and El Doctor);northern Lower California (Rosario and Ensenada); and the Pacificcoast of California (Los Angeles, Watsonviile, and San Francisco);Oregon (Fort Klamath, Corvallis, Salem, Portland, and Astoria);Washington (Grays Harbor, Olympia, Seattle, and Everett); andsouthwestern British Columbia (Vancouver Island).In addition, the robin sometimes occurs in winter north to northernIdaho (Coeur d'Alene); Montana (Kalispell and Billings); south-eastern South Dakota (Yankton); southern Minnesota (Minneapolisand Red Wing) ; southern Wisconsin (La Crosse, Madison, and Mil-waukee) ; southern Michigan (Ann Arbor and Detroit) ; southernOntario (London, Toronto, and Ottawa); southern Quebec (Quebec,Kamouraska, Godbout, and Bonaventure Island) ; and Newfoundland(St. John's).The distribution as outlined is for the entire species, which has beenseparated into several subspecies or geographic races. The typical792825?49 ?
42 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
race, the eastern robin (T. m. migratorius) , breeds from westernAlaska, northern Mackenzie, northern Manitoba, southern Quebec,New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia south to southern Alaska, centralBritish Columbia, central Alberta, central Oklahoma, northernArkansas, central Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, andsouth in the mountains to northern Georgia. The black-backed robin(T. m. nigrideus) breeds in northeastern Quebec, Labrador, and New-foundland; the southern robin (T. m. achrusterus) breeds from southernIllinois and Maryland south to northern Mississippi, central Alabama,and northern South Carolina, except in the higher mountains; thenorthwestern robin (T. m. caurinus) breeds from Glacier Bay, south-eastern Alaska, in the humid, coastal belt south to northern and west-ern Washington. The western robin (T. m. propinquus) breeds fromsoutheastern British Columbia to the eastern Rocky Mountains toextreme western Texas, western Chihuahua, and eastern Sonora.Other races occur in Mexico.Migration.?Some late dates of spring departure from the winterhome are: Florida?Pensacola, April 13. Georgia?Macon, April 21.South Carolina?Aiken, April 6. Louisiana?New Orleans, April 21.Mississippi?Oakvale, April 5. Texas?San Antonio, April 10.Oklahoma?Kenton, April 13.Some early dates of spring arrival are: District of Columbia
?
Washington, February 25. West Virginia?Charleston, February 26.Pennsylvania?State College, Eebruary 22. New York?Plattsburg,March 16. Massachusetts?Stockbridge, March 10. VermontBurlington, March 11. Maine?Machias, March 14. Nova ScotiaHalifax, March 26. New Brunswick?Chatham, March 25. QuebecKamouraska, March 20. Prince Edward Island?North Bedeque,March 31. Newfoundland?St. John's, April 6. Kentucky?Ver-sailles, February 20. Illinois, Chicago, February 21. Ohio?Toledo,February 7. Michigan?Grand Rapids, March 3. Ontario?Toronto,March 8. Missouri?Kansas City, February 28. Iowa?Sioux City,February 28. Wisconsin?Madison, March 5. Minnesota?RedWing, March 1. Manitoba?Winnipeg, March 13. Kansas?Onaga,March 5. Nebraska?Omaha, February 10. South Dakota?Yank-ton, March 1. North Dakota?Fargo, March 22. SaskatchewanMcLean, March 31. Mackenzie?East Branch Mackenzie RiverDelta, May 15. Colorado?Denver, February 16. Utah?Salt LakeCity, March 14. Wyoming?Yellowstone Park, March 11. IdahoRathdrum, February 19. Montana?Great Falls, March 11. Al-berta?Banff, March 25. Yukon?Dawson, May 9. Alaska?KobukRiver, May 20.Some late dates of fall departure are: Alaska?Kobuk River,September 7. Mackenzie?Simpson, November 17. Alberta
EASTERN ROBIN 43Belvedere, October 28. Montana?Missoula, November 21. Wyo-ming?Laramie, November 20. Colorado?Boulder, November 2.Saskatchewan?Eastend, October 24. Manitoba?Aweme, Novem-ber 8. North Dakota?Charlson, November 2. South Dakota
?
Sioux Falls, November 26. Nebraska?Red Cloud, October 17.Kansas?Hays, November 6. Minnesota?St. Paul, November 15.Wisconsin?La Crosse, November 28. Iowa?National, November 14.Missouri?Independence, November 13. Ontario?Ottawa, Novem-ber 21. Michigan?Detroit, October 31. Ohio?Oberlin, November28. Prince Edward Island?North River, November 15. QuebecQuebec, November 10. New Brunswick?St. John, November 15.Nova Scotia?Wolfville, November 9. Maine?Portland, November 8.Massachusetts?Boston, November 23. New York?Rochester,November 27. Pennsylvania?Pittsburgh, November 7. District ofColumbia?Washington, November 12.Some early dates of fall arrival are: South Carolina?Charleston,October 20. Georgia?Savannah, October 15. Alabama?Prattville,October 19. Arkansas?Winslow, October 1. Louisiana?New Or-leans, September 12. Mississippi?Biloxi, October 13.Records from banded robins show that the migration is by no meansa strictly north-and-south movement but that individuals, at least,deviate considerably from that line. Records of 340 individualsbanded on their breeding grounds and recovered the following wintergive the following results: In Virginia the 3 recoveries include 1 fromNova Scotia, 1 from Massachusetts, and 1 from South Dakota. InNorth Carolina the 23 recoveries include 5 from Massachusetts, 3from New York, 4 from New Jersey, 6 from Pennsylvania, 1 fromthe District of Columbia, 1 from Ontario, 1 from Ohio, 1 from Illi-nois, and 1 from Wisconsin. The 23 recoveries in South Carolinainclude 1 from Nova Scotia, 1 from Quebec, 2 from Massachusetts,4 from New York, 2 from New Jersey, 5 from Pennsylvania, 3 fromOntario, 2 from Ohio, 1 from Michigan, 1 from Indiana, and 1 fromTennessee. The 38 birds recovered in Georgia include 1 from NovaScotia, 2 from Quebec, 1 from Connecticut, 3 from NewYork, 3 fromNew Jersey, 6 from Pennsylvania, 1 from the District of Columbia,3 from Ontario, 4 from Ohio, 3 from Michigan, 3 from Indiana, 4from Illinois, 1 from Wisconsin, 1 from North Dakota, 1 from Ken-tucky, and 1 from Tennessee. Florida has 31 recoveries including4 from Massachusetts, 1 from Rhode Island, 2 from New York,1 from New Jersey, 9 from Pennsylvania, 2 from Ohio, 2 from Mich-igan, 1 from Indiana, 7 from Illinois, and 2 from Wisconsin. The28 recoveries in Alabama include 1 from Massachusetts, 1 from NewYork, 1 from New Jersey, 3 from Pennsylvania, 3 from Ohio, 4 fromMichigan, 3 from Indiana, 5 from Illinois, 4 from Wisconsin, 1 from
44 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMMinnesota, and 2 from North Dakota. Mississippi has 29 recoveriesincluding 1 from New York, 2 from Pennsylvania, 3 from Ohio, 5from Indiana, 2 from Michigan, 8 from Illinois, 1 from Wisconsin,1 from North Dakota, 2 from Kentucky, 1 from Iowa, 2 from Sas-katchewan, and 1 from British Columbia. The largest number ofrecoveries, 86, is from Louisiana and includes 2 from Massachusetts,2 from New York, 1 from Ontario, 8 from Ohio, 8 from Indiana, 6from Michigan, 24 from Illinois, 10 from Wisconsin, 6 from Min-nesota, 3 from South Dakota, 7 from North Dakota, 2 from Manitoba,1 from Saskatchewan, 3 from Iowa, 1 from Missouri, and 2 fromTennessee. The 25 recoveries in Arkansas include 1 from Ohio, 2from Michigan, 2 from Indiana, 8 from Illinois, 3 from Wisconsin,4 from Minnesota, 1 from South Dakota, 1 from North Dakota, 1from Iowa, and 2 from Missouri. The 43 recoveries in Texas in-clude 1 from Ohio, 2 from Indiana, 2 from Michigan, 9 from Illinois,3 from Wisconsm, 1 from Minnesota, 3 from South Dakota, 6 fromNorth Dakota, 4 from Manitoba, 1 from Saskatchewan, 10 from Iowa,and 1 from Missouri. The 5 recoveries in Oklahoma include 1 fromSaskatchewan, 1 from South Dakota, 2 from Iowa, and 1 from Mis-souri. The 2 recoveries in California are 1 each from Alberta andBritish Columbia. Many other records that show longer elapsedtime between the dates of banding and recovery serve to confirm theevidence of those cited.Several records are sufficiently interesting to warrant detailed cita-tion. A robin banded at Groton, Mass., on October 24, 1940, wasfound in Bladen County, N. C, on November 24, 1940; one banded atGermantown, Pa., on March 25, 1928, was recovered at Torquay,near Selbys Cove, Newfoundland; one banded at Summerville, S. C,on March 23, 1934, was killed on May 26, 1934, at Fond du Lac,Wis.; one banded at Nashville, Tenn., on March 25, 1940, was founddead about June 19, 1940, at Gowanda, N. Y.; one banded at BlueIsland, Cook County, 111., on October 8, 1938, was found dead April14, 1939, at Salisbury, Somerset County, Pa.; a young bird bandedSeptember 3, 1935, at Aberdeen, S. Dak., was found dead May 24,1936, at Plentywood, Mont.; one banded at Modesto, Calif., on Feb-ruary 26, 1939, was found April 25, 1939, at Vernonia, Oreg. ; one bandedat Pasadena, Calif., on February 23, 1933, was killed about June 22,1934, at West Jordan, Utah; one banded in Yosemite National Park,Calif., on February 21, 1934, was killed by a hawk on May 25, 1934,at Sandpoint, Idaho ; one banded at Crystal Bay, Lake Minnetonka,Minn., on July 7, 1924, was killed December 17, 1925, at Pachuca,Hidalgo, Mexico; one banded at Fargo, N. Dak., on September 27,1937, was shot on January 31, 1940, at Villa Ocampa, Coahuila,Mexico; and one banded at Barkerville, British Columbia, on May
SOUTHERN ROBIN 4527, 1929, was found February 1, 1930, at Chunky, Miss. In the caseof the last record the band was forwarded to the Biological Survey.Casual records.?The robin has been recorded three times on St.Paul Island, Alaska, from 1872 to September 15, 1919. It has beencollected twice at Point Barrow, Alaska, od May 14, 1930, and in thesummer of 1931. One was reported at Herschel Island, Yukon, manyyears ago. One was reported at Warren Point, Mackenzie, 200 milesfrom Pearce Point, on June 19, 1917; and a specimen was collectednear the mouth of the Kogaryuak River, Coronation Gulf, on June19, 1911.Four specimens have been recorded from Greenland: Specimenstaken at Q6rnoq near Godthaab about 1865; at Sukkertoppen about1881 ; at Graedefjord on September 26, 1899; and at Kangek, GodthaabFjord, between October 7 and 21, 1944. The last specimen wasidentified as nigrideus, and it is quite probable that the others werealso of this race. The robin is a straggler to Cuba, three records;and it has been collected in Bermuda in five different years. Thereare several European records, in Ireland, England, and Germany.Egg dates.?Alaska: 8 records, May 26 to June 15.California: 46 records, April 6 to July 14; 24 records, May 13 toJune 17, indicating the height of the season.Colorado: 21 records, May 10 to July 15; 11 records, May 24 toJune 10.Illinois: 29 records, April 18 to July 20; 15 records, April 29 to May17.Massachusetts: 50 records, April 28 to July 1; 25 records, May 17to May 30. TURDUS MIGRATORIUS ACHRUSTERUS (Batchelder)SOUTHERN ROBINHABITSCharles F. Batchelder (1900) in naming this subspecies gave as itscharacters: "Size considerably less than in M. migratoria. Colors ingeneral much lighter and duller." Then follows a detailed description.Ridgway (1907) describes it more concisely as follows: "Adult malewith black of head broken by more or less broad grayish margins tofeathers; gray of back duller and browner, rarely, if ever, with blackishcenters to feathers; color of breast, etc., tawny-ochraceous to tawnycinnamon-rufous. Adult female with grayish margins to feathers ofhead broader, sometimes nearly concealing the central dusky areas,and color of breast, etc., yellowish ochraceous-buff to tawny-ochra-ceous. Young paler in color than that of P.m. migratorius, with underparts largely (sometimes mostly) whitish and less heavy spotted."
46 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMAt the time Batchelder described this form, the details of its distribu-tion had not been worked out, but he was safe in stating that "prob-ably all the robins breeding in the Carolinas and Georgia, outside ofthe mountain region of these States, will prove to belong to the newform, while those that pass the summer among the mountains, and inthe low country of the adjacent region to the north, may be expectedto be variously intermediate between it and true migratoria."The 1931 Check-list gives it as breeding "from southern Illinois andMaryland to northern Mississippi, central Alabama, northern Georgia,and upper South Carolina." Recent investigations (Wetmore, 1937and 1940) have shown that the southern robin breeds at the lowerelevations at least as far north as West Virginia and Kentucky, whereit begins to intergrade with the northern form.Although generally considered to be a bird of the lower levels, itoccurs on the tops of some of the higher southern mountains, notablyMount Mitchell, which rises to a height of 6,084 feet in western NorthCarolina. There, according to Thomas D. Burleigh (1941), it is
?
a fairly plentiful breeding bird in the fir and spruce woods at the top of the moun-tain where, to one familiar with this species about the lawns in towns and cities,it seems at first rather out of place. Its arrival in the spring is influenced to acertain extent by the weather, and while it invariably appears by the latter partof March a relatively mild winter, as in 1933-34, has seen its return as early asMarch 8. It is rarely observed after the last brood of young are fully grown, theone exception being a flock of twenty birds noted October 28, 1932. It is possiblethat two broods are reared for a nest found June 3, 1930, held three well-incubatedeggs, while on August 10, 1931, young barely able to fly were seen being fed by thetwo adult birds. There are no records for the occurrence of the northern racehere, all specimens taken both in the spring and in the fall being clearly referableto T. m. achrusterus.A. L. Pickens writes to me from Paducah, Ky.:One of the most remarkable extensions of range that I have observed is thatmade in recent decades by the southern robin. Early in the present century therobin, in the South Carolina Piedmont, was regarded as a harbinger of coldweather. They descended from the mountains and the more northern areas tofeed on chinaberries especially; and some were reputed to have become intoxi-cated from eating the fermented fruit, a condition which I personally neverobserved. As the smaller towns installed civic waterworks and water was avail-able for lav/ns, and incidentally for earthworms, robins apparently began tospread, as inhabitants of cities and towns, until they may now be found in summer,even far down on the coast plain. In wet summers, when pastures are lawnlike,the birds may be found even out among the farms six and seven miles from town;but let a dry summer succeed and they yield the areas of farmland held the seasonbefore.The reader is also referred to an extensive paper by Odum andBurleigh (1946) on this general subject, which is too long to be quotedhere.Nesting.?M. G. Vaiden, of Rosedale, Miss., writes to me that he
SOUTHERN ROBIN 47finds the southern robin a very common nesting bird within the citylimits. There are at least 50 or 75 pairs nesting in the town. Theyseem to be content to nest on limbs that reach out over the streets, andthe passing cars, trucks, and other vehicles do not seem to disturbthem. Their territory of defense seems to be the side of the tree inwhich their nest is constructed. His first nest was located in a cedartree some 8 feet up and within 3 feet of the end of a limb. Another,near his house, was 25 feet from the ground and within 5 feet from theend of a limb that was about 15 feet long. This nest was on the top ofthe limb with ouly a small twig to support it on the south side and nosupport whatever on the north side.He tells of another pair that started to build their nest on March 16but did no more work on it after the next morning, apparently havinggiven up the idea of nesting. On March 28 there was a heavy rain;and on the next day the robins worked hard carrying mud and com-pleted the nest on April 1. There was no mud available in thevicinity until the rain came, and the birds had to wait for it. He saysthat the robins nest there in April, May, June, and the early part ofJuly, but mainly in May and June. He is quite positive that twobroods are raised there in a season.Margaret Morse Nice (1930-31) says that in Norman, Okla., thesouthern robin is an "increasingly common summer resident. Wehave records of 48 nests. In 1921 there were eight nests with com-plete sets before the end of March, the earliest being March 23; butmost seasons the first eggs are found during the first week in April.* * * In four cases there have been 4 eggs, in eleven cases 3.Seventeen elms have been chosen, two maples, two walnuts, one boxelder and one apple tree. One nest was built at a height of 3 feet, twoat 8, three at 10, one at 12, five at 15, three at 20 and three at 25, theaverage being 15 feet."Eggs.?The eggs of the southern robin, usually three or four to theset, are practically indistinguishable from those of its northernrelative. The measurements of 21 eggs average 27.9 by 20.0 milli-meters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 29.5 by 20.9,29.2 by 21.3, and 25.7 by 18.5 millimeters.Young.?Mr. Vaiden tells me that the young in a nest near his househatched on June 29, 1942; "on July 10, a frisky youngster dropped fromthe nest to the ground and the parents fed it for two days, along withthe one in the nest, until it moved out of our yard. The secoud birdleft the nest by coaxing from the parents on July 13, at 1:33 p. m.The date of hatching was accepted as the first day of actual feedingwhich we observed. Only two birds seemed to have reached maturityin this nest, as no others were observed being fed as we watched themthrough binoculars."
48 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMFood.?Mr. Vaiden says in his notes: "We have several chinaberrytrees within the town limits, yet I do not find the robins that migratethrough the Delta as fond of the berry of the chinaberry tree as Iobserved years ago in the hill section. I have seen the robin gorgehimself with berries until he would fall to the ground; and we weretold at that time that they were drunk from eating the berries of thechinaberry tree.
"I find great concentrations, such as 200 to 300 robins, feeding onthe levee after it has been burned over late in the winter; probablythe levee has a certain type of soft soil where they find plenty ofworms to feed upon. Robins are not great seed-eaters, but I havefound many weed and grass seeds in the stomachs of the birds dis-sected. I have found the seeds of Johnson grass, coco-grass, Ber-muda grass, giant ragweed, and dwarf ragweed on many occasions."Enemies.?Dr. Friedmann (1934) records two instances in whichthe southern robin had served as a host for the eastern cowbird.TURDUS MIGRATORIUS CAURINUS (Grinnell)NORTHWESTERN ROBINHABITSIn describing this subspecies, Dr. Grinnell (1909) says that the
"full-plumaged male resembles Planesticus migratorius migratorius ofcorresponding plumage in the matter of size and darkness of colora-tion, the latter being excessive, but lacks the extended white patchon inner web of outer tail feathers; resembles Planesticus migratoriuspropinguus in the extremely narrow white tippings of the outer tailfeathers, but coloration much darker and size smaller. In otherwords, this new form shares some characters of both, but presents inaddition an extreme darkness of coloration seldom or never found ineven migratorius. Young very much darker than in either migra-torius or propinguus."Dr. Grinnell's specimens all came from southern Alaska, but therace is now known to extend its range southward in the humid coastregion through British Columbia and Washington. According tosome extensive notes on western robins received from Samuel F.Rathbun, the paler race, propinguus, would seem to be the commonbreeding form in western Washington, at least in the older and moresettled regions of the interior, the darker race, caurinus, occurringthere mainly in fall, winter, and spring. "But no line of demarcationcan be drawn between these two forms of robins as to their distribu-tion; they intermingle wherever found, although in some localitiesone or the other may predominate in numbers."Based on his 20 years of observation, Mr. Rathbun sums up the
NORTHWESTERN ROBIN 49
status of the two forms (MS.) as follows: "I feel safe in saying thatthe robins so commonly seen from early spring until well into October,in and about the long reclaimed and older settled sections of theregion, almost always represent propinquus; but associated with thisform during the rest of the year will be seen numbers of what can beregarded as caurinus, for both are common residents of the region,although apparently each differs to some degree in its distribution.
"Ordinarily, the robins found in the wilder parts of western Wash-ington, and in and about the tracts of heavy coniferous forest, par-ticularly if such have more or less of a growth of spruce, can be re-garded as caurinus. In particular, this appears to be the case withinthe Olympic Peninsula, where what seems to me to be caurinus is theprevailing form throughout the year; and, although I have found itquite well distributed here, it seemed as if the height of its abundancewas in the spruce, or so designated 'coastal belt/ along thePacific Ocean, where also the varied thrush is found to be so common.By 'coastal belt' is meant a rather wide strip extending inland fromthe Pacific coast, a section of heavy rainfall; the U. S. Weather Bureaurecords show that this strip has an annual precipitation of 75 inchesor more; in fact, there are records of 150 inches at Clearwater, notfar north of Lake Quinault.
"Then, at the approach of autumn, caurinus commences to scatterwidely to the Sound region and adjacent sections. But, at its nest-ing period, the farther east from the coast, the less common is caurinus.One never sees it in summer in the backyard, for then the robin ispropinquus."Spring.?The northwestern robin does not seem to be permanentlyresident in southern Alaska, but to be, at least partially, migratory.The only specimens definitely recorded in Mr. Rathbun's Washingtonnotes were taken in spring, March 19 and April 16. He says that it is
"not uncommon in spring" and that it "is quite often seen in the forest,from the west end of Lake Crescent to the Pacific Ocean. No matterhow dense the forest, or how far distant one may be from any clearingor habitation, at times robins will be seen, and as a general thing theyresemble this race."George Willett writes to me that this robin arrives in southeasternAlaska mostly in April and leaves in October; but he has seen itoccasionally during the winter months; he has seen it at Craig onJanuary 29 and March 16, 1923, on December 11, 1924, and onFebruary 23 and 24, 1925, only a single bird in each case.Alfred M. Bailey (1927) writes: "Robins are very common through-out the summer, and were first noted at Wrangell April 13, when halfa dozen were seen feeding in a garden; they were abundant by April26. Mrs. Bailey recorded her first Robins at Juneau April 14, and
50 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMthey were common a week later. * * * Mr. Gray tells me thatRobins have wintered, occasionally, at Wrangell."Nesting.?Mr. Willett (MS.) took a set of four slightly incubatedeggs at Ketchikan on May 30, 1925; the nest was placed 7 feet upagainst the trunk of a young spruce tree on a hillside; the nest wasmade of grass and twigs and lined with fine grass ; its external meas-urements were 150 by 85 millimeters, and the inner cavity measured90 by 55 millimeters.Mr. Rathbun (MS.) tells me that he has found "more than a fewnests of caurinus" in the coastal strip in western Washington, asdescribed above, and says: "From the first one I discovered, I notedthat without an exception, the nest proper always rested on a plat-form or base of twigs, similar to the nest of Steller's jay or the variedthrush, and in this respect it differed from that of propinquus."Eggs.?The northwestern robin usually lays three or four eggs,which are similar in every way to those of the eastern bird. Themeasurements of 40 eggs average 29.5 by 21.1 millimeters; the eggsshowing the four extremes measure 32.5 by 20.2,f 29.9 by 22.5, 27.9by 22.2, and 28.5 by 19.5 millimeters.Food.?The food of the northwestern robin is evidently of the samegeneral character as that of other robins. Where it lives in settledcommunities it may be seen grubbing for worms on the lawn, catchingvarious kinds of noxious insects and their larvae, or taking whatberries and fruit are available.Wild fruits and berries of various kinds form most of the food in falland winter. Dr. Bailey (1927) writes: "At Hooniah Sound, May 8-24,they were exceedingly plentiful, being the most common bird of thevicinity. They fed along the beaches exclusively, none being seenback in the woods, or on the muskegs; while droves worked the beacheslike so many Sandpipers, in fact, we considered them as 'shore-birds'for the time being."I. McT. Cowan (1942) lists the northwestern robin as one of thespecies that feeds on the flying termites (Zootermopsis angusticollis)
.
"In extreme southwestern British Columbia the extensive areas ofdeforested land, strewn with decaying logs and stumps, provides idealhabitat for termites." The robins and other birds "have been ob-served catching Z. angusticollis close to or on the ground."G. D. Sprot (1926), of Cobble Hill, Vancouver Island, tells thefollowing story : "On the 13th of June 1926 a Robin (Planesticus migra-torius subsp. ?) slipped from its perch on a seat in my garden into thenearby shrubbery, returning to the lawn with a dead field mouse whichit proceeded to beat upon the ground, endeavoring also, so it appeared,to crush it in its bill. Every now and then it would pick it up, run ashort distance and repeat the motions. For five of ten minutes it
NORTHWESTERN ROBIN 51kept this up, then lifting up the battered remains in its bill it swallowedthem head first. It then remained rigid for a few seconds with thetail of the mouse still protruding. Having apparently discovered thatit had not overdone it, it gave a flick with its bill, when the tail disap-peared down its throat." He thought that his terrier might havecaused the death of the mouse, rather than the robin!Theed Pearse (MS.) adds fallen apples and pears, honeysuckleberries, and ripe seeds of dogwood to the food of this robin on Van-couver Island.Behavior.?Mr. Pearse has sent me the following account of a femalerobin that he saw "anting" on October 5, 1942, at Courtenay, Van-couver Island: It was "standing on top of a nest of red ants and keptpicking up something, presumably an ant; it placed it on a primary,generally halfway up the feather, impressing the ant onto the featheras though trying to make it stick there. Occasionally the ant wouldbe pushed into the feathers of the anal region. It was never seen toplace the ant under the wing. The actions of the bird suggested thatthe ant was distasteful and the desire was to dispose of it as quickly aspossible. Much of the time the bird held its wings quite loose fromthe body and, at times, was practically reclining on the surface of theants' nest. Sometimes it appeared as if the bird were ruffling itsfeathers, as though bathing. It was watched for ten minutes untildisturbed, and all this time it was ' anting. ' The day was very dull aftera rain. An examination of the ant hill showed no disturbance, exceptwhere pecked at. There were only a few ants working then; later itbecame a seething mass, as the day became warmer, and probablyany bird would hesitate to venture there then."Fall.?In his notes from western Washington Mr. Rathbun says:
"In September, the first evidence of a tendency to gather togethermay be seen, and during October flocks will be noted. Among thelater birds are individuals that may be regarded as caurinus, but thereis no difficulty in distinguishing propinquus. These flocks roam aboutthe country, evidently being first attracted to the localities that havefood of the nature of the fruit borne by trees and shrubs, such as themountain-ash, the dogwood, madrona, etc., these during the wintermonths being stripped clean. In sections lacking such food, robinswill be missing to an extent; and, as the plants named vary in fruitingeach year, this is reflected in the numbers of the birds seen."Mr. Pearse tells me that, on Vancouver Island, there is an earlysouthward migration from early in July until the middle of August.Late in December, there is, almost yearly, a flight of robins arrivingweeks after all the resident robins and the earlier migrants have movedon; these are the birds that spend the winter. The regular migrantsstay as long as berries are abundant. On January 23, 1942, there was
52 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
a migration from the south; this was a very open winter. He heardrobins singing as early as February 11, 1925, but does not usuallyhear them until about March 10. He has also heard them singingin October and November and as late as December 14.TURDUS MIGRATORIUS PROPINQUUS RidgwayWESTERN ROBINHABITSAccording to the 1931 Check-list, the western robin "breeds mainlyin the Canadian and Transition zones from southeastern BritishColumbia and Montana south to southern California, Jalisco, Oaxaca,and Vera Cruz, and from the Pacific coast east to the border of theGreat Plains. Winters from southern British Columbia and Wyomingsouth to middle Lower California and to the highlands of Guatemala."It probably intergrades with the eastern races somewhere near thewestern edge of the Great Plains, but all the robins that we collectedin the Maple Creek region of southwestern Saskatchewan werereferable to propinquus, though Professor Macoun referred the birdsof that region to migratorius. North of the range outlined above,typical migratorius is the breeding form.In Washington, the breeding ranges of propinquus and caurinusare more or less mixed; this distribution of the two races has beenreferred to under caurinus. It appears from Mr. Rathbun's (MS.)notes that, although caurinus breeds in the coniferous forests, espe-cially on the Olympic Peninsula, the pale form of the robin, pro-pinquus, is found everywhere throughout western Washington, fromthe Cascades to the Pacific, and seems to be the only breeding formin the older, more settled and more open regions.The western robin is slightly paler both above and below than theeastern robin and decidedly paler than the northwestern robin, butthe most conspicuous difference is that the white tips of the lateraltail feathers are entirely lacking, or reduced to a very narrow edge.Before the prairies of the Middle West were settled and when thebison roamed in vast herds over the boundless grassy plains, theeastern robins bred in the northern woods of Michigan, Wisconsin,and Minnesota; but, as civilization moved westward and trees wereplanted about the ranches, the robins adapted themselves to the newand welcome conditions and made their summer homes near humandwellings in regions they had formerly passed over on migrations.Robins prefer to build their nests in trees or on suitable ledges to befound on human structures. Furthermore, they must have shortgrassy areas in which to forage. The treeless plains covered withlong grass were not to their liking.
WESTERN ROBIN 53A similar extension of the breeding range of the western robin hastaken place in California and other parts of the West and is apparently-still continuing in the drier lowlands, where irrigation is reclaimingarid lands and where more lawns are being developed and planted withtrees and shrubbery.Under primitive conditions, while the lowlands were too dry to suitthe robins, the summer haunts of the western robins were in the moun-tains, from 5,000 feet up to 12,000 feet, even to timberline; and inmany of the wilder sections of the West such is still the case, especiallyin the mountain ranges of California and Arizona. Grinnell andStorer (1924) write: "Summer travellers in the Sierra Nevada recog-nize the Western Robin at once as characteristic of the mountains,inhabiting the small meadows which floor the openings in the conifer-ous forests; people who live in the foothills and valleys of Californiaknow the bird as a winter visitor to their orchards, fields, and gardens.Upon the establishment of towns within either its winter or summerrange, the robin quickly becomes a dooryard bird, regardless ofwhether the dooryards are those of permanent houses or those of theephemeral tent cities which, as in Yosemite Valley, grow and vanishwith the passage of each summer." Similar primitive conditions werenoted by Taylor and Shaw (1927) in Mount Rainier National Park,where "one is likely to find robins on open grass-covered areas, whetherclearings in the thick timber, extensive alpine parks, or high ridgesnearly at timberline. The robin's preference, however, seems to be forburns, where berry vines, decaying logs full of insects, and a wealth ofother food-furnishing material are generously abundant."Such were evidently the original breeding haunts of the westernrobin, but civilization has been encouraging changes and extension ofrange, which have been taking place even during the present century.Dr. Tracy I. Storer (1926) has published an extensive paper on thissubject and states that up to 1915 "there were no known breedingrecords for Marin County, the San Francisco peninsula, the adjacentBay region, or the Transition Zone of Monterey County. It seemsvery unlikely that the presence of the Robin as a nesting species couldhave escaped the attention of the numerous keen-eyed observers whohave worked these areas during the preceding three decades."He then goes on to cite a number of localities in California where therobin had extended its breeding range during the previous ten years,and explains some of the reasons for the changes.The general summer range of the Robin (as a species, as well as of the westernsubspecies, propinquus) everywhere includes territory where there is moist grass-land (or its equivalent) in which this "soft-billed" bird can find soft-bodied insectlarvae or earthworms as food for itself and young during nesting time. Thisseems to be a prime requirement of the Robin. The original "natural" range ofthe Western Robin in California included only those parts of the State where damp
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meadows, with short grass in which the adults might seek their forage, persistedduring the summer months. These areas vary from a few hundred square feet ofgrassland, as along the banks of small creeks, to large level tracts in the highSierra Nevada, sometimes embracing several square miles of continuous grassland.The number of birds present in any given place usually seems to be proportionalto the amount of such forage surface available.Such favorable conditions had not previously prevailed in the regionsto which the robin has recently extended its breeding range. "Butwith the development of lawns, with continued moisture supply and
'green feed,' various species of insects are able to persist there aslarvae during the summer season. With irrigation, earthworms alsoare able to live up near the surface of the soil when normally theywould be aestivating in deep burrows to avoid desiccation."A. J. van Rossem (1942) was prompted by recent reports of robinsnesting in the vicinity of Pasadena to state that a pair first nested onthe grounds adjoining the residence of Donald R. Dickey in 1923; andhe remarks significantly: "Generally speaking, it may be said that thetransition of Pasadena from a small farming community to a residen-tial city took place in the late 1890's and the early 1900's. It wasthus about twenty-five years from the establishment of suitable terri-tory until the robins first made use of it, although the species has al-ways been common in summer in the Transition Zone in the imme-diately adj acent mountains . '
'
Migration.?As many western robins spend the winter as far northas southern British Columbia, the migrations in the northern part oftheir range are not well marked as north and south migrations. At anytime during late fall and early winter, large flocks of robins may beseen moving about from one locality to another in search of suitablefeeding grounds, their presence or absence in any one place being de-pendent on the supply of berries or other food. Thus their migrationsare mainly local wanderings, coupled with a downward movementfrom the mountains in the fall and a return to the higher levels whenthe snows disappear in spring. Mr. Rathbun (MS.) tells me that, inwestern Washington, "about the close of winter, or sometime duringthe month of February, single robins or perhaps pairs of the birds willbe seen again around the residence districts of the cities and towns."In California conditions are somewhat similar, with great variationsfrom year to year in the winter population of robins, depending onthe food supply. But there the migration, especially in spring, is wellmarked. The robins that winter in Mexico and Guatemala have along way to go to reach their breeding grounds, and large numbers areoften seen flying north.On February 11, 1929, I saw large flocks migrating over Pasadenaflying high and headed northward. On March 6 and 7 large numbersof robins gathered in the camphortrees in front of my house ; the trees
WESTERN ROBIN 55
were fairly alive with them. Others were seen flying about in looseflocks and were probably migrants.Nesting.?The nesting habits of the western robin are, in the main,very similar to those of its eastern relative. The nest may be placedanywhere from on the ground up to 75 feet in a tree, in bushes or intrees of many kinds, but most of the nests are not over 12 feet abovethe ground. Nests on structures erected by human beings seem to beless common than with the eastern bird. They are usually typicalrobin nests, made of the usual materials, including a liberal supply ofmud, and firmly built. Mr. Rathbun (MS.) describes a poorly con-structed nest that "was placed at a moderate height in the fork of ayoung alder, this crotch being filled with fresh leaves of the vanillaleaf(Achlys triphylla), with which were a few twigs. Next was a thincoating of mud, and its lining was an abundance of green grasses anda few dried ones. Very little skill was shown in the construction ofthis nest, my attention being attracted to it simply by seeing a massof green leaves piled in the fork." Mrs. Wheelock (1904) says thatthe nests that she has "found have been somewhat different fromthose of the Eastern bird and very much prettier, being decoratedwith moss woven in the mud instead of straw, and carefully lined withmoss. It is really a beautiful structure, with the mud practicallyconcealed from view."Dr. Walter P. Taylor (1912) says that, in northern Nevada, "nestswere found on the ground and at various heights up to six feet aboveit, and were located in willow thickets, wild-rose bushes, sage-brush,quaking aspens, poplars (at Big Creek Ranch) and limber pines."Various other species of pines, spruces, and firs, as well as a varietyof deciduous trees, have been occupied as nesting sites in other sections.Joseph Mailliard (1930) had an opportunity to watch all the hap-penings at a robin's nest within 10 feet of his office window and pub-lished a full account of what took place from the building of the nestuntil the young left, to which the reader is referred. The nest wasbuilt in six days.Eggs.?The western robin is said to lay three to six eggs; threeseems to be a commoner number than four, and the larger numbersare very rare. The eggs are indistinguishable from those of the eas-tern robin. The measurements of 40 eggs in the United StatesNational Museum average 29.2 by 20.7 millimeters; the eggs showingthe four extremes measure 32.5 by 20.3, 30.9 by 22.4, and 23.4 by17.3 millimeters.Young.?In the nest watched by Air. Mailliard (1930) incubationwas performed entirely by the female; this lasted for 14 days, duringwhich time she left the nest only occasionally for 15 or 20 minutes
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at a time. The young were fed by both sexes, but mainly by thefemale, and left the nest in about two weeks. The young seemed tobe troubled by some insect pest, so Mr. Mailliard tied a can to a longstick and sprinkled insect powder over the nest, after which the youngseemed to be quieter.Mrs. Wheelock (1904) asserts that the young are fed by regurgi-tation for the first four days and that by the fifth day "earthwormsare given the nestlings after being broken into small mouthfuls, and,as the days go by, these worms as well as large insects are given whole."James L. Ortega (1926) saw a robin apparently carrying water toits young on a very hot day, 100? in the shade. "It took a few swal-lows of water, then suddenly dipped its bill in the water and flew upinto an acacia tree nearby. There its nest was situated, containingyoung robins. It didn't pause in its flight but flew straight to thenest, and I believe that it was carrying water to its young. It maderepeated trips from the nest to the water pan, always flying rapidlyand straight to the nest. However, on returning to the water it flewmore slowly."Grinnell and Storer (1924) relate the following incident:A robin was seen to fly away from its nest nearby carrying in its bill somethingwhich looked like a mouse dangling by the tail. The bird happened to drop theobject within the camp precincts and it proved to be a juvenile robin (withfeathers still in the sheaths) . The old robin had obtained a large piece of liverfrom a pile of discarded mammal bodies and had carried this material to theyoungster as food. When the young bird had swallowed as much of the liver asit could hold, a portion still protruding [sic] from its mouth. The parent, in hasteto clean the nest, had picked up the free end of the piece of liver, not appreciatingthe fact that the youngster had swallowed the other end, and had carried both theliver and the young robin out of the nest.Bailey and Niedrach (1936) report two instances of western robinsand house finches using the same nest. "In May, 1934, we wereinformed that House Finches were feeding young robins in a nest on afront porch in east Denver, Colorado. On investigation we foundfour half-grown robins, two newly hatched finches and four finch eggs.There were two female finches apparently with the same mate, andthe three finches and the two adult robins fed the young regularly.Unfortunately, however, the large robins smothered their small nestmates. We did not determine whether the four remaining eggshatched. All three adult House Finches fed the young rooms in thenest, and after the young had left the nest." In the other instance,the nest was on the back porch of Dr. Bailey's house, and here, too,the adult robins and the adult finches fed the young robins, thoughthere was no evidence that the pair of finches had laid eggs in the nest.Like the eastern robin, the western bird probably raises two broodsin a season, and perhaps often three. J. Hooper Bowles (1927) has
WESTERN ROBIN 57
on two occasions known this robin to raise three broods; and oncehe saw three broods raised in the same nest, near Tacoma, Wash.This nest contained four well-grown young on May 20, three well-incubated eggs on June 12, and two new eggs on July 10. The threesets of young were apparently raised successfully, as the nest wasfrequently visited. The male always used the same singing perchnear the nest; and the female, at first wild and noisy, became so tamethat she had to be lifted off the nest.Food.?The western robin eats the same kinds of food as the easternrobin, bur, naturally it includes many different species of insects,berries, and fruits. Professor Beal (1907), in his study of the foodof California robins, had the stomachs of only 71 birds, collected inthe winter months from Novembei to April, inclusive. He foundthat, for the three winter months, the eastern robin eats 18 percent ofanimal food and 82 percent of vegetable; whereas the western birdeats 22 percent animal and 78 percent vegetable food during the sameperiod, more insects being available on the Pacific coast than in theEast at that season. Beetles, which amounted to 54 percent of thewhole food in April, amounted to 13 percent for the six months.Caterpillars came next in importance, over 4 percent, and the re-mainder consisted of various insects and a few angleworms.E. K. Kalmbach (1914) gives a better idea of the summer food ofthe robin, based on the examination of many stomachs collected inUtah during the months of April, May, June, and July. A largeshare of the food (14 percent) consisted of the destructive alfalfaweevil. Out of 45 April birds, 28 had eaten adults of this weeviland three others showed traces of it. "Caterpillars, many of whichwere cutworms, were taken with almost as great avidity as the weevil,occurring in 27 stomachs, but the larger size of these insects resultedin a much higher percentage, 23.24. One stomach contained atleast 90 young caterpillars. Click beetles (Elateridae) and theirlarvae, wireworms, were found in 18 stomachs and amounted to 11.10percent of the contents. One bird had eaten no less than 5 adultsand 40 larvae of Limonius occidentalis. The other important ele-ments of the animal food were earthworms (8.68 percent), flies(5.97), dung beetles (Scarabaeidae) (5.70), and ground beetles (3.97)."During June, 17 stomachs contained 23.77 percent alfalfa weevils.One bird "destroyed 2 adults and 253 larvae, and the other 3 adultsand about 241 larvae; the latter composed 80 percent of the food."The examination of 18 robins collected in July showed a falling offin the number of these weevils eaten, but one stomach contained 2adults and about 220 larvae. Caterpillars amounted to 37.72 per-cent, and earthworms made up nearly a fifth of the food.I have often been asked whether a robin sees, or hears, or feels the792825?49 5
58 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMworm, as we see it cocking its head to one side, then taking a few stepsforward and extracting the unsuspecting worm from its burrow.Probably all three senses are used at different times, but I shouldthink that eyesight might be the most important one. Claude T.Barnes tells me that he watched a robin feeding on a lawn where therewas an incessant din of street cars and automobiles passing nearby,and it seemed as if the bird could not possibly hear the slight noisemade by the worm.Other items of animal food have been reported. Mrs. Bailey (1902)adds crickets and grasshoppers to the list of insects taken. Aretas A.Saunders (1916) saw a robin eating butterflies, which it swallowedwings and all; there were two species at a wet place, one yellow andblack and the other cream color and black; he watched it for sometime and "noticed that the yellow butterflies were the only ones eaten,although the others outnumbered them almost three to one." CharlesW. Michael (1934) saw numbers of robins feeding on stranded fishat Mirror Lake, Yosemite, and says: "I saw the long isolated arm ofthe lake go dry, and I saw thousands of trout fry perish. * * *Scattered along the margin of the brown pool, feeding on the mud flatslike a company of sandpipers, were at times as many as nineteenrobins. Occasionally a spotted robin would plunge in belly-deep tocapture a fish. The old birds were content to stand on the shore andto pluck their fish when they came into shallow water. The fish takenby the robins were about two inches long. These fish they wouldtoss out on the beach, mangle with their bill, beat on the ground, andotherwise soften before attempting to swallow. One robin was seento capture and to consume four fish."Mr. Rathbun mentions in his notes that the western robin eats thecoddling moth and its larva, locusts, spiders, and snails.During fall and winter the greater part of the robin's food consistsof wild fruits and berries. Dawson (1923) writes: "The madronatree (Arbutus menziesii) often fruits in such abundance that hordesof Robins can thrive upon it throughout the winter. Christmasberries (Heteromeles arbutifolia) are another staple of winter fare, whilehaws, service berries, cascara berries, and all available representativesof the genera Rhus, Prunus, Cornus, Pyrus, Celtis, Juniperus, and adozen others, furnish their quota." On March 7, 1929, the camphor-trees in front of my house in Pasadena were alive with robins feastingon the profusion of black berries.Claude T. Barnes writes to me: "Last year I planted along my backfence that vigorous climber known as the wild mockcucumber, or wildbalsamapple (Echinocystis lobata). Its dried leaves and egg-shaped,prickly fruit still drape the fence in midwinter. Today (February 9,1939), in the midst of one of the worst blizzards Salt Lake City has
\ WESTERN ROBIN 59had in three years, robins were feeding on the vine. Each would fly-to a seed pod, hover over it, like a hummingbird, peck until the seedsbegan to run, and then flutter below to pick the fallen seeds from thesnow. No bird that I observed hovered in midair for more than 4seconds. One bird performed the same feat in pecking somethingfrom an English ivy growing on the house wall."Mr. Mailliard (1930) found seeds of the English ivy in the nest hewas watching and others have reported them as eaten by the robin.Other berries reported by others are blueberries, elderberries, coffeeberries, mistletoe berries, manzanita berries and the berries of thepeppertree, and chokecherries. Though the eastern robins eat a fewseeds of the poison-ivy, and thus help to spread that noxious vine,Professor Beal (1915a) says that the seeds of the California poison-oak(Rhus diversiloba) were not found in the stomachs of west-coast robins,which is much to then credit; this is rather remarkable, as the poison-oak is one of the most abundant shrubs in California and as the robinsfeed freely on other species of Rhus.Professor Beal (1907) says that from November onward the bulk ofthe vegetable food was cultivated fruit, "grapes in 5 stomachs, figsin 3, prunes in 2, pear, apple, and black berries in 1 each." Thesewere, at that season, waste fruit that had not been gathered. He thengoes on to say: "From the foregoing the robin would not appear to domuch damage, or at least not more than is amply paid for by theinsects it destroys. But, unfortunately, more is to be said about itsfood habits, which does not redound so much to its credit. In certainyears when their customary food is scarce, robins appear in the valleysin immense numbers, and wherever there are olives they eat them soeagerly and persistently that the loss is often serious and occasionallydisastrous. Sometimes, indeed, it is only by the most strenuousefforts, with considerable outlay of labor and money, that any partof the crop can be saved. Fortunately, such extensive damage is notdone every year, although here and there the olive crop may suffer."In some cases it was necessary to employ men with shotguns and keepthem constantly firing, in order to save more than 50 percent of theolives. Some of the birds shot had as many as six olives in the crop.Howard L. Cogswell tells me that early in spring the robins "taketoll from the many red decorative berry bushes (Pyracantha, Coto-neaster, Eugenia, etc.), which, however, remain practically untouchedas long as the camphor berries last."Behavior.?There does not seem to be anything in the behavior ofthe western robin that is peculiar to this subspecies. Mr. Kathbuntells me that he has, on numerous occasions, tested the speed of thisrobin in ordinary undisturbed flight, and found it to vary from 25to 28 miles an hour; once a test showed 30.
60 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMHarold S. Gilbert (MS.) tells the following interesting story: "Noth-ing more startling in a bird way ever happened to me than during adrill by the Hawaiian police (June 17, 1936), when one of their numbercame out and did a whistling stunt. There was an audience of some25,000 that witnessed the show in the Multnomah Stadium; and soonafter the man began to whistle, about IIP. M., a robin came down outof the darkness onto the field within a few feet of the whistler (the fieldwas lighted by high-powered flood-lights), and sang as long as thewhistling continued. Many of us thought it was a prearranged stunt,but as soon as the whistling was over, the robin flew away into the dark-ness."Mr. Rathbun (MS.) relates the following: "While standing in theroad our attention was drawn to the actions of a male robin that wasspringing about on the roadway. While we watched, the bird sud-denly took wing, holding in its beak some object which proved to bea small snake. We could easily see the snake writhe about, and attimes it appeared to have part of its length around the body of itscaptor. The robin, not meeting with success in its attempt to carryoff the snake, dropped it on the road, then eyed it for a moment,meanwhile cocking its head first on one side and then on the other,as if puzzled by the actions of its prey. But the instant the snakeattempted to crawl away, the robin again seized it with the sameresults as before. This action on the part of the bird took place fourtimes; it then gave up its attempt to take the snake and flew away.We picked up the snake, which proved to be a western garter, about 8inches in length. It was to all appearances uninjured, none the worsefor its experience."Robin roosts occur in the West as well as in the East and undersimilar circumstances. L. Ph. Bolander, Jr. (1932), gives an interest-ing account of a large winter roost in Lakeside Park, Oakland, Calif.,in which he estimated that there were 165,000 birds. Space will notpermit including much of his account here, but the following paragraphis too interesting to omit:Another interesting observation connected with worm pulling by the robins isthe action of the gulls. I observed a Glaucous-winged Gull, three CaliforniaGulls and one Ring-billed Gull standing on the grass plot amid about eighty robins.Every time a robin would start pulling out a worm a gull would make a run towardhim. Of course the robin would let go of the worm and then the gull would gobbleit up! This was repeated again and again; but I could not determine whether theRing-billed Gull followed this practice, as it left soon after I arrived on the scene.Sometimes the worm would come out quickly enough for the robin to get it downbefore the gull could get on the job. If the worm was too big for the robin toswallow immediately the gull would pursue it, but the robin usually dived undera protecting oak tree or madrone. The gull would not follow there.
WESTERN ROBIN 61Voice.?The song of the western robin is evidently no different fromthat of its eastern relative, but the song period seems to be of somewhatshorter duration. Mr. Rathbun writes to me: "By about the middleof July the robin no longer sings near the close of day, except on rareoccasions. And this evening song began to shorten in the latter partof June. It commences to come into full song early in March, butsnatches of song are given on sunny days in February." Mr. Saunders(MS.) says that his notes show that the period of song in Montana isshorter than in the East, "the birds beginning to sing early in April,or the last few days of March, and ceasing to sing late in July, ratherthan August."Enemies.?J. K. Jensen (1925) saw young robins robbed of the theirfood and tells this story about it:During the latter half of May, 1925 a pair of Robins built a nest in a locust treein front of my house. Four eggs were laid and in due season four young appeared.The parent birds have since been busy feeding the young. A pair of EnglishSparrows discovered the Robin's nest and saw the process of feeding. Now forabout two weeks the Sparrows have been watching the Robins closely, and when-ever one of them flies down on the lawn in search of food for the young the Spar-rows will follow it. As soon as the Robin captures a grasshopper or a worm andflies to the nest, the Sparrows will follow and alight on the rim opposite the Robin.As soon as the Robin has placed the food in the open bill of one of the youngsters,one of the Sparrows reaches over and pulls the food out and flies away to a quietplace to devour it.Jays are among the worst enemies of robins, as well as of otherbirds, as they craftily and persistently rob the nests of eggs or young.Susan M. Kane (1924) gives the following account of a spirited battlein which the jay was the loser:For several days a Steller's Jay had been pestering a Robin sitting on hernest in a bush against the corner of the house. The nest was in full view of awindow at which I often worked. The Jay had employed every ruse to get thebird's eggs. He watched for her absence; slipped upon her to frighten her off;sounded alarms; engaged the male in skirmishes. These were but a few of hispernicious tactics to further his aims. I missed his final move but the Robindid not. There was a cry of distress from the Robin and when I looked up theJay's toes were already in the air and contracting. The Robin had made amaster thrust. Its beak had penetrated the Jay's head in a vulnerable spot,causing instant death.But death for the villain did not satisfy the Robin. She shrilled for her mateagain and again as repeatedly she pounced upon the fallen bird and pommeledhim with beak and claw. The mate must have been gallivanting about thecountry for it seemed every other bird on the campus was at the scene before hearrived. When he did come it was in hot haste and with wild cries. He leapedinto the fray. At times the birds fought by leaping into the air striking withbeak and wing and pouncing with feet as a barn-yard cock fights. More oftenthe attack was made from low branches of trees to which they flew and thenstruck with a flying dash. The battleground was sloping. Up and down the
62 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMincline they kicked and tossed that brilliant brigand until his plumage was insad array.Fall and winter.?Some of the fall and winter movements andhabits have been referred to above. Grinnell and Storer (1924)write: "After the young are grown, family parties are to be seen fora while. As soon as the young are capable of getting their livingindependently they gather into flocks. Meanwhile the adults go offby themselves and remain sequestered until completion of theirannual molt. Then, in late September, the robins, without regardto sex or age, gather into mixed flocks and, for the most part, spendthe winter in such gatherings. * * * Only a few venturesomerobins continue in the mountains above the 3000-foot level duringthe Sierran winter."W. E. D. Scott (18S8) says of the winter range of the westernrobin in Arizona: "This form of the Robin I found to be a regularfall, winter, and early spring resident in the Catalinas, altitude 3500to 6000 feet. They arrive here in the fall about November 1, andare soon quite common in small flocks or companies. All through thewinter they are more or less common, but towards spring their num-bers seem to be very considerably increased, and they are quitecommon until late in March, and are to be seen sparingly duringthe first week in April."There is plenty of evidence that western robins congregate inenormous numbers in winter on favorable feeding grounds, as well asin winter roosts, such as that mentioned by Mr. Bolander (1932) atOakland, which he estimated to contain 165,000 birds. John B.Price (1933) made some interesting observations on the winter feedingterritories of western robins, of which he writes:Two semi-albino robins were observed during the winter season at Stanford Uni-versity, California. One was observed daily on the same lawn from January 19 toFebruary 18 with the exception of three days. The other was observed on an-other lawn from February 12 to February 18. Each night they flew away (in allprobability four or five miles) to roost and returned to the same small areas beforesunrise the next day. This suggests that each individual robin in a flock may haveits own individual territory during the winter season. [The bird that he calledWhite-head] was always on the Jordan Hall lawn, and during the month of obser-vation it was never once seen on the neighboring lawn in front of the PsychologyBuilding although about fifty other robins regularly foraged there. Furthermore,it was always seen in the middle portion of the lawn, occasionally going into thebordering bushes. This feeding territory had an area of about 400 square yardsand the bird was never observed to feed elsewhere. * * *The White-headed robin did not have exclusive possession of its portion of thelawn. A few other robins fed there but they were never very close together. Ifanother robin approached too closely, White-head would drive it a few yardsfarther on. On February 12 instead of the dozen or so there before, over fifty
WESTERN ROBIN 63
robins were seen on the Jordan Hall east lawn. The newcomers may have beenpreviously feeding on berries in the nearby oval and moved to the lawn when theberries were exhausted. Many of the newcomers were in White-head's territoryand it was very vigorous in combating them. During a three-minute interval inthe late afternoon it was observed to combat ten times. Usually the opponentwould retreat a short distance as soon as White-head rushed at it; sometimes bothflew up in combat; but in every case White-head was successful. In a few daysthe number of robins on the Jordan Hall east lawn was once more only about adozen.His experience with the other robin, "White-tail," was similar. Itwas not observed until February 12 but may have been there beforethat; it had a smaller territory, about 300 square yards; it was drivenout of another small lawn that was being defended by a normal robinand forced to return to its own territory.Howard L. Cogswell, of Pasadena, Calif., writes to me: "Overmuch of the valley area robins flock with cedar waxwings, which seemto prefer much the same food; a dozen or so robins to a hundredwaxwings is about the usual proportioD. In some localities, though,there are regular robin roosts. One such in a eucalyptus grove atthe base of the Santa Monica Mountains, near North Hollywood,was frequented by hundreds of birds each night during the winter of1940-41, according to my friend Arthur Berry. On December 27,1942, when I visited this spot at dusk, small flocks of robins cameflying over at a height of about 250 feet. As they were directly overthe trees, several groups half closed their wings and tumbled precipi-tously into the thickest of the topmost branches, immediately ceasirjgtheir call notes, which had been given by the whole flock flying over."Dr. Helmuth O. Wagner tells me that the robins from the northarrive in the vicinity of Mexico City during the first part of October,mostly in flocks of 10 to 30 birds. They frequent the bushy forestsof oaks, pines, and cypresses, preferring the open forests. The flocksare not compact, and, if they are frightened, one after another of thebirds flies away. Sometimes, they are in berry-bearing trees, to-gether with Ptilogonys cinereus, which are living in fixed flocks andare coming to the same trees for berries. In December, or later, if itis very dry, you will see more single birds, or flocks of three or four,in the cornfields near the borders of the forests, looking for insects orother food. At all times they are very shy, and if they see anyonethey fly into the bushes on the borders, or into the high pines of theforests. So far as it is possible to identify them, the same flocksremain all winter within a fixed area. In the summer of 1935 heobserved a flock of 10 birds, more or less, in a forest of pines and liquid-ambar at 1,700 meters in the mountains of Chiapas.
64 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMTURDUS MIGRATORIUS NIGRIDEUS Aldrich and NuttBLACK-BACKED ROBINHABITSIn naming this northeastern subspecies, Aldrich and Nutt (1939)give its subspecific characters as "nearest Turdus migratorius migra-torius, but darker throughout. Upper parts: gray areas darker, moreblackish and black areas more extensive; wings and tail more blackish,back much darker, more blackish mouse gray, in males gray moreor less completely obscured by an extension posteriorly of the blackof the head. Lower parts: More deeply colored, hazel rather thancinnamon rufous, with white areas less extensive and black areasmore extensive; in male, black streaks of throat tend to coalescelaterally and posteriorly; gray areas of under tail-coverts and undersurface of tail darker; black spots on breast of juvenile specimenslarger, tending to coalesce anteriorly."Of its geographical distribution, they say: "Breeds in Newfound-land. South in winter to eastern Canada and the eastern UnitedStates." Specimens have been taken from Nova Scotia, Wolfville,April 20; New York, Shelter Island, March 28; Ohio, GeaugaCounty, March 22 and April 18. "The robin is apparently partiallya permanent resident in Newfoundland since natives report them tobe common about St. John's in the winter months."In a later note, Dr. Aldrich (1945) writes: "In view of the recentextension of the known breeding range of Turdus migratorius nigrideusacross the Straits of Belle Isle from Newfoundland to the coastof Labrador (Peters and Burleigh, Auk, 61 : 472, 1944) it would seemto be of interest to put on record additional material that has recentlycome to my attention. In the United States National Museum thereare two adult male breeding specimens from Chimo, northern Quebec.These birds, taken by L. M. Turner on May 27 and June 8, 1884, arealmost typical nigrideus and extend the breeding range of the Black-backed Robin considerably to the northwest. This discovery makesless surprising the occurrence of migrants from as far west as Illinoisand Michigan." In the same note he records identified specimensfrom as far south as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, NorthCarolina, and South Carolina.Aldrich and Nutt say that this robin is an abundant breedingbird on the Avalon Peninsula in eastern Newfoundland, where thetype was taken, "but is exceedingly wary as compared with its Ohiorelatives. The noisy and precipitous departure of robins while theobserver is still as much as 100 yards away is characteristic of birdsof that region."On the west coast of Newfoundland, Ludlow Griscom (1926) found
BLACK-BACKED ROBIN 65this robin "almost ubiquitous, but common only near dwellings andcleared land." In his unpublished manuscript on the birds of Labradorand Ungava, Lucien M. Turner reports it as common or abundantall along the east coast of Labrador, but not beyond Nakvak, andespecially numerous about Fort Chimo, Ungava.Dr. Oliver L. Austin, Jr. (1932), calls it "a common summer residentnorth to the tree line, occasionally straying farther north shortly afterthe breeding season." He says that it "is seldom seen north of Nain,where it breeds commonly about the settlement. It is usually tobe found in the small-tree growth, but comes out into the barrencoastal zone to build its nest in abandoned dwellings and under thecod-flakes."Spring.?According to L. M. Turner (MS.), the robins arrive atFort Chimo from the 9th to the 13th of May. "The first individualis always a male who sings suspiciously low, as if afraid he had cometoo early. In a day or two after the arrival of the first male will beseen a few females and as many males. I have reason to suspect thatthey have already paired before reaching this locality, as the labor ofnidification begins immediately, and the first nest was obtained Jane 5,containing two eggs. * * * At the date of arrival the birdsfrequently find that several inches of snow have yet to fall and coverthe ground for three or four days at a time, or that a cold spell comesand freezes the ground for several days and thus prevents the birdsfrom procuring mud with which to stiffen their nests."Nesting.?He says: "The nest of the robin is placed at variousdistances from the ground and even in the midst of an elevated massof sphagnum rising round a clump of bushes. Many of the nests areremarkable for their great bulk and when just secured have a greatweight from the thick mud walls."Townsend and Allen (1907) found a nest at Rigolet on July 18,containing three eggs. "It was placed about seven feet up in a spruce,near the houses of the Hudson's Bay company's post, and was con-structed of twigs, lichens, and mud, lined with finer material."Dr. Austin (1932) says: "The Robins nest persistently under theBattle Harbor flake. I have found nests there on numerous occasions,but the birds are seldom successful with their broods, for the combina-tion of small boys and husky dogs is deadly."Mr. Griscom (1926) says that in the fishing villages along theStraits of Belle Isle, "it nested in the racks for drying fish, on top offences, under the wharves, and other unlikely places. A few indi-viduals nest in the stunted spruces on the Blomidon tableland."Evidently the nests, and to some extent the nesting sites, aresimilar to those of our familiar eastern robin, with due allowance madefor the difference in environment. The eggs of the two races are
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apparently practically indistinguishable. Mr. Turner (MS.) inferredthat incubation begins before the set is complete.He says further: "I found nothing in their habits to differ fromtheir actions in other localities. Their food consists of insects duringthe breeding season; and in the earliest days of their arrival theysubsist principally on the berries of Empetrum nigrum and Vaccinium,which were preserved by the frost during the winter. When theberries ripen in the fall, these birds apparently eat nothing else.During the early days of June and before it was possible for youngbirds to be hatched, I frequently observed male robins searching nearmy house for worms and other food. During these times I never sawa female, yet the male birds secured their beaks full of food and flewaway with it, leading me to conclude that the food was destined forthe females which were sitting at that particular time."He observed this robin at Fort Chimo as late as October 17 duringthe fall of 1882. TURDUS CONFINIS BairdSAN LUCAS ROBINHABITSThe San Lucas robin is a beautiful pale edition of our familiar robins,clad in the softest, blended colors. The upperparts are plain "smokegray" or "mouse gray" ; there is no black or even blackish on the head,and the breast is creamy buff or creamy white, instead of the rich
"cinnamon-rufous" so characteristic of our northern birds. We maymiss the rich colors, but there is no mistaking it as a robin.The type specimen was collected by Xantus at Todos Santos, inthe Cape region of Lower California, during the summer of 1860.This specimen, still in the United States National Museum, remainedunique for over 20 years. During the winter of 1882 and 1883, LymanBelding (1884) explored the mountains of the Cape region and ob-tained two more specimens of this robin, which were deposited in theNational Museum. He writes:The most important localities visited were in the Victoria Mountains [now knownas the Sierra de la Laguna], which were probably never previously explored byany collector. I ascended these mountains by three different trails on as manydifferent spurs. The trail leading to Laguna is the longest, highest, and possiblythe worst; however, I suppose either of them would be considered impassable inany other country than Mexico. On this trail an altitude of about 5,000 feetwas reached. From an altitude of about 3,500 feet and upward the flora waspartly that of the temperate zone.This region is well watered and well timbered with medium-sized oaks andpines, the latter constituting about a tenth of the forest, being distributed un-evenly among the oaks. Bunch grass was everywhere abundant. * * * Uponmeeting the first pines, I discovered almost simultaneously the long sought Cape
SAN LUCAS ROBIN 67Robin (Merula confinis Baird), the beautiful new Snowbird {Junco bairdi), andother interesting species. * * * Only about a dozen Cape Robins were seen,and these were all on the Laguna trail. About half were found singly, one aslow as 2,500 feet above sea level.Mr. Cipriano Fisher, an American, who had often hunted deer at Laguna, in-formed me that Robins were sometimes abundant there. This may be the casewhen the berries of the California Holly (Heteromeles) , which grows abundantlyin the neighborhood, are ripe. * * * The type specimen, shot by Xantusat Todos Santos in summer, may have been a straggler from the mountains.During 1887 M. Abbott Frazar spent about nine months in LowerCalifornia, collecting for William Brewster, and sent him over 150specimens of this hitherto rare robin. Mr. Brewster (1902) writes:Mr. Frazar was the next to meet the St. Lucas Robin in its native haunts.He found it first on the Sierra de la Laguna, during his ascent of this mountainon April 26, 1887. It was common at this date, and by the end of May, exceed-ingly abundant, for its numbers continued to increase during nearly the whole ofMr. Frazar's stay, but up to the time of his departure (June 9) , it was invariablyseen in flocks, and none of the many specimens examined showed any indicationsthat their breeding season was at hand. The people living on the mountainasserted that the birds do not lay before July. * * *During his second visit to La Laguna, Mr. Frazar saw in all only ten St. LucasRobins,?one on November 28, two on November 30, one on December 1, andsix on December 2. This led him to conclude that most of them leave the moun-tains in winter, a supposition speedily confirmed, for about two weeks later(December 18-25) he found them abundant at San Jose del Rancho. At thisplace a few breed, also, for three were seen during July, and one of them, a female,shot on the 27th, was incubating, and must have had a nest and eggs somewherein the immediate neighborhood.
"The St. Lucas Robin," Brewster continues, "is evidently one ofthe most characteristic species of the Cape Fauna, for it does notrange even so far to the northward as La Paz, and, according to Mr.Bryant, is unknown to the people living in the central and northernportions of the Peninsula/' This statement is correct, so far as Iknow today, but Brewster then goes on to cite the record of a specimen,supposed to have been taken by W. Otto Emerson at Haywards,Calif. This record had long stood unchallenged in the literature,until the curiosity of that critical student of California ornithology,Dr. Joseph Grinnell, was sufficiently aroused to prompt him to examinethe specimen. After a critical examination and comparison withpertinent material, he and Mr. Emerson both agreed that it was, inall probability, merely an extremely pale individual of a femalewestern robin (see Condor, vol. 10, pp. 238-239).Nesting.?''Mr. Frazar found a number of old nests which wereconstructed precisely like those of the common Robin, and placed insimilar situations" (Brewster, 1902). J. Stuart Rowley was in theSierra de la Laguna during the last few days of May and the first partof June 1933, and says in his notes that "these pale-colored robins
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were reasonably abundant throughout the higher mountain area.At this time they were just commencing to nest and only one set ofeggs was taken, consisting of three eggs."Col. John E. Thayer (1911) seems to have published the first de-scription of the nest and eggs of the San Lucas robin. His collector,Wilmot W. Brown, sent him two sets of three eggs each with thenests. They were taken in the Sierra de la Laguna on July 5, 1910.One was placed "in an Oak tree at the juncture of a limb with thetrunk, about 40 feet from the ground." The other was placed "inan Oak, on a horizontal limb, about thirty feet from the ground.* * * The two nests are fine specimens. They are built of driedgrass, weed stalks and lichens, neatly held together with mud. * * *Both these nests are much better built than any Robin's nest I haveever seen."I have examined these two nests and can find no evidence of mudin their construction, except in the bases where there is some muddymoss and mud picked up with the decayed rubbish used as foundations;there is no mud visible in the sides or rims, as usually the case withnorthern robins' nests. The same is true of the two nests referredto below.The dimensions of Thayer's nests are approximately as follows:Height, 4 inches; outside diameter, 5 inches; inner diameter, 3%inches; inside depth, 2){ inches.Another nest, in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, was takenby Mr. Brown in the same locality on June 28, 1913; it was placednear the end of an oak branch 40 feet above ground; this is a beautifulnest, mainly like the others in construction, but larger and moreelaborate; the foundation is a great mass of coarse and fine lichens,coarse and woody weed stems, and the flower stalks of everlasting,which are carried up into the rim of the nest; it is neatly lined, as arethe others, with very fine yellow grasses; it measures 6% by 7 inchesin outside diameter, and the inner cavity is 3% inches in diameter.There is a nest of the San Lucas robin, in my collection in Washing-ton, that was taken by Mr. Brown on June 13, 1912, at 6,000 feetaltitude in the Sierra de la Laguna; it was placed near the end of abranch of a mountain oak, about 20 feet from the ground; it is similarin construction to those described above.Eggs.?All the nests referred to above contained three eggs, whichseems to be the usual number for the San Lucas robin. These aremuch like the eggs of the eastern robin, varying in shape from ovateto elongate-ovate, with a tendency to be somewhat pointed; they areonly slightly glossy.The color does not vary much from "pale Nile blue," and there areno signs of markings. The measurements of 19 eggs average 30.3 by
SAN LUCAS ROBIN1 6920.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 33.0by 20.8, 28.3 by 22.1, and 28.5 by 19.1 millimeters.Plumages.?Strangely enough, neither Mr. Frazar nor Mr. Brownever collected any young birds, though they took close to 200 adults.It is a pity that collectors neglect to take immature or molting birds,which are always scarce in collections and are exceedingly interestingto students of plumages and often indicate relationships. Fortunately,I have in my collection a young male San Lucas robin in juvenalplumage, taken by Chester C. Lamb in the Laguna Valley, at 6,000feet, on July 29, 1929, 69 years after the discovery of the species. Itis about half grown, but fully feathered on the body, with a veryshort tail. The upperparts are similar to those of the eastern robin,but paler; the pileum is "olive-brown," and the back is only slightlypaler; the light spots on the back are larger and a paler buff than in theeastern bird ; there is much more white on the underparts, where theextensive rufous of our familiar robin is replaced by a very limitedsuffusion of "pinkish buff" on the chest, sides, and flanks; the duskyspotting on the underparts is about the same as in our bird, but thewhite tips of the outer tail feathers are very narrow.In all the large series I have examined I could not find one moltingbird. Most of the specimens are in the pale, faded nuptial plumage,in which the underparts are pale "cream-buff" or paler, mixed with alarge amount of dull white, sometimes nearly all white; I find birdsin this plumage through August and up to September 2, mostly inworn condition.There are no birds in the series that were taken late in Septemberor in October. But from November 10 and through December wefind birds in fresh autumnal plumage, in which the underparts areclear, rich "ochraceous-buff" or "chamois"; these are probably falladults. The inference is that the postnuptial molt of adults, andprobably the postjuvenal molt of young birds, are accomplished inSeptember and October.In the series are many fall birds and some spring birds that showmore or less ashy clouding or obscure spotting on the chest, in somecases forming an almost solid pectoral band. Mr. Brewster (1902)was probably correct in suggesting, in his extensive remarks on theirplumages, that this and the dark bill, which is not always correlatedwith the ashy clouding, are signs of immaturity. If this idea is thecorrect one, it means that young birds can usually be recognized bythese characters all through their first year and do not assume thefully adult plumage until their second fall.Voice.?Mr. Brewster (1902) quotes from Mr. Frazar's notes:"The song resembles that of the eastern robin, but is weaker and
70 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMless distinct, reminding one of the efforts of a young bird just learningto sing. I did not hear a single loud, clear note."Mr. Rowley says in his notes: "This species has the same pleasinghabit of singing at dusk, as do the robins of the United States, and itis a toss-up between this species and the San Lucas western flycatcheras to which bird sings the latest into the evening darkness."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The Cape region of Lower California.Breeding range.?The San Lucas robin is nonmigratory and isconfined to the Cape region of Lower California, chiefly in the moun-tains but found also in the lowlands. The range extends north toTodos Santos and Las Lagunas on the coasts and possibly a littlefarther in the interior as one record reads "road to Triunfo."Egg dates.?Lower California: 15 records, April 6 to August 6;8 records, June 13 to June 29, indicating the height of the season.TURDUS MERULA MERULA LinnaeusEUROPEAN BLACKBIRDContributed by Bernard William TuckerHABITSThe claim of the European blackbird to a place on the Americanlist rested for some years on a solitary specimen from Sydproven nearthe southern tip of Greenland, a short distance up the west coast(Helms and Schi0ler, 1917). It was a young male in the first winterplumage, with faint gray-brown edgings to many of the feathers andas yet showing no yellow on the bill. Since the date of this occurrencethe species has been met with on the northeast coast. Pedersen (1930)records that he was brought a blackbird by a Greenlander, who hadshot it from a flight of snow buntings at Cape Tobin on April 8, 1928,and C. G. and E. G. Bird (1941) record that no less than six wereseen by K. Knudsen on Bass Rock on November 22, 1922, followinga northeasterly blizzard which lasted six days. He shot two andskinned them, but they were lost by shipwreck.There is also extant a specimen of the blackbird taken many yearsago in California, but there is reason to believe that this was an intro-duced example. Its somewhat curious history was recorded by TracyI. Storer in The Condor (1923):For a number of years there has reposed in the collection of the Museum ofVertebrate Zoology a dark plumaged thrush which was thought by some peopleto be merely a melanistic example of the Western Robin. In fact, the writer hadso accepted the bird, and had used it on two or three occasions in demonstratingcolor abnormalities to classes in vertebrate zoology, contrasting it with an almost
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complete albino Robin of undoubted identity. But a recent critical study, madeat the suggestion of Mr. H. S. Swarth, showed that the bird was not a WesternRobin at all. On the presumption that the bird in question was an individualwhich had strayed out of its normal path of migration, the descriptions and illus-trations of dark-colored thrushes in Central America and Eastern Asia containedin Seebohm's Monograph of the Turdidae were examined, but without revealingany species with which the specimen in hand might be linked. The bird was thensubmitted to Dr. Charles W. Richmond for comparison with the National Museummaterial and he identified it as a female English Blackbird, Planeslicus merula,(Linnaeus)
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The specimen in question was collected by F. O. Johnson at Oakland, California,on December 6, 1891. It came with the rest of the Johnson collection to theMuseum of Vertebrate Zoology and is now number 10688 of the bird collection.In an article published soon after its capture (,Zoe, III, 1892, pp. 115-116),Johnson described the bird, identifying it as a melanistic Robin (Merula migra-toria propinqua). He also gave the circumstances of capture and they are worthrecording in the present connection."* * * While pursuing a Townsend's Sparrow which had flown to the topof a tall growth of jasmine, I noticed on the opposite side of the bush a strangebird moping in the shade. It observed me just as I saw it, and hopped sluggishly toanother branch putting a bough between us. * * * My first impression wasthat it might be a catbird which had strayed from his rightful home. I crept up* * * and easily approached within twenty feet. It made no note and didnot pay the least attention to my maneuvers. When I killed it, I was still morepuzzled, for it was totally different from anything I had ever seen. It appearedmuch like some European thrush."Dr. Storer goes on to point out that a short time prior to the cap-ture of this bird there had been some activity in the importation ofEuropean song birds, including blackbirds, on the Pacific coast.Such an importation and release of 16 pairs of "black thrushes (Turdusmerula)" is recorded at Portland, Oreg., in May 1889. It seems notimpossible that the bird in question was one of these, which hadmigrated southward, or perhaps more probably it was the result ofsome other, unrecorded, introduction.In its habits and behavior, though not in its coloring, the blackbirdis in many ways a close counterpart of what an English writer mayperhaps be pardoned for calling the American robin, and the readerwill probably find in the description that follows a number of passagesthat could be applied without much alteration to the latter species.In England, the blackbird is one of the most familiar birds, wellknown owing to the distinctive appearance of the male, his fine song,and the partiality of the species for gardens. The male, with hisstriking glossy black plumage and orange-yellow bill, is one of thevery few birds which probably the least ornithologically inclinedcountry dweller knows by sight, though the brown female is lessgenerally recognized and often confused with the song thrush by theunobservant. It is a typical garden and shrubbery bird, and to a
72 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMbird lover an English lawn would seem hardly complete without itspair or more of blackbirds foraging for earthworms, for the species isone that spends much of its time, and gets much of its food, in theopen. Unfortunately, however, it does not confine its attentions toworms, and fruit growers would perhaps prefer to be without it.Apart from gardens it is found plentifully in open woodland wherethere are some bushes and undergrowth (it has been described asperhaps the most typical British woodland bird), in thickets andabout hedgerows, as well as in more open localities with some cover,such as rough hillsides, bushy commons, and the like. It is no doubtcommonest in cultivated, but not too intensively cultivated, districtswhere there are scattered woods, copses, and bushy places, but it isfound also in quite uncultivated country and, being an adaptablespecies, may be met with at times even on relatively small treelessislands, nesting on the ground in the shelter of rocks or in the meagercover of brambles or some stunted bush. In the Orkney Islands tothe north of Scotland, a change of habitat on a more considerablescale has recently been shown to have taken place. Here it is notonly found about woods and haunts of the more usual type, wherethese exist, but is "also characteristic of open fields and low-lyingmoorland away from all trees, bushes, gardens and rocks" (Lack, 1942).This has made it possible to colonize considerable areas in these north-ern isles which would otherwise have been closed to it. At the otherextreme it has also adapted itself successfully to life in the more so-phisticated surroundings of the parks and residential districts of thelarger towns, both of Britain and of the continent of Europe. Here,it must be admitted, its garden haunts, except for being interspersedamong houses, are not really so very different from its normal ones,but by no means all garden birds of the country can accommodatethemselves to town life.Being, as already remarked, a well-known and common Europeanbird, the blackbird has become the subject of a not inconsiderableliterature, yet there is still room for a more intensive study of its lifehistory and behavior, by no means all points of which are fully under-stood. Reference may be made here to a valuable recent study (Lack,1943) of the age attained by wild blackbirds, based on an analysis ofthe British banding returns. The author points out that strictly allthat the returns show is the average age of the very small percentageof banded birds found dead by human beings. "But there is noparticular reason to think that those adult birds found dead by humanbeings are on the average either older or younger than the adults inthe population as a whole." Leaving out of account banded birdsfound dead in the first two months after leaving the nest, which areconsidered for good reasons not to provide a fair sample of the popu-
EUROPEAN BLACKBIRD 73lation, it is found that the expectation of life of a first-year bird onAugust 1 is about 1.6 years. At the next August 1, it is about 1.9years, and, in contrast to the situation in a modern human population,it remains about the same in subsequent years up to the fifth, afterwhich the records are too few to be of value. The average life ofwild blackbirds is thus only about 8 percent of the potential ageof about 20 years indicated by records in captivity. This result maybe compared with the average span of 2)i years under favorable condi-tions established by Airs. Nice for the song sparrow and serves toemphasize how few wild birds?or at any rate small passerines
?
survive to die of old age.Territory.?The activities of the blackbird in spring present anumber of features of particular interest, but in spite of some notablerecent observations it is still not possible to give a completely roundedand satisfactory picture of the early stages of the breeding cycle ofthis common bird. The species is certainly territorial, though perhapsnot equally strongly so under all conditions. Lack and Light (1941)in a valuable, though incomplete, study, interrupted by war service,found that in Devonshire territories varied from about 1% to 2% acres.If an attempt was made to drive one out of its territory, it behavedin the manner characteristic of strongly territorial species, flyingin front of the observer till it reached the boundary, then refusingto go farther, and eventually flying back past the observer into thecenter of the territory.In February and March, males regularly patrolled their territories, takingshort nights with intervals for feeding and perching quietly, and usually theobserver was not long in the territory before the male came by on his round, thefemale often being in attendance.The owning male at once attacks any other male Blackbird trespassing inthe territory, and does not desist till the trespasser leaves. Probably the malealso drives out trespassing females, as some violent male-female chases wereseen * * *. But females were not attacked nearly so often as trespassingmales, and sometimes were apparently ignored.The authors found that "females certainly take much less part than males inthe defense of the spring territory," though chases, and even fights, betweenfemales do occur and there are certainly temperamental differences betweenindividuals.As with other territorial species, most encounters between males are settled bythreat-display * * *. On seeing an intruding male, the owning male fliestowards it and, if the intruder flies off pursues it out of the territory. But if theintruder stays put, the male docs not usually attack at once, but perches somefeet away and, with lowered and retracted head, approaches gradually andindirectly in a series of hops, runs or very short flights. This occurs both on theground and in the trees * * *. By the time the attacker is within a fewinches, the intruder usually departs. On three occasions when the intruder didnot retreat, the attacking male repeatedly snapped its beak open and closed.The bright orange-yellow of the beak and the inside of the mouth, and also of theeyelid, are then in contrast with the black plumage, and can perhaps be regarded792825?49 6
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as threat-colours. Except for this, the attacking male does not usually posture.But on two occasions the wings were flicked open and closed and the body jerked.Nearly always the bird keeps silent, but occasionally give a sibilant "seep" noteand on one occasion faint "chucking" accompanied the beak-opening. Com-paratively rarely does the intruder wait to be attacked, but this was seenoccasionally.Threat-display is also common between two resident males along the commonboundary of their territories, and is usually remarkably formalised and unexcited* * * #Of course territorial encounters are occasionally more serious, and there arerecords of one male killing another * * *. But * * * serious fights arerare, and probably occur chiefly when one male is trying to dispossess another ofits territory.The statement in Niethammer (1937) that choice of territory andpairing up take place at the same time as the beginning of the male'ssong or soon afterward is|certainly not correct in England. It isone of the peculiarities of the blackbird that it does not start to singimtil the majority have been paired and in occupation of territoriesfor some time. Just how long is at present a matter of uncertainty.Lack found pairs already formed in January and February and evenlate in December, and the late T. A. Coward, an excellent observerand author of by far the best of the smaller works on British birds(1920), stated that pairing begins in October and November. Heprobably had good grounds for this assertion, but unfortunately givesno details. The manner of staking out of territories and of pairformation still awaits elucidation. It will be understood that theobservations quoted in the present section refer to resident birds, butin the northern parts of its range the species is migratory.Courtship.?Although the blackbird is such a common Europeanspecies and so regularly frequents gardens it is nevertheless a shy bird,and it is but seldom that any courtship display or the act of coition isobserved. The most striking single feature of display, though not aconstant one, is the erection of the feathers of the rump, which givesthe bird a most peculiar appearance as it runs about in a somewhatcrouching posture with the tail usually fanned and depressed, anexpression of excitement which may also be observed in other typesof display and is common to both sexes. Several writers (Kirkman,1911, et al.) have described this odd erection of the rump feathers andthe present writer has also observed it. For the rest, the recordeddisplay actions show wide variation and conform to no well-definedpattern. This inconstancy of pattern is observable in the displayactions of a number of passerine species, which seem to be much lessstereotyped than in some types of birds. Perhaps such individuallyvariable and erratic posturings under the stress of nervous excitementrepresent the kind of raw material out of which the more set displayshave been evolved.
EUROPEAN BLACKBIRD 75Geyr (1933) saw the male after coition assume a striking posturewith the head stretched very steeply, but not quite vertically, upwardand the tail nearly vertical. The wings were strongly drooped andfluttered with a quick rhythm. Gamier (1934) observed a female ona low wall surrounded by bushes, where she was joined by a male, whichsettled on the wall singing softly, circled several times round her withtail fanned and depressed, wings slightly dropped and 'ruffled backfeathers', no doubt meaning the erection of the rump feathers alreadymentioned. Coition followed. Konig (1938) watched a male whichwas being followed and solicited by a female.f? The male had the headand body feathers ruffled and the bill wide open. Suddenly he turnedround so that both birds were facing each other. The female's billwas now wide open, but not so^wide as the male's. Both then ap-proached closer and remained thus until after a brief interval coitiontook place. Throughout a soft twittering was maintained. Thisseems a usual accompaniment of coition and of any preliminary pos-turing. It is described also by Antonius (1937), another observer whohas published a note on coition. In this case the female crouched withquivering wings in the usual solicitation posture of passerines, but hadthe bill directed almost vertically upward and wide open. The maletoo had the bill wide open and seemed to fondle the female's headfeathers with it. Otherwise there seem to have been no special pre-hminaries. A. W. Boyd (1941) has recorded coition as early asFebruary 8, after the male and female had followed each other insmall circles with fanned tails sweeping the ground and wings halfspread and depressed.Others have described display actions which, at any rate on theoccasions observed, did not lead to coition. J. M. Boraston (1905), inthe third week of March, saw a cock blackbird creeping up a ditchbank in what he describes as a most unusual manner, with body lowand the fully fanned tail trailed along the ground. The head wasstretched forward on the stiffly extended neck, and from the slightlyopen bill came a continuous flow of small squeakings and pipingswhich first attracted the observer's attention. There proved to betwo females present, both of which regarded the male intently, payingno attention to one another. "When the cock bird, facing the twofemales, had serenaded them in this fashion for about a minute, heagain turned tail upon them, fanning it and trailing it as before, andas he wormed along they followed him silently, appearing fascinatedby his wild skirling. He, stopping abruptly, and with his back stillturned toward them, drew himself up, flung the spread tail askew onone side and jerked his head awry on the other, as if he were set on acrooked wire." Unfortunately the proceedings were disturbed, as sooften happens in such cases, by one of the females noticing the
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observer and becoming alarmed. Again, Miss Averil Morley (1938,vol. 2) has seen a male with head sunk between the shoulders and thefeathers of shoulders, neck, breast, etc., puffed out so that the yellowbill appeared to form a conspicuous center to a round black shield,and bowing by both sexes also occurs. Other variations have beenobserved, but the cases described serve to illustrate the general typeof display behavior and to emphasize how far from stereotyped theposturings are in spite of the fact that certain features tend to recur.Nesting.?Some account of the territorial behavior of the blackbirdhas been given under the section "territory." The nest is usuallybuilt in hedges or bushes or brambles, or in ivy on trees, walls, orbuildings. It may also be situated low down in a tree or, less fre-quently, at a fair height, though a record of one 30 feet up in a tree isexceptional. Not rarely it is built on banks or on the ground in woods,in quarries or among rocks, and on islands with no trees and not muchcover such situations may be normal. Occasional sites are the insidesof barns and outbuildings, hollows in trees, and so on. The nest isnormally built by the hen, though the cock frequently escorts her andsometimes assists by bringing material. Exceptionally he may evenwork some of the material into the nest. It is a solidly constructedcup of dry grasses, straws, rootlets, and moss solidified with mud andwith a solid mud liuing, but unlike that of its relative the song thrushthe mud is concealed by an inner lining of fine dry grass and rootlets.Eggs.?The ground-color of the eggs is a pale bluish green or green-ish blue closely freckled all over with reddish brown. Coarser spotsor markings of the same color may also be present and in some eggsthe markings may be concentrated in a cap or zone at the broad end.Not rarely a blackish streak is present. Varieties with a clear blueground color, sometimes without markings, occur and a rare eryth-ristic variety is white with red-brown spots (Jourdain, 1938, vol. 2).Jourdain gives the measurements of 100 British eggs as: Average,29.4 by 21.5 millimeters; maximum, 35 by 21.5 and 34 by 24; minimum,24.2 by 19 millimeters. Niethammer's (1937) average for 56 Germaneggs agrees closely with the above, namely 29.1 by 21.7 millimeters.As two or three broods are normally reared, and exceptionally evenfour, eggs may be found over a considerable period. In Englandsome nests with eggs are regularly to be found in March and even inFebruary, but laying is not general until April and the egg seasonextends to July. Exceptionally eggs have been recorded in Januaryand December. In central Europe, according to Niethammer, thenormal egg season begins in April, and eggs even in the last half ofMarch are considered exceptional. The normal clutch in Englandis four or five, but often there are only three, rarely six, while seven,
EUROPEAN BLACKBIRD 77
eight, and even nine are recorded (Jourdain). Five or six is con-sidered typical in Germany (Niethammer)
.
Young.?Incubation is performed by the female only. A goodmany observers have flushed male blackbirds off eggs, and this hasled to the assertion that the male occasionally takes part in incuba-tion. But Lt. Col. B. H. Ryves (1943) has pointed out that such anassertion in this and analogous cases is probably not justified. Thereis reason to believe that in such instances the male is doing no morethan "brood" the eggs and is incapable of incubating them in theproper sense of bringing sufficient warmth to bear on them for de-velopment to proceed. Colonel Ryves found that eggs which hadbeen brooded for 35 minutes by a male blackbird, whose mate was forsome reason losing interest in them, were still almost cold when heleft them.According to Jourdain incubation usually begins on completion ofthe clutch. The incubation period ranges from 12 to 15 days, but isusually 13 to 14. C. and D. Nethersole-Thompson (1942), in a de-tailed survey of eggshell disposal by British birds, mention a femalehaving been seen with a shell in her bill, and shells may often be foundin the vicinity of nests. The young are assiduously fed by bothparents and usually leave the nest in 13 to 14 days, though 12 and 15days have also been recorded. Observers contributing to a recentinvestigation on nest-sanitation (Blair and Tucker, 1941) found thatthe feces of the nestlings are generally swallowed by the parents forabout the first week after hatching and sometimes longer, while inthe later stages they are usually carried away. The droppings aredeposited by the young on the rim of the nest from about the eighthday. "Injury-feigning" by birds with young has been recorded, butis rare: It has also been recorded at least twice by a bird off eggs.Plumages.?The plumages of the blackbird are fully described byH. F. Witherby (1938, vol. 2) in the "Handbook of British Birds."The nestling has fairly long, but rather scanty down of a pale buffish-gray color, distributed on the inner supraorbital, occipital, humeral,ulnar, and spinal tracts. The flanges of the bill are pale yellowishwhite externally, and the mouth inside is deep yellow without spots.The juvenal plumage is not unlike that of the adult female, beingumber-brown above, but not so dark as most females and more in-clined to rufous, with rufous shaft streaks on the feathers, rathernoticeable on the wing coverts. The underparts present a moredefinitely mottled or spotted effect than in the female, having a paler,rufous-buff ground color with dark brown markings. The youngfemales tend to be less dark than the males, but there is much indi-vidual variation in both sexes. In their first winter and summer
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males are decidedly browner, less jet black than adults, and theyellow bill is not acquired until spring.Food.?The Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain (1938) in the "Handbook ofBritish Birds" summarizes the food of the blackbird as follows:Largely vegetable as well as animal. Very destructive to fruit, especiallyduring drought (apples, pears, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, currants,cherries, figs, etc.). Also takes berries of many species (holly, rowan, rose, haw-thorn, ivy, yew, bird-cherry, blackberry, guelder-rose, Cotoneaster, etc.), seeds ofmany plants and grain. Besides earthworms, insects, Coleoptera (Aphodius,Otiorrhynchus, Sitona, Agriotes, Carabus, etc.), Diptera (larvae of Tipulidae),Lepidoptera (Noctuidae, Bombyx, etc. and larvae), Hymenoptera (Bombus, ants,Ichneumonidae, gall-insects (Neuroterus), etc.), and Trichoptera. Spiders, milli-pedes, and small Mollusca (Helix, Zonites, Cochlicopa, and occasionally slugs),and small frog and stranded minnow recorded as brought to nest.Tadpoles have also been recorded and in one case were even seenfed to the young.Partly on account of the damage that, it must be admitted, it doesin fruit gardens the food of the blackbird has been studied a gooddeal. Collinge (1927) in England carried out an extensive investiga-tion involving the examination of the stomach contents of 285 adults.His results showed that 39 percent (by bulk) of the total food was ofan animal nature and 61 percent vegetable. The former figure wasmade of 31 percent insects (subdivided, perhaps a little arbitrarily,into injurious 22 percent, beneficial 3.5 percent, and neutral 5.5 per-cent), 4 percent earthworms, 2.5 percent slugs and snails, and 1.5 per-cent miscellaneous animal matter; the latter of 25.5 percent cultivatedfruits, 2.5 percent wheat, 2.5 percent roots, and 24.5 percent wildfruits and seeds, and 6 percent miscellaneous vegetable matter.Collinge's conclusion was that the blackbird was too numerous inBritain and should be reduced. More recently (1941) he has pub-lished the results of a further study based on material obtained fromtwo areas in successive years. Since the date of his earlier work theblackbird, though still plentiful, appears to have undergone a distinctdecrease, partly as a result of some exceptionally severe weather inwinter, and the analysis shows, at any rate for the areas in question,a quite considerable change as compared with the earlier results. Thequantity of cultivated fruit and fruit pulp taken shows a drop from25.5 percent to 15.2 percent and injurious insects a rise from 22 per-cent to 30.5 percent.Behavior.?The blackbird is an alert and wary species rather thanreally shy, though away from habitations where it has had little oppor-tunity of growing accustomed to human beings even the latter adjec-tive might often be used with justice. It is also highly excitable. Atthe slightest alarm it dashes off with a shrill volley of alarm notes,startling all the birds in the vicinity, and no other species is so much
EUROPEAN BLACKBIRD 79
addicted to noisy vocal assaults on owls. The gait on the groundconsists of short runs or a succession of quick hops followed by apause and then repeated. Od alighting the tail is elevated with aneasy and graceful motion, and the same movement may be seen in alesser degree when it halts on the ground. Though much of its foodis secured in the open it is seldom far from hedges or other shelterand readily retires into or underneath bushes and similar cover. Italso regularly obtains food by turning over dead leaves in woods,hedge bottoms, etc., chiefly with the bill, but also at times with thefeet. Generally speaking, it is not much given to long or high flightsand when merely flying across a lawn or from one bit of cover toanother close at hand the action! often appears rather flitting andweak, but over longer distances this is less noticeable and the flight,as 1 have described it in the "Handbook of British Birds" (1938, vol. 2),is "direct or only slightly undulating, with occasional closure of wingsoften too rapid to be conspicuous, but at times more marked."Though in its communal displays and at roosts it shows a definitesocial tendency, the blackbird is never really gregarious except whenmigrating.Voice.?The blackbird is one of the most pleasing songsters amongEuropean birds, and American observers in the Old World haveremarked a distinct family similarity to the song of the robin. It has arich mellow quality and is delivered with an easy, unhurried fluencywhich is a part of its charm?the very spirit of a peaceful Englishgarden. It is uttered in short warbling phrases in which separatenotes cannot usually be distinguished, generally of about 2 to 4seconds' duration, but occasionally 5 to 8 seconds or even more(Nicholson, 1936), with pauses of several seconds between each.Though the phrases are of the same general type, there is much varia-tion in detail; there are no set forms, though the same phrases recur ineach bird's repertoire. A weakness is a tendency for some of them totail off into a feeble and rather ignominious ending of subdued, creaky,chuckling notes, which, however, are not audible for very far. Thesong post selected is usually a fairly elevated one, commonly a tree,not rarely the roof of a house or some other building, occasionally amere bush or fence. It is not unusual for the bird to utter one of itsshort phrases as it flies a little way to a fresh perch, and it may evensing on the ground. Occasionally song may be heard at night. Asmentioned in an earlier section, the song begins later in the season thanin many resident birds. In the south of England and the midlandsit is not regular until late in February, though occasional song may beheard earlier in the month, and it continues into July, declining andusually ceasing before the end of the month. The subsong has beendescribed as "a low, continuous sweet but rather tentative stumbling
80 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMperformance, sometimes mellow * * * sometimes including theblackbird's alarm cry 'mocked' in a less spirited tone * * * andoften breaking out into * * * repetitions of the same note." Itmay be used in display and also in an aggressive context in territorialdisputes.On human analogies the blackbird's song might seem to suggest aplacid and easy-going temperament, but some of its other vocal per-formances would not at all bear out such an impression. Whendisturbed, but not seriously alarmed, the note is a low tchook, tchook,tchook. But it is easily startled and on remarkably little provocationit dashes off in a momentary panic with an excited, screaming clamorwhich is quite as characteristic as the song. This so-called " alarm-rattie"?though it is not really a rattle at all?has a well-definedpattern, though subject to much variation in detail. Very commonlyit begins with the tchook notes, rises in a crescendo of shriller notesin quick succession, and dies away again in tchooks, so that a typicalversion might be rendered tchook, tchook, tchook-a, tchwee, tchewee-cheweecheweecheweechewee, tchook, tchook. But the tchooks may alsobe omitted. Occasionally a slightly quieter version may even begiven on the ground. Another note, often uttered with tiresomepersistence when the birds are going to roost, is a monotonous chick-chick-chick * * *, and it is also this note which is used as a scold againstowls, cats, and other objects of its resentment. A thin tsee is a lessfrequently heard but not uncommon call used chiefly by the male
?
in fact I cannot recall having heard it from a female?and a high, rapidtinkling titter has been heard from the female during courtship. Thefledged young have a curious, rather shrill tsee-tsee-tsee-tseep, which isretained for some time after they are full grown and is a familiargarden sound in early summer.Field marks.?The European blackbird is a bird of the size and some-what the same form and build as the robin of America. The male isquite unmistakable with his smart glossy black plumage and orange-yellow bill. The female and young are less distinctive. They areobviously birds of the thrush group, but considerably darker than anyAmerican thrush. The female is umber-brown, the underparts some-what lighter, usually inclined to rufous, with more or less distinctdark mottlings, and a paler, more whitish, throat. The chief dis-tinctions of the young birds from the adult female have been notedunder "plumages."Enemies.?Although owing to its rather skulking habits it is perhapsless frequently taken than some other species, the blackbird is never-theless one of the commoner victims of the (European) sparrow hawk(Accipiter nisus), and it is recorded in the dietary of other hawks.The nestlings not uncommonly fall victims to jays, magpies, stoats,
EUROPEAN BLACKBIRD 81and other marauders, and in gardens or near habitations cats are aserious menace. Where fruit is grown man must also be reckonedamong its enemies.A list of parasites recorded from blackbirds is given by Niethammer(1937).Fall and winter.? It must be confessed that although hundreds ofornithologists see blackbirds daily the life of the species during thefall has not yet been studied in the intensive fashion required beforeit will be possible to speak with the precision desirable on a numberof points relating to this period. There is reason to believe that amongresident blackbirds the old pairs maintain their association at leastto some extent outside the breeding season, but how far this associ-ation is constant and regular is a matter of some uncertainty. Thereis evidence that females, or some of them, in fall and winter show amarked attachment to particular places and during this period ofthe year may show a stronger territorial sense than the males, drivingoff intruders of both sexes with considerable determination (Morely,1937). Again, it has been stated, probably on good grounds, as hasalready been noticed, that the formation of new pairs takes place, ormay do so, as early as October and November, but details are un-fortunately lacking. Lack (1941) has noticed a definite pair asearly as December 25, but their earlier history is not known. Whatis certain is that from early winter onward highly interesting, but insome ways puzzling, activities of a communal kind take place. Asthey continue into early spring they might also have been treated inthe section devoted to that season, but since they begin in winter theywill be dealt with here. These communal displays, involving muchchasing and posturing between males at fixed assembly places onopen ground, seem to be of erratic occurrence and very varyingintensity. Attention was first drawn to them by Miss Averil Morley,already quoted, but the most spectacular type of performance, whichis evidently rare, has been described by H. Lambert Lack (1941):At first four, later six cock Blackbirds were congregated on a small area of thelawn: one, sometimes two, females were seen feeding some twenty or more yardsaway from the group. Only the males took part in the display. With wingsdrooping and slightly extended so that their tips were visible, with tail spread anddepressed almost to the ground, head, neck and beak fully extended and the neckfeathers fluffed out, one bird would rush rapidly at another and chase it, or runround and round it at a distance of apout 15 inches. Sometimes two birds wouldcircle round each other or round a third bird, or all three would be running incircles. Or again two birds would run straight side by side and some twelve tofifteen inches apart for a distance of three or foui yards, then switch round andrun back again; often two birds in a similar fashion would chase a third, one oneach side of it. On rare occasions these chasings ended in a brief aerial combat,two birds flying up at each other to a height of two or three feet in the air andapparently attacking with beak, claws and wings. The fights lasted but a second
82 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
or two and though apparently fierce no damage seemed to result. It was particu-larly noted that in the chasings the birds always ran with very rapid steps, theynever hopped : that their beaks remained closed and that they uttered no sounds.Those birds which for the moment were not actively engaged in these performancesstood motionless with wings and tail spread and depressed and with feathersfluffed out as above described, but the head, neck and beak stretched upwardsand forwards at an angle of about 45 degrees giving them a curiously melevolentexpression. This first-seen display was so spectacular that it excited the curiosityof two other people who took little or no interest in bird behavior.The display was seen on February 10, beginning at about 7.15a. m. and lasting till about 7.55, with one interruption of some 10minutes. Regvlar watching was then instituted in the early morning,and the displays continued until April but were very irregular.Really active displays only took place on a few days. "On a few oc-casions two or more females appeared on the scene and might chaseeach other or be chased by single male birds." Some similar eveningdisplays were also observed.Variations of the formalized drill-like movements which Lack men-tions have since been recorded by others. A. W. Boyd (1941) hasdescribed three males moving about in a triangular formation, maintain-ing their relative positions as the triangle turned first one way and thenanother, and J. Staton (1941) observed four moving about in singlefile 2 or 3 feet apart in the posture which Lack's birds assumed whennot actively performing, with beak elevated at about 45?. It willbe apparent that these displays are of no fixed form and that differentgroups may "improvise," as it were, their own particular version, butthe common sort of performance seems to be that consisting of littlebut indiscriminate, often mechanical-looking, chasings without con-spicuous posturing. The displays recorded by Miss Morley were ofthis type.It will probably not have escaped the reader that some of the pos-tures mentioned, such as the depressed and fanned tail and the headstretched upward, are much like those described under courtship, butthe former at any rate is a generalized excitement posture, and hi anycase it is no unusual occurrence in bird life for the same posture to beused in more than one type of situation. It seems clear that thesecommunal tourneys are not in any direct sense sexual, though theymay be in some vague way related to the reawakening of sexual im-pulses and the associated (primarily territorial) aggressiveness.But in fact their significance remains problematical.In fall and winter blackbirds also display a communal tendencyin their roosting habits, and may gather in considerable numbers toroost in shrubberies, plantations, thickets, and old overgrown hedge-rows, often in company with redwing thrushes and fieldfares. Excite-ment rises as roosting time approaches and the birds become very
EUROPEAN BLACKBIRD 83
vocal, keeping up a persistent chorus of the tiresome chick-chick-chicknote, which otherwise, oddly enough, is chiefly used as a scold at owlsand cats.In the colder parts of its range the blackbird is a migrant and themilder parts such as the British Isles receive considerable accessionsin the fall, though some of the birds are only passing through on theirway farther south. On the other hand, a certain number of British-bred birds, especially juveniles and birds from the north of Scotlandand exposed places elsewhere, leave their breeding grounds and migrateto the south of England or to Ireland and some few even to the Con-tinent. Banding returns indicate Germany, Sweden, Norway, Den-mark, Holland, and Belgium as breeding quarters of some of theimmigrants into Britain (Ticehurst, 1938, vol. 2). Birds from thenorthern regions also winter in central Europe. In Germany aboutone-third of the breeding population is stated to migrate, ranging ina more or less southwesterly direction to Belgium, France, and north-ern Italy.In hard winters, although the blackbird population may sufferconsiderably, it is not too much to say that it invariably comes throughbetter than its relative the song thrush. This is no doubt due, atleast in part, to its propensity for foraging for food among dead leavesin places which are less affected by frost than open ground.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The blackbird is a Palearctic species ranging acrossEurope and Asia and extending to northwest Africa. The range ofthe present race extends north in the breeding season to about latitude63? in Scandinavia, 61%? in Finland, the Leningrad, Kostroma,Kazan, and Ufa Governments in Russia, and south to north Portugal,north Spain, Italy, north Yugoslavia, Hungary, south Poland, andcentral Russia. The winter range extends southward to centralSpain, the Balearic Islands, the Crimea, southeast Russia, etc. Alliedraces are found in the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands, innorth Africa east to Tunisia, in Spain, the Balearic Islands, Corsica,southeastern Europe, and Asia Minor with others in southern Asia.Spring migration.?Continental migrants in the British Isles areon the move from late February to early April, and the departurelasts to the end of April and even the beginning of June in the northernisles (Ticehurst, 1938). A considerable passage of northern-breedingblackbirds takes place in Heligoland in March and April.Fall migration.?The autumn immigration of blackbirds into thenorthern isles and down both coasts of Great Britain, as well as inIreland, takes place from late September to the end of November
84 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM(Ticehurst). Immigration into Germany is described as taking placein October and November (Nietkammer).Casual records.?In addition to the Greenland record Jourdainmentions occurrences in Iceland, Jan Mayen, Spitsbergen, BearIsland, Faeroes, Archangel Government, Malta, and Egypt.IXOREUS NAEVIUS NAEVIUS (Gmelin)PACIFIC VARIED THRUSHHABITSI owe my introduction to this large and elegant thrush to my oldfriend Samuel F. Rathbun, who first showed it to me in the vicinityof Seattle and who has given me a wealth of information on it in hiscopious notes. While we were waiting for the good ship Tahoma tosail for the Aleutian Islands, in May 1911, he helped our party tolocate for two weeks in the then small town of Kirkland across LakeWashington from Seattle. At that time the shores of the lake and thecountry around the little town were heavily wooded, much of it witha primeval forest of lofty firs, but more of it had been lumbered onceand grown up again to dense second growth, with some clearings andlittle farms scattered through it. The principal forest growth con-sisted of firs of two or three species, with a considerable mixture ofhemlock and cedar; and in some places there was a heavy forestgrowth of large alders and maples, with an undergrowth of floweringdogwood and wild currant. The favorite haunts of the varied thrusheswere in their dark, shady retreats in the dense stands of firs that wereoften dripping with moisture, for it rained most of the time that wewere there. Here we often heard the clear, rich, vibrating notes ofthe thrushes, uttered without inflection, but with a weird double-toned or arpeggio effect. Mist and rain did not appear to dampenthen ardor; their voices seem to be at their best in such gloomyweather and to form a fitting accompaniment to the patter of raindropson the dripping foliage.Mr. Rathbun tells me that the varied thrush is a common summerresident in the mountains, and to a less extent in the lowlands, fromthe summit of the Cascades to the shores of the Pacific and PugetSound, especially about the mountain lakes where the dense conif-erous forest extends down to the water's edge. It is evident every-where that this thrush loves shade, coolness, and dampness. W. LeonDawson (1923) writes: "To have earned the right to speak apprais-ingly of the Varied Thrush as a bud of California, one must havelingered in some deep ravine of Humboldt County, where spruce treesand alders and crowding ferns contend for a footing, and .vhere a dankmist drenches the whole with a fructifying moisture. * * * For
PACIFIC VARIED THRUSH 85the Varied Thrush loves rain as a fish loves water; while as for theeternal drizzle, it is his native element and vital air. Sunshine he bearsin stoical silence or else escapes to the depths of the forest glade."Similar haunts are to be found all along the heavdly forested, humidcoast belt throughout British Columbia and southern Alaska, as farnorth as Yakutat Bay, where the dense conferous forests flourishdown to the shores, nourished by fogs and frequent rains, and wherethe Pacific varied thrush feels most at home.Spring.?Although some varied thrushes may spend the winter asfar north as extreme southern Alaska, others are found as far south assouthern California, indicating a decided latitudinal migration.Through the central portion of the summer range this migration isnot much in evidence, but Mr. Rathbun tells me that in vvesternWashington there is a decided movement in spring toward the higheraltitudes and again in fall from the highlands to the lower levels.Probably there is such an altitudinal migration in other parts ofthe range of the species.George Willett writes to me that the Pacific varied thrush arrivesin southeastern Alaska during the latter half of April and leaves earlyin October, but sometimes it is plentiful throughout the winter, as itwas at Craig in the winter of 1919-20; it was common at Ketchikanafter January 18, 1925.Nesting.?We found no nest with eggs while we were at Kirkland,but on April 30, 1911, I found a new nest, apparently completed andready for the eggs; it was located about 10 feet from the ground in asmall fir on a knoll in the coniferous woods and near a small swampyrun; it was built on some small branches against the trunk; it was abulky nest, made mainly of soft mosses, reinforced with fir twigs andlined with fine grasses. We found several old nests in the vicinitythat were similarly located.In the same general locality, on April 26, 1914, my assistant,F. Seymour Hersey, found two nests similarly located; one containedthree young birds, apparently about five days old, and the otherheld three well-incubated eggs; the female was on the nest in bothcases. Mr. Rathbun was with Mr. Hersey when these nests werefound and remarked that in the first of these nests the eggs must havebeen laid early in April; once in a while he finds one of these early-nesting pairs, but as a rule fresh eggs can be looked for about thefirst of May.Mr. Rathbun mentions in his notes a number of nests found by himin that same general region. Most of them were in small or medium-sized firs in dense second-growth forests, sometimes alongside a path,and sometimes in heavier fir forest or near the shore of the lake
;
they were all built against the trunk and supported by small branches;
86 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMnone was over 14 or 15 feet above the ground. An exceptional nest,containing two heavily incubated eggs, was in a small cedar in lowground along the shore of Lake Washington. Two nests are describedin detail. One "was made outwardly of dead twigs, a few of whichwere 5 inches long; next were many dead leaves of the alder andmaple interwoven with fresh green moss, strips of rotten wood andfibrous dead grasses, within which was a thin layer of decayed vege-table matter smoothly molded. Soft dead leaves and fine dry grassesrepresented the lining." Another was made "outwardly of deadleaves, dead twigs, bits of rotten wood, a very large amount of greenmosses stripped from logs and tree trunks, strips of dry inner bark,and coarse dry grasses, interwoven with dry twigs from hemlocksand firs, many of which were covered with lichens. The lining of thenest was wholly of soft dry grasses to a depth of one and one-halfinches."Alaska nests, described by Mr. Willett in his notes, are similar; hesays that they are usually placed against the trunk of a young spruce,10 to 25 feet up, but are sometimes on horizontal limbs of largertrees. One especially large and fine nest measures 225 by 150 milli-meters externally, with an inner cavity measuring 110 by 55 milli-meters.Maj. Allan Brooks (1905) published data on five nests in southernBritish Columbia, as follows: "The birds were found nesting in heavyconiferous forest of very tall timber, with very little undergrowth forthe coast district, where dense brush is the rule. The nesting site wasusually a small tree heavily draped with the rank growth of greenmoss which grows in such profusion in these dark woods." One nestwas in a small hemlock 9 feet from the ground, one in a moss-coveredspruce, one in a leaning cedar, one in a vine maple (Acer circinatum) ,and the other in the pendant branch of a large cedar, 12 feet from theground. One nest contained four eggs and all the others three. Thenests were similar in construction to those described above. "Theaverage dimensions are about six and a half inches for outside di-ameter, and three and a half across the cavity. * * * In noinstance were two pairs of birds found breeding near each other;the nests were about half a mile apart. The proximity of the nest isusually betrayed by the actions of the birds, which flutter from tree totree uttering a peculiar chatter not heard at other times."Mr. Dawson (1923) says: "Old nests are common; and groups ofhalf a dozen in the space of a single acre are evidently the consecutiveproduct of a single pair of birds. There is a notable division of terri-tory among these thrushes. As a rule, they maintain a distance ofhalf a mile or so from any other nesting pair. In two instances,however, one observer found nests within three hundred yards of
PACIFIC VARIED THRUSH 87
neighbors." He mentions a nest that was placed "full sixty feet upand eight feet out on the first limb of a stately hemlock."Robert R. Talmadge writes to me: "The nest in my collection ismade of moss with a little shredded redwood bark; this was placedon a foundation of mud and small twigs of the Sitka spruce. Thenest cup was slightly arched over and placed to one side of the mainbody. This cup was lined with fine dried grasses and fine bits ofshredded bark. The outside diameter varies from 7% to 8K inches.The depth is 4% inches. The cup measures Z}? inches at the top, andwidens out to 4 inches at the bottom. The depth of the cup is 2%inches."Henry C. Kyllingstad sends me the following note from Alaska:"The varied thrush is one of the most abundant nesting birds atMountain Village, building its nest on the ground among the Sitkaalders (Alnus sinuata) or at heights from a few inches to 15 feetabove ground in the willow (Salix sp.) thickets. Clutches of three,four, and five eggs are about equally common. All nests have in thelining some of the fine, black, hairlike roots of Equisetum, which thebirds gather from the cutbanks of the river.
"If one approaches the nest too closely, the brooding bird flies offwith a harsh squawking cry, and its mate soon joins the noise. Bothbirds slink through the branches a little way from the nest callinglike young robins just off the nest. If the nest is not completed or ifincubation has only just begun, the nest is usually deserted after themost casual and brief visit. Closer examination of the nest and hand-ling of the eggs will cause desertion even when incubation is advancedseveral days.
"These thrushes are among the earliest to arrive in spring of allour passerine birds, and they begin nesting almost immediately. Twoyears arrival dates are May 7 and May 1. The first nests with fullclutches of fresh eggs for the two years were found on May 21 andMay 16."Eggs.?The Pacific varied thrush may incubate on two, three, orfour eggs, or even five, but nearly all the sets consist of three. Theshape varies from ovate to a rather long-oval. The ground color is arobin's-egg blue, rather paler than the usual robin's egg, or "Nileblue." The eggs are rather sparingly, though more or less evenly,marked with small spots or fine dots of dark brown, "raw umber,"
"burnt umber," or "seal brown"; and there are often a few under-lying shell markings of "ecru-drab" or "Quaker drab."The measurements of 38 eggs average 30.5 by 21.3 millimeters; theeggs showing the four extremes measure 34.5 by 20.5, 31.0 by 23.0,27.9 by 21.5, and 29.2 by 18.5 millimeters.
88 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMYoung.?Incubation is apparently performed entirely by the female;I can find no record of the male being seen on the nest; he is, however,always present in the neighborhood and perhaps feeds the female onthe nest. Nothing definite seems to be known on the length of theincubation period, which is probably not far from two weeks.Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1898) says that, near Sitka, the first young,scarcely feathered, were "taken on July 2. By August 1, the youngbegan to gather in considerable numbers and together with the Rob-ins and other Thrushes were feeding on the blueberries."The fact that young have been found in the nests in April and inJuly would seem to indicate that perhaps, in some cases, two broodsare reared in a season.Plumages.?A small nestling in my collection, in which the plum-age is just beginning to show in the feathered tracts, is scantily deco-rated on the head and on the alar and dorsal tracts with long "vina-ceous-buff" down, which is fully an inch long on the back.The young nestling is scantily covered with grayish down.Ridgway (1907) describes the young as "much like the adult female,but under parts more yellowish ochraceous, with feathers of breastand lower throat narrowly margined or tipped with olive or dusky(these markings sometimes indistinct), the jugular band sometimesuniform dull olive, oftener with feathers ochraceous centrally broadlymargined with olive and dusky." He says in a footnote: "I am notsure whether the sexes differ or not in first plumage." But sevensexed specimens of young birds indicate "a decided sexual difference,the males having nearly the whole of the lower parts ochraceous andthe jugular band indistinct, the females having the posterior half ofthe lower parts mostly white and the jugular band more or lessconspicuous."Dwight (1900), however, says that the sexes are indistinguishablein juvenal plumage; they are olive-brown above, plumbeous on therump, with very faint whitish shaft streaks; "wings and tail clovebrown with ochraceous bands edging the quills and tipping the cov-erts. Below ochraceous buff, whiter on abdomen, a pectoral bandand edgings of throat and breast, olive-brown. Supra auricular linebuff."The first winter plumage is acquired by a partial postjuvenal molt,
"which involves the body plumage and wing coverts but not therest of the wings nor the tail, young and old becoming practicallyindistinguishable." He describes the male in this plumage as "above,deep plumbeous gray with brownish edgings, darker on the pileum,the wing coverts broadly tipped with deep orange buff, forming twowing bands. Below rich orange buff, the abdomen and crissumchiefly white mixed with buff and olive-gray, the sides with olive-
PACIFIC VARIED THRUSH 89gray edgings. A black pectoral band, somewhat veiled with gray,orange tinged." This is, approximately, the handsome adult plum-age, which becomes only slightly grayer by wear before spring; thebirds probably breed in this plumage. The female in first winterplumage, as in the adult plumage, is much duller in coloration, theupper parts grayer, the lower parts paler and all the markings paler,duller, and less distinct, the pectoral band being gray instead of black.The complete first postnuptial molt, the following summer, pro-duces little change, though the colors are somewhat deeper and richerthan the spring colors, the feathers of the upperparts are at first in-distinctly margined with olive, and the pectoral band of the malemay be broader and blacker.The partial postjuvena/1 molt of young birds and the completepostnuptial molt of adults is apparently completed in August.Food.?Professor Beal (1915b) writes: "The varied thrush appearsto be a pronounced ground feeder, and the stomachs show an unusualquantity of such food as thousand-legs, sow bugs, snails, and angle-worms; but spiders are rarely eaten." Only 58 stomachs were exam-ined, taken in the months from October to April, inclusive; this anal-ysis, therefore, indicates only the winter food. Beetles aggregate 4.46percent of the food; ants comprise 4.08 percent, and other Hymenop--tera (bees and wasps) 2.24 percent; Hemiptera (bugs) amount to 1.09percent, Diptera (flies) 1.47 percent, Lepidoptera (caterpillars) 2.18percent, Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets) 1.99 percent, and allother insects to 1.18 percent of the food. Spiders amount to only0.10 percent; myriapods (thousand-legs) are more popular and aretaken to the extent of 3.08 percent. Earthworms, snails, and sow bugscollectively amount to 3.97 percent of the food. The total animal foodshown in this analysis is only 25.85 percent of the whole, as against74.15 percent of vegetable food. Probably the percentage of animalfood would be higher in the summer months."The vegetable food of the varied thrush coasists of fruit, weedseed, and mast, with some unidentifiable matter." Mast, mostlyacorns, was found in 16 stomachs and amounted to 76.71 percent inNovember, when acorns were abundant, fresh fruit was not obtainable,and insects were scarce. Unidentified seeds averaged 16.78 percentfor each of the winter months, and were found in 10 stomachs. Culti-vated fruit amounted to only 3.63 percent, while wild fruits andberries made up 23.21 percent of the food. Snowberries were found insix stomachs, apple in three, California honeysuckle in two, andjuniper berries, wheat, amaranth, blackberries or raspberries, filaree,pepperberries, poison-oak, sumac, buckthorn, and black nightshadewere identified in one stomach each, in the form of fruit or seeds.
792825?49 7
90 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMMany years ago, 1899, complaint was made that these thrushes didconsiderable damage by pulling up sprouting peas.Much of the food of the varied thrush is found on the ground, whereit forages among the masses of fallen leaves, picking up acorns, orcasting the leaves aside; many of the lower forms of animal life arefound under the damp and thickly matted leaves. Mr. Rathbundescribes this action in his notes, as follows: "On various occasions wehave watched this thrush feed on the leaf-scattered ground near theedge of an open spot in the forest. Springing forward the bird wouldseize some of the litter in its beak, and almost at the same instant makea backward spring, scattering the leaves in various directions. Amotionless instant would follow before the bird searched for foodamong the disturbed carpet of leaves; and then, whether or not suc-cessful in its quest, it would repeat these actions. Often, when feedingon the ground, it will give its musical notes in a soft, faint tone."Dawson (1923) has seen a varied thrush hunting for worms on awell-kept lawn, after the manner of a robin, and says that thesethrushes search the ground for fallen olives. Ralph Hoffmann (1927)adds madrone berries to the vegetable food and has seen them feedingon the ground under live oaks. And Dr. Grinnell (1898) includesblueberries in the food of young birds.Behavior.?The varied thrush on its breeding grounds is a rathershy and retiring bird, perhaps more retiring than shy, as it fades awayinto its dense and shady retreats on the approach of an intruder. Butat other times it is often far from timid; Mr. Rathbun has had themcome to within 10 feet of him while he sat quietly watching them onthe lake shore. He says in his notes that in spite of the strikingcolor pattern these birds are often quite inconspicuous where theircolors seem to match their surroundings and help them to fade into thepicture. This is especially true of the females; the pale buff shadesof the breast are exactly the tint of many of the mosses on the rocksand logs, or the ends of broken branches on the fallen trees; and thepale grayish olive of the back is the color of logs or rocks. If motion-less among such surroundings, the bird might easily be overlooked.The male's colors make him more conspicuous, and consequently moreshy, but when his back is turned his colors match his surroundings;and even the conspicuous black band on his breast may tend to breakup the continuity of his form. Mr. Rathbun (MS.) adds: "Morethan once I have noticed that when this thrush alights on a branchof an alder, to which yet clings a trace of dead foliage, how perfectlythe markings of the bird harmonize with the russet tinge of the deadleaves and the grayish colored bark of the tree."He found these thrushes very demonstrative and active in thedefense of their nest; the female usually slipped quietly off the nest,
PACIFIC VARIED THRUSH 91but soon returned and made a great outcry, which soon brought hermate to the scene. On one occasion, he says: "While I was at thenest, both of the pair made quick dashes at me; and they continuedto give their harsh alarm notes as long as I was in the vicinity."Theed Pearse tells me that the varied thrush "is a very quarrelsomebird, continually driving its own and other species from a feedingstation. One bird will adopt a regular dog-in-the-manger attitude,stopping any other bird from taking food, though not feeding itself.Its place may be taken by another, who on driving it off will take upthe same position. Males are worse than females."Voice.?The strange, rich, musical, yet almost melancholy notes ofthe varied thrush are one of its striking characteristics, most appropri-ate for the somber glades in which it lives, and to which they add adecided charm. Mr. Rathbun (MS.) writes: "In March and Aprila return movement of these thrushes toward their breeding habitattakes place, and by the middle of May probably all have reachedtheir destination. It is in this and the following month that thesong of this bird is heard at its best, and the character of this is de-cidedly different from that of any other. The song consists of asuccession of long, vibrating notes, generally on five different tones,all of pure quality. When one is very close to the singing bird, asixth note is often heard, but this is very soft and low; and inter-jected, at times, in the song will be a harsh rasping note, not to beheard at a distance. There is no regular sequence followed in givingthe tone notes; and the song carries a long way through the forest,being sung with deliberation."The birds seem to sing at their best on rather warm, misty morn-ings; I have heard some really remarkable concerts given by about adozen thrushes in the immediate vicinity, and supplemented by othersat a distance. To hear this song at its very best, one should be closeto the performer; then there is a quality in the tones that is lost withdistance."On a warm, misty morning in June, he listened for some time to thevoice of an exceptionally good songster, and jotted down the variedsequence in which the different tones were heard, as follows: "High
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low?medium?low?very low, this followed by a harsh note; highvery high?low?medium?high?low, then a pause as if the bird wasreflecting on its performance; high?medium?medium?low?me-dium ? high ? medium ? medium?high?medium?mediumfaint low?medium?high?medium?low, then a pause; mediumhigh?very low?medium?high?very high?low?medium, pause;medium?very low, this given softly, an exquisite effect, followed bya long pause; then high?very high?medium and a pause; highhigh?soft low, followed by a long pause ; medium?high?medium
92 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMhigh? , a pause; low?medium?high?medium?medium?very low,followed by a harsh note; medium?high very high?low?medium
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very low, followed by a harsh note; medium?high?very highlow?medium?high?medium?low?medium?low, followed by theharsh note without intermission, low?high?the harsh note?medium
?this repeated slightly lower?medium?the harsh note?highmedium?medium?high?slightly lower?medium?a pause; lowmedium?high?low?medium?a long pause, and the song ceasedfrom the place where the bird had been singing, a few minutes laterbeginning again from some distance away."Until it flew away, the bird had not changed its position during theabove recital, which lasted between three and four minutes. It willbe noted from the above that the songs varied greatly in length, aswell as in the order in which the tones were given. The intervalsbetween the tones were about one second. In order to determine thenumber of times the different tones, or keys, were used, two typicalsongs were analyzed as follows:Very high key, 3 times. High key, 9 times.High key, 14 times. Medium key, 7 times.Medium key, 21 times. Low key, 10 times.Low key, 12 times. Very low key, once.Very low key, 4 times. Lower key, 6 times.Harsh note, once. Harsh note, 6 times.Very high key, once.Mrs. Bailey (1902) quotes an excellent description of the song byLouis Agassiz Fuertes, who says that it is
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most unique and mysterious, and may be heard in the deep still spruce forestsfor a great distance, being very loud and wonderfully penetrating. It is a singlelong-drawn note, uttered in several different keys, some of the high-pitched oneswith a strong vibrant trill. Each note grows out of nothing, swells to a full tone,and then fades away to nothing until one is carried away with the mysterioussong. When heard near by, as is seldom possible, the pure yet resonant qualityof the note makes one thrill with a strange feeling, and is as perfectly the voiceof the cool, dark, peaceful solitude which the bird chooses for its home as could beimagined. The hermit thrush himself is no more serene than this wild dwellerin the western spruce forests.Howard L. Cogswell, of Pasadena, Calif., writes to me: "The onlycall notes I have heard from varied thrushes in winter are a weak, butvery thrushlike tschoook, and a vibrant, vocalized whistle vwoooeeee,somewhat like the noise produced by blowing on a comb wrapped inpaper, though not nearly so loud."Field marks.?The varied thrush is so conspicuously marked withsuch striking colors that it could hardly be mistaken for anythingelse. It is a large, stoutly built thrush, about the size of a robin.The rich, orange-buff throat and breast are separated by a broad
PACIFIC VARIED THRUSH 93black band across the chest; there is an orange-buff stripe above andbehind the eye, two orange-brown wing-bars, with a patch of similarcolor in the open wing, and the outer tail feathers are tipped withwhite. The color pattern of the female and the young bird is similar,but the colors are much duller.Fall.?Keferring to the fall migration from the mountains to thelowlands, Mr. Rathbun (MS.) says: "This I have seen on occasions inOctober, when at a considerable altitude, the thrushes passing by ourcamp in considerable numbers day after day. The birds invariablywere to be seen on or near the ground, and they were not at all timid,sometimes coming close to the camp searching for food. On occasionswith them would be seen a few Steller's jays; it was amusing to see thejays make unsuccessful attempts to drive away the thrushes, whoproved much too active and not at all intimidated ; such contests oftenended by all the birds feeding together. October is a silent month forbird song in the forests of this region, and in the valleys of the moun-tains are many sombre and rainy days; so, it gives one particulardelight to hear, on rare occasions, the long vibrant song of this birdsteal through the forest, mingled with the sound of falling raindrops."Joseph Mailliard (1908) witnessed a great wave of varied thrushesmigrating southward in California on October 20, 1906, of which hewrites:A very strong, and exceedingly warm and dry north wind was blowing, amount-ing in places to a veritable gale. We drove from the house to the extreme end ofthe ranch, a distance of about four miles, before sunrise, in the face of the gale,and putting up the team in the barn there, commenced on foot to ascend the rangewith the purpose in view of looking over the property and, incidentally, seekingfor quail in their accustomed haunts. The sun was rising as we began the ascentand the air startlingly clear. We had taken but a few steps when my attentionwas attracted by the sight of a few birds, about the size of robins, flying high andscattered over the sky. This w as so unusual at this time of day that I remarkedupon the phenomenon to my companions.As the sun cleared the horizon and the light increased we realized the fact thatthe sky was dotted in every direction with birds flying singly, and at quite anelevation, mostly toward the south. As the light grew stronger individuals hereand there dropped to a lower altitude and allowed us to discern the fact that theywere Varied Thrushes (Ixoreus naevius). For some time their numbers increaseduntil there were hundreds in sight at once in any direction one might look, and aswe were by this time pretty well up on the range we had quite an extended view.soon we noticed single birds dropping out of the flight and settling in the bushes.These must have been our regular winter residents. Apparently not over one ina hundred dropped out in this way. After nine a. m. the numbers decreased andby ten o'clock the flight was over, with no birds in sight except a few flying fromone canyon to another and settling down locally, apparently.Winter.?Throughout at least half of its breeding range the variedthrush is present in winter in reasonable numbers, but in somewhatdifferent surroundings. And a few remain well up toward the north-
94 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
ern limit of the summer range. Alfred M. Bailey (1927) saw one atJuneau, Alaska, on January 26, and says that "not many winter as farnorth as Wrangell, however, only stragglers being seen during themilder months."George Willett (MS.) found it plentiful at Craig, Alaska, during thewinter of 1919-20, and says that it was common at Ketchikan afterJanuary 18, 1925.In British Colmnbia, Major Brooks (1905) records the abundanceof the varied thrush during the winter of 1904-05: "During otherwinters a few may be seen, even in the coldest weather, throughoutthe district west of the Cascades. This winter they fairly swarm; andreports from Okanagan show they are even wintering in the coldinterior of the Province."In western Washington, according to Mr. Rathbun (MS.), variedthrushes are sometimes very common in winter, having moved downfrom the higher levels into the low country, even down to the seacoast. "On rare occasions and at long intervals, heavy falls of snowhave occurred in the lowlands; at such times, this species must sufferseverely and sustain a diminution of its numbers. Such an occurrencetook place in February 1916, when snow fell to a depth of severalfeet throughout the Sound region. Tins caused the varied thrushesto appear in very large numbers in and about the cities and towns,wherever there was a human habitation. To this apparent appealpeople generally responded. A large proportion of the yards becamefeeding stations for the birds, who resorted thereto until the bulk ofthe snow had disappeared."Suckley and Cooper (1860), referring to the same general region,say:In winter it is a shy bird, not generally becoming noticeable in the opendistricts until after a fall of snow, when many individuals may be seen alongthe sand beaches near salt water. * * * I suppose that they are driven outof the woods, during the heavy snows, by hunger. It may then frequently befound in company with tbe common robin, with which it has many similar habits.* * * At this time of the year it is a very silent bird, quite tame, allowingnear approach; flying up when the intruder comes too near, but alighting on theground again at a short distance in front. It appears to be fond of flying byshort stages in a desultory manner, sometimes alighting on the ground; at otherson fences, bushes, or trees.W. A. Kent writes to me: "The winter migration of the variedthrush south into Los Angeles County is a food problem ratherthan that of climate. Should there be an acorn shortage in VenturaCounty, north of us, varied thrushes will be here in numbers of fromtwo or three to ten together in the oak groves. They are usuallyseen in December and January; they were with us during the winterof 1937-38, none in 1939-40, but were here again in 1941-42."
PACIFIC VARIED THRUSH 95Mr. Cogswell (MS.) referring to the same general region, says:
"Here, the varied thrushes seem fondest of the shady areas underthe oaks and sycamores of the semiopen canyons of the foothill mesas,but on December 21, 1941, in Mandeville Canyon, Santa MonicaMountains, I saw two fly out of a section of pure chaparral whenfrightened by a passing sharp-shinned hawk; in tins case there wereno large trees within 200 yards. I also have a record of one birdseen February 19, 1942, in a willow-cottonwood association along MillCreek in the Prado Basin near Corona, Calif., a distance of some 6or 7 miles from the nearest foothill oak-sycamore association, inwhich they are most typically found."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Western North America.Breeding range.?The varied thrush breeds north to northern Alaska(valley of the Kobuk River, probably the vicinity of Alatna, nearFort Yukon, and the Porcupine River below the mouth of the Coleen)and northern Mackenzie (Aklavik). East to the Mackenzie RiverValley (Aklavik, Fort McPherson, Fort Good Hope, Fort Norman,near mouth of the Nehami River, and Fort Liard) ; eastern BritishColumbia (Nelson, Yellowhead Pass, and Kootenay National Park)
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probably extreme western Alberta (Banff); northwestern Montana(Glacier National Park, Fortine, and Swan Lake); northern Idaho(Clark Fork, Coeur d'Alene, and St. Joe National Forest); easternWashington (mountains near Spokane and near Dayton) ; northeasternOregon (Powder River Mountains) and the Cascades of westernOregon to north-western California (mouth of Redwood Creek,Humboldt County, Eureka, and Peanut, Trinity County) . South tonorthwestern California (Trinity and Humboldt Counties). Westto California (Humboldt and Del Norte Counties) ; western Oregon(in the mountain forests and at Tillamook Bay and Astoria)western Washington (Grays Harbor, Tacoma, and Seattle); west-ern British Columbia (Chilliwack, Alta Lake); Vancouver Island(Comox); the Queen Charlotte Islands (Rose Spit and Massett);and Alaska (Forrester Island, Sitka, Nushagak, Bethel, Nulato, andthe Kobuk River).Winter range.?In winter the varied thrush is found north to south-eastern Alaska (Craig, casually to Wrangell and Juneau; a specimenwas taken near Flat in late November 1927); east to southeasternAlaska (Wrangell); southern British Columbia (Okanagan Landingand Edgewood) ; western Washington (Bellingham, Edmonds, Seattle,Tacoma, and Camas) ; western Oregon (Portland, Salem, and Browns-ville) ; extreme western Nevada (Carson) ; central California (Stockton,
96 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMFresno, and Redlands); and casually northwestern Lower California(Laguna Hanson and Rancho San Pablo) . South casually to northernLower California (Rancho San Pablo). West to the Pacific coast ofLower California (Guadalupe Island, casually); California (WitchCreek, San Diego County, San Clemente Island, and Santa Barbara,San Francisco); Oregon (Coquille, Newport, and Astoria); Wash-ington (Cape Disappointment and Port Townsend) ; British Columbia(southern Vancouver Island and Vancouver) ; and southeastern Alaska(Craig). In migration the varied thrush has been found in southernCalifornia in Death Valley and east of the Mojave Desert and mayoccur in winter farther east than the range as outlined.The above ranges apply to the entire species, of which two subspeciesor geographic races are recognized. The Pacific varied thrush (I. n.nadvius) occurs in the coastal region from Kodiak Island, Alaska, tonorthern California and eastward to the Cascades ; the northern variedthrush (/. n. meruloides) occurs from northern Alaska and Mackenziethrough eastern British Columbia to northwestern Montana, northernIdaho, eastern Washington, and northeastern Oregon.Migration.?Many varied thrushes move only from the mountainsto the valleys for the winter, others make longer migrations. Somelate dates of spring departure are: Lower California?GuadalupeIsland, March 4. California?Berkeley, April 11. Oregon?Port-land, April 21. Montana?Missoula, April 16.Some early dates of spring arrival are: Idaho?Coeur d'Alene,March 8. Montana?Missoula, March 9. Alberta?Banff, March12. British Columbia?Atlin, April 24. Yukon?Dawson, May 25.Alaska?Fairbanks, April 28.Some late dates of fall departure are: Alaska?Alatna, September11. Wrangell, October 19. Yukon?Forty-mile, September 12.Alberta?Edberg, October 10. Montana?Fortine, October 24.Idaho?Priest River, November 8.Some early dates of fall arrival are: British Columbia?Atlin, Sep-tember 1. Oregon?Portland, September 18. Nevada?Fallon,November 3. California?Diablo, October 31. Lower California
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Laguna Hanson, November 17.Casual records.?In migration the varied thrush has been found,(usually in company with robins) far east of the normal range: Alberta,Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, and New Mexico. Farthereast the following occurrences have been recorded: Maniconagan,Quebec, a specimen collected on August 28, 1890; a specimen collectednear Port Jefferson, Long Island, on December 20, 1889; one at Islip,Long Island, "in fall"; a specimen at Miller's Place, Long Island, onNovember 19, 1905; one seen almost daily at Richmond, N. Y., from
NORTHERN VARIED THRUSH 97November 24 to December 6, 1936; a specimen taken at Hoboken,N. J., in December 1851 ; and one at a feeding station near Clementon,N. J., from November 26, 1936 to March 20, 1937. The easternmostrecord is of a specimen collected at Ipswich, Mass., in December1864.Egg dates.?Alaska: 36 records, May 15 to July 2; 17 records, June1 to June 12, indicating the height of the season.British Columbia: 8 records, April 28 to June 20.California: 17 records, April 11 to July 17; 10 records, April 19 toMay 5. IXOREUS NAEVIUS MERULOIDES (Swainson)NORTHERN VARIED THRUSHHABITSSwainson and Richardson (1831) first described the varied thrushof the northern interior, under the name Orpheus meruloides, froma specimen taken at Fort Franklin, in northern Canada. The Pacificvaried thrush was described from a specimen taken at Nootka Sound,Vancouver Island. Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1901) discovered that tworaces of this species should be recognized, the difference between thetwo being most marked in the female. In explaining his contention,he says:Well-marked differences exist in the case of the female between the VariedThrush breeding in the humid Sitkan District and that of the drier interior regionof northern Alaska. The Sitkan race is characterized by a predominance of deepbrowns, restriction of white or light markings, and by a shorter and more roundedwing. The northern and interior race has a much grayer and paler coloration,greater extension of white markings, and a longer and more pointed wing. Un-fortunately I have no male birds from Sitka, except juveniles; but three springmales from the Kowak Valley, when compared with late winter males from north-ern California taken along with females referable to naevia, are of a lighter slatecolor dorsally and slightly paler tawny beneath. The females of this speciesappear to be much more subject to protective coloration, so-called, than themales, and it is therefore reasonable to expect climatic variations to be morepronounced in the females than in the males, especially when the climate of thesummer habitat is of an extreme nature. In the winter home of the VariedThrushes there is also a different distribution of the two races, but their latitu-dinal relation is reversed. Thirty-five skins from Los Angeles County, Cali-fornia, are all but one referable strictly to meruloides, while the majority of thewinter skins from the coast region of central and northern California are nearnaevia. So that meruloides, although its summer habitat is northernmost, goesfarthest south in winter, and its migration route is much the longest.Evidently this subdivision of the species did not impress Mr.Ridgway very favorably, for he (1907) says: "With a series of onehundred and forty specimens (sixty-seven adult males from the coast
98 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMdistrict and seven from the interior, forty-two adult females from coastand fourteen from interior localities, besides nine young representingboth districts) I have been unable, after very careful comparison, todiscover the slightest reason for recognizing two forms of this species."This northern and inland race, according to the 1931 Check-list,
"breeds in the Hudsonian and upper Canadian zones from the YukonDelta, Kowak Valley, and Mackenzie delta south to Prince WilliamSound, Alaska, the southern part of the Mackenzie Valley, and southin the mountains through eastern British Columbia to northwesternMontana and northeastern Oregon. Winters mainly in the interiorof California south to Los Angeles County and irregularly to northernLower California." This is the form that has wandered as a straggleras far east as Quebec and Massachusetts.Spring.?Dr. Grinnell (1900) writes:The Varied Thrush proved to be an abundant summer resident of the KowakValley, and was observed in every tract of spruces visited. * * * Its arrival in theneighborhood of our winter camp was noted on May 21st, when the twangingnotes of the males were heard several times in the morning and evening. The nextday they had arrived in full force and were to be seen and heard throughout thespruce woods. The snow had by this date nearly all disappeared, though therivers and lakes were still covered with ice. The food of the Varied Thrushes atthis time consisted largely of the cranberries and blueberries which were leftfrom the previous summer's crop, and had been preserved beneath the wintersnows. For a few days the birds were quite lively for being of the thrush tribe,which are usually of a quiet demeanor. When not feeding on the ground in one ofthe fruitful openings in the forest, they would be seen in wild pursuit of one another,either courting or quarrelling. The males were often seen in fierce combat; thatis, fierce for a thrush. Of course some female ensconced in a thick evergreen inthe vicinity was the cause of the duel. I never saw just how a quarrel wouldcommence. The swift pursuit would follow a tortuous route around and about,twisting among the close-standing trees and across openings, so rapidly as to bedifficult to follow with the eye. The finale would be a brief scrimmage among thethick foliage of a spruce, with a clatter of fluttering wings and a few sharp squealslike a robin's. They would fall slowly through the branches to the ground, whenthe contestants would separate, panting and puffing out different parts of theirplumage. The greatest apparent injury to either of the belligerents would be theloss of two or three feathers, yet one of them would consider himself fairly beatenand soon retire leaving the victor free to continue his courting.Nesting.?Dr. Grinnell (1900) found many nests of the northernvaried thrush and collected eleven sets of eggs; he writes:In the Kowak Valley I noticed the first signs of nest-building * * * on the25th of May, just four days after their arrival, and by the 28th nearly every pairwere busy; for the summer is short, and there is no loitering, as is often the casewith our southern birds, after their arrival. The female does all the work of con-structing the nest, the male accompanying her constantly in her many trips aftermaterial, but, as far as my observations go, never proffering any assistance.Many of the nests are built on those of the previous year as a foundation, and I
NORTHERN VARIED THRUSH 99have even found three-storied nests. The old nests are flattened and dilapidatedby the heavy August rains and winter snows, with the mud mostly dissolved outof them. During the winter a tour of the woods discloses hundreds of old thrushes'nests in various states of preservation, and in some sections nearly every treeharbors one or more. Where well-protected in dense spruces they may survivemany years. Probably the same pair of birds return to a single nesting site forseveral successive seasons. * * * All the nests of the Varied Thrush observedwere in spruces, and varied in height above the ground from 6 to 20 feet, thelatter being far above the average height, which I should judge to be 10 feet.Even in the tallest timber the nesting sites are chosen in the lower foliage at asimilar elevation. * * * The majority of the nests are situated on the southside of the tree-trunks, as probably being the driest and warmest side, and then,too, strong, cold north winds are of frequent occurrence. All the nests which Iexamined are very much alike in composition and structure. The foundation isa rather loose and bulky mass of plant stems and dry grasses, but the nest properis a solid, closely-felted structure. The bottom and sides are substantially formedof a mixture of mud, and wet, partly-decomposed grasses and moss. The amountof mud varies in different nests, and in some there is scarcely any, but the variousvegetable materials are always incorporated when wet, so that after the structuredries, the walls and rim are very firm like papier-mach6. When finished the nestpresents a neatly-moulded cup-shaped cavity, with an inner lining of fine drygrasses. The measurements of a typical nest are as follows: Inside diameter,3.25; depth, 2.25. Outside diameter, 6.50; depth, 4.50. The weights of the drynests vary from one-half to one pound, depending on the amount of mud in theircomposition.Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) reports a nest found by Dall at Nulato,Alaska, on May 22, 1867, that "was built in the midst of a large heapof rubbish in a group of willows, about 2 feet above the ground, andclose to the river bank," a most unusual location!From near the southern limit of its range in the interior, Thomas D.Burleigh (1923) reports a late nest, found on August 7, in BonnerCounty, Idaho; it was "fifteen feet from the ground and twenty feetout at the outer end of a limb of a large hemlock at the side of a swiftroaring stream in a deep wooded ravine."Along the shores of the lower Yukon River, during the first few daysof July, Herbert Brandt (1943) found a number of nests of the northernvaried thrush "in an upright crotch in a small tree, and from three toeight feet above the ground. The bird generally chooses an aspen or awillow but we found one nest in a small spruce tree"; some of the nestswere still under construction and some held eggs or young.Eggs.?Apparently the northern varied thrush lays larger sets ofeggs than the Pacific coast race. In the 11 sets collected by Dr.Grinnell (1900), there were two sets of three, seven sets of four, and twosets of five eggs each. His description of the eggs tallies well with theeggs of the other race, but "the eggs of one set show larger blotchymarkings of raw umber. One egg is almost without markings, thusresembling a robin's."
100 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMHe gives the average measurement of 44 eggs as 30.0 by 21.3 milli-meters, the largest measuring 31.8 by 22.3 and the smallest 28.0 by21.1 millimeters.Food.?The birds that he saw in the Kowak Valley in August werefeeding "almost exclusively on cranberries and blueberries." Grinnelland Storer (1924) say of the food of this subspecies in the Yosemiteregion in winter:Like its not distant relative, the Western Robin, the Varied Thrush (sometimescalled Oregon Robin) feeds in the winter season chiefly on berries of various sorts,and its local occurrence and relative abundance is governed by the season's cropof these. Two or three of these birds seen among golden oaks near Camp LostArrow, November 13, seemed to be feeding on mistletoe berries. On the BigOak Flat road, about 3 miles out of Yosemite Valley, on December 28, 1914, 8 ormore Varied Thrushes were seen feeding on the sweetish berries of a manzanita(Arctostaphylos mariposa). On the Wawona Road at Grouse Creek, November26, 1914, two were apparently feeding on berries of the creek dogwood. In theUpper Sonoran foothill region, the Christmas berry or toyon (Heteromeles arbuti-folia) furnishes a favorite food as long as the crop lasts.Voice.?A. Dawes Du Bois sends me the following tribute to thesong of the northern varied thrush: "I have reason to remember theday that I heard, for the first time, the voice of a varied thrush. It wason the Middle Fork of the Flathead, in the mountains of northwesternMontana. I had seated myself for a brief rest among the rocks nearthe bank of the river. All at once a voice of astonishing clearnesscame from somewhere up the stream?a single tone, long sustainedwith remarkable constancy of pitch. It was followed by a long rest,then another long note and a silence, and yet others, each note ofdistinctly different pitch. This mountain piper was sounding hispipes with deliberate precision, swelling each note with matchlesstruth and purity of tone. His musicwas radiant with spiritual quality,thrilling in its effect. The murmurings and whisperings of the riversupplied the connecting passages. The whole became an imposinglargo, in perfect accord with the wildness, the clarity, the beauty of themountains."Fall?"In the fall of '98," in the Kowak Valley, the varied thrushes
"remained common until the last of August, though at that seasonthe birds were quiet and of secretive habits. * * * The last VariedThrushes, two in number, were seen on September 4th," according toGrinnell (1900). The species was first seen on October 24, 1920, andthereafter "large flocks" were observed on various dates throughoutNovember and December, in the Yosemite Valley, as reported toGrinnell and Storer (1924) by C. W. Michael.
WOOD THRUSH 101HYLOCICHLA MUSTELINA (Gmelin)WOOD THRUSHContributed by Florence Grow WeaverHABITSThe nature lover who has missed hearing the musical bell-like notesof the wood thrush, in the quiet woods of early morning or in thetwilight, has missed a rare treat. The woods seems to have beentransformed into a cathedral where peace and serenity abide. One'sspirit seems truly to have been lifted by this experience.These birds are found in low, cool, damp forests, often near streams.This probably follows because of the need of mud and damp plantmaterial, whichare used in the construction of the nest. Undergrowthand the presence of saplings seem to help determine the suitability ofan area during the breeding season. I found no nests in conifers,which were numerous in the mixed coniferous and deciduous forests inwhich my studies of this species were carried on, but short deadbranches of these trees were often used as song perches. There arecitations in the literature, however, that record nests in conifers. Ahemlock was used in New York, cedars in Florida, and recently manynests have been found in coniferous bogs in northern Michigan; twonests were found in balsam firs. Thickets were usually not chosenby the wood thrush, although one pair built in a sapling ash-leavedmaple in a dense growth of such saplings.Dr. A. A. Allen (1934) believes that this bird dislikes bright sun-light, probably because its eyes are so large that too much sunlightmakes the bird uncomfortable, so that it keeps to thick woods orravines where there is plenty of vegetation and resulting shade.Besides the locations already mentioned, a number of birds chooseplaces near human habitations, or in parks or gardens. Tracing thisadaptation of habitat back through the literature, it seems that thischange took place during a 20-year period, from 1890 to 1910. Wid-mann (1922) reports a nest inside the conservatory in Shaw's Garden,St. Louis, Mo. Orchards are seldom chosen as locations for nests.There is considerable evidence of the gradual northward extensionof the breeding range of the wood thrush. In reviewing the literaturefor this paper, I find a recent breeding record for Montreal, Quebec,Canada, which is a little north of previous records for the vicinity(Cleghorn, 1940).Root (1942) reports records for Cheboygan County in northernMichigan in Canadian Zone coniferous bogs. Roberts (1932) has
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noted the northward spread of this bird into the Canadian Zone inMinnesota. Dr. Fred Lord in Hanover, N. H., has witnessed thenorthward spread in New Hampshire, saying that 30 years ago therewere none in the village, while at the time he was writing, 1943, theywere common.M. W. Provost (1939) writes as follows: "Before the advent of thewhite man, the Wood Thrush was not found farther north than theLake Region in central New Hampshire and Hanover in the Connec-ticut Valley. In the two decades 1890-1910 there was a remarkableinvasion of the White Mountain valleys by this bird. Today it is byno means rare in the transition valleys throughout the mountains andeven up into the forests on slopes up to 2,000 feet. I have found aWood Thrush on July 8, 1937, in the deep forests of the MountainPond region of Chatham, at an elevation of over 1,500 feet and threemiles from the nearest settlements in North Chatham."This statement from Minot (1895), which is a footnote by the editor,William Brewster, will give a basis for the comparison of the distribu-tion then and at the present time: "A summer resident, very commonand generally distributed in Connecticut, less numerous and morelocal in Massachusetts, and rare or accidental north of the latterState, excepting, possibly, near shores of Lake Champlain in westernVermont, where it is said to breed regularly and in some numbers."Goss (1891) also gives habitat as "north to Massachusetts."Some early records of the northward movement are as follows: Anote from F. H. Kennard, written in 1910, states that Horace Wrightrecorded wood thrushes in Jefferson, N. H., which is in the northernpart of State. But Wright (1912) says that in 1904, 1905, and 1908the wood thrush was as yet a rare bird. He heard it at 1,600 feet.F. H. Kennard also heard these birds at Averill, Vt., in the north-eastern tip of the State, June 21, 1912, at 1,850 feet. WilliamBrewster (1938), on May 14, 1896, heard a wood thrush singing atthe Pearly White farm, which is on the Maine side of Umbagog Lake.Spring.?These data are from records in the files of the UnitedStates Fish and Wildlife Service, which divides the range into threesections?the Atlantic, the Mississippi, and the Western. I will dealwith each in order. Most wood thrushes have spent the winter southof the United States. This will be discussed in more detail in thesection called "Winter." Spring migration begins in March whenbirds have been reported in South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia,at about the 33d parallel north latitude. Some records show thatsome birds are still south of the United States at this time; thereforemigration is not really in full swing until April. There are reports ofbirds in North Carolina on April 3, in Maryland on April 6, in Penn-sylvania, and in New Jersey on April 11. A few early individuals have
WOOD THRUSH 103been reported for New York on April 9 and 12. They progress north-ward rapidly and by the end of April are seen in Connecticut, and byMay 19 they have already reached the northern limits of their range.They have been reported from Vermont, Nova Scotia, and NewBrunswick.In the Mississippi Valley, in spring, wood thrushes appear in theUnited States between March 26 and 30. (Audubon seems to be thesource of statements saying that the wood thrush winters in south-ern Louisiana, but more recent studies do not bear him out in this.)Ten days later they have usually advanced northward to DunklinCounty, Mo.; in the next 10 days up to April 20 they have advancedto the parallel of St. Louis; by April 30 they have reached GlenEllyn, 111.; by May 10 they average northward as far as London,Ontario; and in the next 10 days they reach the northern boundaryof their range.For the western part of then range, we have very few records forthe early spring months. The birds reach the southern limits of thewestern flyway about April 1 and advance northward to the 44thparallel and westward to the 102d meridian by May 10.In summarizing, we find that wood thrushes appear earliest inthe Atlantic Coast States and move northward there earlier than inthe Mississippi Valley or west of it. The speed of the advance,however, is greater in the Mississippi section than east or west of it.In the western flyway, the birds are slow in moving northward, butthey do not move as far northward as in the other two flyway s.Courtship and territory.?According to my observations, borne outby those of Brackbill (1943), the male arrives in the territory hechooses and stays there waiting for his mate to arrive. In one case,which I was able to watch from the moment of arrival, the malearrived first and the female two days later. These two birds wereending in their courtship performance on this second day. A bandedmale came back to the same territory for three years in succession.The choice of the actual nesting site seems to be made by the female.She was seen to alight upon a branch, hop to a crotch, stick her headbarely above the leaves, and turn around several times. This par-ticular spot was not chosen, however, so this may have been of nosignificance.The territory of the wood thrush may be as small as one-fifth of anacre or as large as two acres.In defense of this territory the wood thrushes I studied seemed tovary in their reactions. To birds smaller than themselves theyappeared to pay little attention. Birds that disturbed the thrushesmost were other wood thrushes, veeries, and robins, although even
104 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMthen reactions varied greatly. Sometimes other wood thrushes weredriven out, but at other times they were not. Sometimes the malewould challenge the intruder with a burst of his most complete song,which would last as long as 10 minutes. On other occasions theintruder was merely chased from the territory. Most robins werechased, but some were not. All degrees of alarm and retaliationwere displayed from the mildest form, in which the adult sat quietlyand merely raised the feathers on the head, to a real bird fight. Whenthe young in one nest were 10 and 11 days old, the male fought themost furious fight I have ever witnessed. He flew upward attackingthe robin in the air. The two birds flew at each other with wingsbeating rapidly and feathers fluffed from the body. They attackedeach other over and over again, and peace was not restored untilthe robin was chased from the territory. A veery chased two woodthrushes from its territory in an area containing five wood-thrushnests. A scarlet tanager was attracted by the call of a young woodthrush when it was just a day out of the nest. The tanager flew awayunchallenged while another wood thrush, which alighted on the samebranch as had the tanager, was driven out. Brackbill (1943) notesthat the territory was defended against other wood thrushes but thatthe birds seemed very tolerant of other species. He says the onlybirds toward which they displayed hostility were a blue jay and apurple grackle.The males arrive first on the breeding grounds, as the records ofCornell University show that the first wood thrushes reported for 12different seasons were singing birds. In one instance the female ofa pair arrived in the territory three days after the male. Early inthe morning the male bird sat high up in a leafless tree singing. Alow trrrr, which I have often heard both male and female give as if inacknowledgment of its presence, could be heard. There was a suddenflight to the ground. This was followed by six or seven swift, circularflights of about 30 feet in diameter, one bird in pursuit of the other.They both alighted contentedly in the same shrub and began feedingamong the fresh leaves. This circular flight was accompanied byswift turnings to bank with the curve. A few low notes were utteredduring this performance. Four days later the song of the male inthis territory was noticeably loud and long. Loud calls of excitementwere also heard, leading me to believe that the territory waswell established. Another observation of a similar performancewas made. The female stood on a low branch and fluffed her feathersand raised her wings. The male chased her in half a dozen circularflights. Between flights both birds fed among the fresh leaves, oftenbiting off pieces which fell to the ground. In this case the femalearrived six days after the male. He used the very highest tree in the
WOOD THRUSH 105
area as his song perch. This form of courtship was observed evenafter the nest was built. Dr. A. A. Allen (1934) states that he believesthe act of copulation normally takes place on the ground. On oneoccasion I observed what appeared to be copulation but it took placein flight. The birds made several circular flights after which one wentto a small trickling stream for a drink. Then the two met in the air.With a flutter of wings and with wings spread, the male lowered him-self to contact the female. This took place about 8 feet above thegroimd, just over the top of a bushy shrub. They continued to flyaround after each other.Nesting.?The nest of the wood thrush is much like that of the robin.Both contain a middle layer of mud or plant material mixed with mud.The wood thrush's nest can be distinguished from the robin's by thepresence of dead leaves and sometimes moss. Each wood thrush nestI examined was lined with brown rootlets, whereas the robin's nestswere lined with dried grass.All except two of 20 nests examined contained paper, cellophane,white cloth, or some white material. One of the two exceptions hadlong pieces of dried grass hanging from the bottom, yet this was in aposition within easy access of paper. The other was away fromhabitations where such materials were not available. These piecesof paper or rags used in the foundation of the nest would seem tomake it more conspicuous. Dr. A. A. Allen (1934) suggests thatperhaps enemies do not recognize such large affairs as nests. Myinterpretation is that its use follows the theory of concealing colorationin that it breaks the nest contour. The bird's white underparts weresometimes used also. The female fluffed her flank feathers so muchthat they and the under tail coverts were visible, thus breaking thecontour lines of the bird. Also, the incubating bird, in holding herhead high, shows the white triangle of the chin and throat. It wasalso noted that when something happened to frighten the incubatingbird, she pressed her body more deeply into the nest and held herhead back farther, pointing her bill upward. This made the whitethroat still more conspicuous.In all cases where rags, cellophane, and paper were used they werewhite or transparent. In two instances in which it was known thatnests had been broken up or new ones were started, pieces of coloredpaper, cellophane, and tinfoil were scattered about to see if thesewould be used. In one case the second nest was already built; in theother the birds moved beyond the area of the scattered materials sothe experiment came to naught. White paper was used in both thesesecond nests.The nest is a firm, compact cup of grasses and weed stalks with amiddle layer of mud or leaf mold. In a few cases where the nest was792825?49 8
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saddled on the branch, the nest was cemented to the branch with mud.Every nest observed had dead leaves or leaf skeletons tucked into thebottom. The nest is loosely lined with fine dark rootlets. Inside, thenest measures 2 inches deep and 3K inches wide.The nest is usually fixed in a fork in saplings or undergrowth, butsome were found saddled on horizontal branches. Several nests werefound in shade trees near houses. Nests ranged from 6 to 50 feetfrom the ground. The average height of 15 nests was 10 feet.Nesting materials varied considerably with the availability ofmaterials. Where paper was in abundance much was used. In somenests more leaf skeletons were used than in others. One nest con-tained many weed stalks because they were available. The outsidedepths of nests varied greatly with their location. On a horizontalbranch the nest was shallow, to fill a crotch it was deep.I was not fortunate enough to observe the entire construction of anest. In one case building a blind frightened a pair from its chosensite while a nest was under construction. In another instance I founda deserted, partially built nest, so that the progress could be traced.In one instance a pair was observed to start the nest. Five days laterit was finished and the first egg was laid.There seems to be little choice in selecting the kind of tree, shrub, orvine used. The following list is a summary of 14 nests: one nest eachin basswood, juneberry, birch, locust, and a grapevine; two nests eachin maple, witch-hazel, and hawthorn; and three nests in elms.Many references state that many kinds of trees are used.Territories used in 1936 and 1937 were used also in 1938. In onecase a pair built in the identical spot it had used the year before, sinceI had removed the old nest after nesting was over.I have no evidence of this species ever using the same nest a secondtime or a second season.The only reference to the fact that the wood thrush nests on theground is in the "Key for Identifying Bird's Nests," prepared byHelen Blair (1935). Mary H. Benson, a former student at AlleghanyState Park Nature Camp, has informed me that a wood thrush's nestwas found on the ground there and that Aretas A. Saunders photo-graphed it.A wood thrush's nest, after being used by a family, is a well-wornand sorry-looking abode. Pieces of loosened lining are removed bythe adults so that finally there is little left; bits of the rim break offleaving it quite irregular; bits of feather sheaths from the young arefound on the bottom despite the immaculate care given the nest bythe adults.The time of nesting is probably determined by the character of thefood of the young and also the concealment of the nesting site and
WOOD THRUSH 107the young out of the nest. In Ithaca, N. Y., the nesting season ex-tends from May 12 until the end of July.Nesting instincts are very strong in both the male and female birds.The female often gives evidence of this by remaining on the nest whilea person walks up to it and stands within 3 feet of her. An attemptwas made to reach out and touch an incubating female; she sat quietlyuntil the hand was within a few inches of her before she flew. Thefemale, after banding, returned to the nest within 15 minutes, whileit took the male bird an hour to quiet down after being excited.Several times the female returned to the nest while the male bird wasstill uttering the quirt, quirt call of alarm. The least movement inthe vicinity of the nest would cause the male to utter a low trrrrcall.Eggs.?The eggs of the wood thrush are smooth, ovate in shape,plain in color. According to Ridgway's "Color Standards" (1912),the color is "beryl green" if the egg is dark; "pale sulphite green"to "Nile blue" if it is light; or, in common parlance, greenish bluemuch like those of the robin. The eggs of the wood thrush are smallerthan those of the robin and are more pointed toward the small end.[Author's note: The measurements of 50 eggs in the UnitedStates National Museum average 25.4 by 18.6 millimeters; the eggsshowing the four extremes measure 28.5 by 19.3, 28.2 by 19.8, and22.4 by 16.5 millimeters.lAuthors give varying figures as to the number of eggs in a clutch,varying from two to five. Data from my study show that in no casewas a clutch composed of five eggs. A fifth egg was laid in one caseafter the removal of a punctured egg. Of 16 nests observed in1937, the average number of eggs per nest was three. In 1938 theaverage number in 15 nests was four. Together they average three.In 1938 in 15 nests, 51 eggs were laid out of which 33 young wereproduced from which 22 survived. This is a survival of 43 percentof the eggs laid, and 66 percent of the young hatched.Evidence at hand does not show more than two clutches of eggsfor any pair of birds. In one case positive evidence was obtained bymarking birds that the second clutch was a second brood. Thiswill be discussed later. In many cases when the first nest was brokenup a second nest with a second clutch was found. In one instance apair built three nests, but in the second no eggs were laid.An egg is laid each day until the clutch is complete. In one caseI observed and timed the laying of eggs and found that they werelaid about 10:30 o'clock on two successive mornings.Incubation.-?Eggs were marked so that the incubation period couldbe determined. It was found to be 13 or 14 days. Incubation be-gins with the laying of either the second or third egg. These conclu-
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sions are drawn from observations on two closely watched nests offour eggs each. Eggs were marked. The first two eggs in each casehatched in 14 days and the last two in 13 days.The brood spot occupies the region of the abdomen. It is deepred in color and is devoid of all feathers. This was found only onfemale birds and was used to identify the females when banding them.The eggs were turned by the female by clasping the egg betweenthe angle made by the bill, chin, and throat when the head waspointed downward into the nest. With a raking motion she turnedthe eggs.Incubation is performed solely by the female wood thrush. Inorder to prove this, a unique method of catching nesting birds wasemployed. William Montagna had learned this in Italy. At thetime of this study he was assistant to Dr. G. M. Sutton, of the Labo-ratory of Ornithology of Cornell University. He employed a pieceof orchard grass 2% feet long. The leaves were stripped from it anda slip knot was tied at the end. The grass was moved up to the birdon the nest without frightening her. It was slipped over her head andtightened, and the nesting bird was captured. These birds werethen marked with colored feathers, as well as aluminum bands, foridentification purposes. Since no desertions resulted, the method wasconsidered successful. Subsequent visits to the nests of birds markedin this fashion and observations on other banded birds give evidenceof the fact that only the female incubates. Several birds were trappedwith a drop trap as the young were about to leave the nest. Onlyone bird of each pair had a brood spot. Examination of the gonads ofa bird, believed to be the male of a pair with young in the nest, indi-cated that the bird on the nest was the female. Brackbill (1943) alsostates that only the female incubates. His study was made withmarked birds.I should like to describe the hatching of eggs by giving an accountof an all-day observation period beginning at 4:10 A. m. on June 22,1937, in Ithaca, N. Y. The female sat deeply huddled in the nest.The male was singing soon after 4 a. m. From this time until 7:15a. m. the female would raise herself from the nest, back off, and lookin. Sometimes she would peck in the nest, then settle on again witha rolling motion. She repeated this over a period of four hours on theaverage of once every 15 minutes. At 9:15 a. m. her anxiety wasrelieved by the hatching of one of her four eggs. Male birds of thisspecies had not been observed to feed the female on the nest, and soit was thought that perhaps the male in this case was acting in antici-pation of the coming event when he arrived at the edge of the nest inthe absence of the female with a small green caterpillar dangling fromhis mouth. He stood on the edge of the nest, looked in, ate the cater-
WOOD THRUSH 109pillar, then sang his full song. This was four hours before the hatch-ing of the first egg.It took six minutes for the first egg to hatch. Four minutes laterthe young was free from the shell and it called and opened its mouth.The female fed it with a small insect she had picked up in the nest.She waited 15 minutes after the hatching before she carried away theshell. After leaving the blind, I found the shell about 50 feet southeastof the nest. She took the small end first, then six minutes later carriedaway the other piece. After she had disposed of the first piece, themale brought food. The female tried to give the food to the youngbut gave up and ate it herself. Later the male came again with food.The female took it from him and swallowed it.The time required for the hatching of an egg varied greatly. In onecase it required 22 hours after the shell was pipped. Another egg inthe same nest required only 5}i hours. In another instance the shellwas pipped one-half inch at 8 p. m., but the egg did not hatch until4:25 the next morning. The time probably varies with the vitality ofthe young bird as well as with the temperature of the egg.The actual hatching is not a consistent procedure. The move-ments of the young cause the shells to open differently, so the youngmust use various means of freeing themselves from the shell. In onecase 10 minutes after the shell was completely cut the left wing pro-truded from the opening. In another 10 minutes the right wing andhead were free. The feet were freed last. The head of the bird liesin the large end of the egg. The head is bent downward causing theegg tooth to cut the egg at the large end at a distance of about one-fourth the length of the egg.The egg tooth is a small whitish dot on the upper mandible near thetip. It is still visible at the time when the young birds are ready toleave the nest.No one procedure was followed consistently in disposing of the egg-shell. In one instance the female carried the two halves separately toa distance of 50 feet. Another time she carried away the larger partbut ate the smaller part. In one case she ate the broken bits of theshell as it was being opened by the young.Progress of a typical wood-thrush nest:Building nest, 5 days, May 28 to June 1.Eggs laid, 4 days, June 2 to June 5.Incubation, 13 days, June 3-4 to June 16-18.Hatching, 2 days, June 16 to June 18.Brooding, 12 days, June 16 to June 30.The number of young hatched from 43 wood-thrush eggs laid in1937 was 27, or 63 percent. In 1938, of 51 eggs, 33 young were
110 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMhatched, or 64 percent. In 1938, of the 51 eggs laid, 43 percent of theyoung survived to leave the nest.In 1937, of the four nests which contained four eggs each, in onlyone instance did all four young survive to leave the nest.In 1938, of eight nests containing four eggs each, in two cases allfour young survived, and in one of these two. A cowbird survivedwith the four young wood thrushes.Young.?The first plumage of this species is the natal down, whichis light gray in color. Young wood thrushes, at hatching, average5.08 grams in weight. They are approximately 46 millimeters inlength; the tarsus averages 17 millimeters; the wing 9 millimeters;and the gape 9 millimeters. On the second day the eye slit breaksthrough the skin but the eyes are not open. The eyes open betweenthe fifth and seventh days (Brackbill, 1943). On the third day thefirst feathers, wing primaries, and tail rectrices pierce the skin. Thefirst wing fluttering occurs between the ninth and twelfth days(Brackbill, 1943).The female alone broods the young. Brackbill (1943) states thatthere was no progressive daily decrease in brooding at either of thenests he observed. During the cool hours of early morning the femalebrooded oftener and for longer periods than during the hotter part ofthe day. Brooding lasted throughout the nest life of the young evenon the day they left the nest.Both females on the nest and young wood thrushes were observedto sleep occasionally. The nesting adult would open her eyes quitefrequently only to close them again. The young slept both in thenest and after they had left it. On one occasion a young bird thathad been out of the nest four days sat for 10 minutes on a small branchwith its feathers all fluffed out and its head under its wing. A youngbird in the nest was so relaxed during sleep that its head hung downover the edge of the nest.Young birds in the nest were marked with small pieces of coloredfeathers glued to the tops of their heads so that individual records oftheir activities might be kept. Both male and female birds feed theyoung in the nest, each bird being fed about every 20 minutes whenthe birds were seven and eight days old. Young in the nest were fedmulberries and honeysuckle berries as well as animal matter. Thefood call of nestlings is very weak. It is a single chip in a high-pitched tone. Sometimes the adults gave a squeaky call utteredwith the mouth full of food, to get the young to open their mouths.Once the male bird pecked the female on the head to get her to moveso he could feed the young. At times the female flew away while themale fed the young, but at other times she stood on the rim of thenest. Both adults disposed of excreta either by swallowing it or by
WOOD THRUSH HI
carrying the excretal sac away. The adult that happened to bepresent at the time the sac was expelled attended to the disposal.BrackbilTs (1943) calculations showed that the male made two-thirds of the feedings while young were in the nest. The feeding daycorresponds roughly to the time between sunrise and sunset. Healso states that each bird was fed 47 times per day. However, hefound that birds of the second brood were fed every 39 minutes incomparison with 19K minutes for the first brood, which resulted inbut 24 feedings per bird per day, or half as many as the first broodreceived.The female birds observed by both Brackbill (1943) and myselfseemed to use some care in the type of food given the young. Shefed them caterpillars and small insects. If the male brought large orhard-shelled or winged insects she ate the head, wings, and other lesseasily digested parts before offering the remainder to the young. Thefemale was seen to divide food brought by the male among severalyoung instead of allowing one to have it all.Brackbill states that young birds begin to forage for themselveswhen 20 to 23 days old, although they may beg for food from adultsanywhere up to 32 days.The adult male birds were usually in the close vicinity of the nestto defend the young. The degree of their attentions varied greatlywith the individual bird. There is some indication that the protectiveinstinct is stronger early in the season. In one case the male spentmost of the time while the female was off the nest perched above thenest. Other males perched in view of the nest but sometimes asmuch as 20 feet away. The male at one nest early in July was veryinattentive. He did not guard the nest closely, almost never helpedin feeding the young.During the two days before leaving the nest, the young birds en-gaged in preening their feathers and occasionally beating their wingsrapidly. They would also stretch one leg or a wing its full lengthand at times raise the whole body while standing on and stretchingboth legs. A few times one was observed to shake the whole bodyto fluff all the feathers. Sometimes one bird would spend as manyas five minutes exercising while the other two in the nest remainedquiet. When the one that had been exercising had finished, itwould settle down to rest while another would take up the business ofexercising. At times all the birds fluffed feathers, preened, andstretched at the same time. In doing so they crowded each otherto the edge of the nest so far that a sudden stretching of a wing wasnecessary to prevent the bird from falling from the nest. Betweenperiods of exercising the young spent a considerable amount of timesleeping.
112 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMFew references were found in the literature to the number of broodsraised by the wood thrush in a season. Minot (1895) indicatessecond broods near Boston, saying that first sets were laid last weekof May and "those of the second, if any, in the early part of July."Harbaum (1921) observed a pair through two nestings, but no evidenceof the birds being marked is given. The writer set out to find definiteproof with marked birds (since also found by Hervey Brackbill inBaltimore, Md., 1943). In Ithaca, N. Y., young from a nest underobservation were placed in a drop trap just previous to the time fortheir departure from the nest. First one adult was caught. Thisone was kept at a distance in a collecting cage. The food calls of theyoung in the trap attracted the other adult. When caught the adultswere marked with colored celluloid bands, as well as aluminumbands. A colored chicken feather was glued to the tail feathers ofeach bird.The first egg was laid in the first nest on May 19. The young birdsleft the nest on June 15. On July 2 the second nest was found. Thesame birds had mated and two eggs were in the nest. These hatchedon July 16 and 17. This second nest was located about 10 feet fromthe first nest. If a pair of birds has to make two or three trials beforebeing successful in raising a brood, the season is too far advanced fora second brood; if, however, the first nest is successfully raised asecond brood may follow.The young birds unceremoniously leave the nest 12 or 13 days afterhatching. I observed no coaxing or "teaching" on the part of theadults. The first in one case flew and alighted on the ground about20 feet south of the nest. The second, when frightened, stood on theedge and flew, alighting on a small branch near the trunk of a hemlocktree 20 feet above the ground. The third bird in this nest remainedquietly resting for half an hour. Without being disturbed it stood onthe edge of the nest and flew to the ground alighting about 10 feetaway.The male bird seemed to defend the entire feeding territory althoughhe took charge of feeding certain of the young out of the nest while thefemale fed certain others. This seems to need further study.Brackbill (1943), in a case of three birds in a brood, says that the malefed two out of the three in each of two successive broods, while thefemale fed the third bird.After leaving the nest the young stay in a limited territory near thenest for several days. As their ability to fly increases they moveabout. Birds were found in the vicinity of nests six to nine days afterthey had left. They were still being fed by the adults. The adultswould return to the spot where the young was fed last. The food-getting was usually confined to an area close to the young. The young
WOOD THRUSH 113bird would often lift and flutter its wings rapidly when approachedby the parent with food, at the same time uttering rapid, squeakycalls.Plumages.?The newly hatched wood thrush is clothed in nataldown. The juvenal feathers are a continuation of this down, which iscarried out on the tip of the new feathers and is finally rubbed off.The down is still present when the young leave the nest. The loss ofthe down is the postnatal molt. The juvenal plumage is the firstcomplete plumage of the bird following the natal down and is acquiredby the growth of new feathers. Sheaths are short and are lostquickly, as a bird when ready to leave the nest has no sheaths on theshort body feathers. Therefore, when sheaths are found approxi-mately six weeks later, they are known to be those of new feathers.Then, at six weeks the juvenal plumage is lost by an incomplete post-juvenal molt in which the body feathers are lost but not the flightfeathers, neither in wings nor tail. This molt brings the bird into itsfirst winter plumage.The first nuptial plumage is supposedly acquired by abrasion orfeather wear accomplished by casting the points of the feathers.This takes place on the wintering grounds before spring migration.The postnuptial molt is complete, both body and flight feathersbeing lost. Specimens were found in molt at the end of July. Thesebirds were practically "bob-tailed." At this time the birds are secre-tive in habits, of necessity.Wetmore (1936) states that a female weighing 60.4 grams had2,075 feathers, which weighed 3.2 grams.Brackbill (1943) banded a partially albino female wood thrush.It had a white feather in the crown, some white feathers among theupper tail coverts, and four white rectrices. The eyes were normal.No sign of the inheritance of this character could be noted in any ofthe two broods of three young.Food.?Thrushes are insectivorous but are fond of fruit. TheU. S. Fish and Wildlife Service supplied the following data on thefood of this species, based on 179 stomachs examined. These birdswere taken from 19 States, 5 from Ontario, Canada, and 19 from theDistrict of Columbia. They were unequally distributed over ninemonths of the year, the months of May and July yielding morespecimens.In the 179 examinations, 62.25 percent of the material consisted ofanimal matter and 37.75 percent vegetable matter. Of the latter,3.49 percent was cultivated fruit and 31.2 percent wild fruit. Ingeneral, this bird is beneficial, although 2.17 percent of its food iscomposed of useful Coleoptera, 8.38 percent of Arachnida, and 3.49percent of cultivated fruit, making a total of 14.04 percent of food
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substances useful to man. This percentage is canceled by its con-sumption of the following predators: Orthoptera, 2.1 percent; Rhyn-chophora, 2.16 percent; and Lepidoptera, 11.29 percent, making atotal of 15.55 percent of food substances in the harmful class.During my observations the following foods were fed to youngbirds: Several species of moths, ants, spiders, caterpillars, mulberries,honeysuckle berries, earthworms, and cankerworms.Economically, then, the wood thrush is to be encouraged, for itsfood habits prove that it is a valuable aid in the destruction of manyinjurious insects and but few beneficial ones.It was observed that soon after their arrival the birds fed from thefoliage of the newly leaved trees. In their feeding they sometimesbroke off pieces of leaves which fell to the ground. Later most of thefeeding was done on the ground. Their presence in an area can oftenbe detected by noticing them turning over leaves with the bill. Aletter from D. J. Nicholson to A. H. Howell contains an interestingincident in which the writer saw a wood thrush eating pokeberriesby springing up 18 inches and plucking off a berry. He also took apicture of these birds eating fallen gallberries.Behavior.?When alarmed, wood thrushes, both adults and young,raise and lower the feathers of the head, giving the appearance of acrest. The young have been observed to do this only just previousto the time for leaving the nest, or after the fear instinct has beendeveloped.While incubating and brooding, when the temperature was high,the female lifted her wings from her sides and raised the feathers ofher back and sides to allow air to circulate beneath them. She andthe young in the nest often sat with mouths open when it was hottest.The wood thrushes' reactions to storm and rain were noted byBrackbill (1943) and by the writer. Brackbill observed a female ina heavy downpour. She sat closely, holding her head at an angle of60?, presumably to compress the feathers at the nape of the neck.During a late afternoon storm it became very dark and the malebird I was watching, who had been guarding the nest in the absenceof the female, settled on the nest and covered the young. It rainedand the wind blew quite hard. During a very heavy wind, Brackbillwatched an incubating female. At times the eggs seemed perilouslynear falling from the nest, as it was tilted by the wind, but the femaleremained calm. A few times she almost lost her balance.[Author's note: When living in our towns and cities, the woodthrush losses much of its natural shyness and timidity. We oftensee it leave the shelter of the shrubbery or leafy thickets in the moresecluded borders of our grounds and come out onto the lawn in searchof food, almost as fearless as a robin. It may even visit the bird
WOOD THRUSH 115bath or take a shower bath under the automatic lawn sprinkler,provided that we are careful not to frighten it by too close an approach.It seems to be more trustful of its human neighbors than does itsshy relative in the woodlands.]Voice.?Saunders (MS.) says: "The song of the wood thrush islong continued, made up of a number of different phrases, sung in variedorder, with rather long pauses between the phrases. It sounds likeeeohlay ayolee ahleelee ayleahlolah ilolilee, etc." Else-where (1924) he writes: "Each phrase may have three parts, an intro-duction of two or three short notes, usually low in pitch and notespecially musical; a central phrase of two to five notes, most com-monly three, loud, clear, flute-like and extremely musical; and a ter-mination of three or four notes, usually high-pitched, not so loud,and generally the least musical part of the song. Phrases may besung either with or without either introduction, termination orboth, and sometimes, especially late in the season, birds indulge thehabit of singing only introductions and terminations, leaving outthe beautiful central phrases." Saunders made records of 115 wood-thrush songs, which showed the pitch to range from D" to D"",two complete octaves. The average bird has a range of a tone ortwo over an octave.The song of the wood thrush early in the season is more elaborate,performed with more vigor, and is of longer duration than songs laterin the season.The calls fell into three classifications discussed here in order ofthe degree of feeling seemingly expressed by them. When slightlydisturbed, or uneasy, apparently to indicate his or her presence, bothmale and female utter a sound that can be expressed by trrrrrr, trrrr,a sort of rattle or trill. The other bird would then often respond withthe same call. If they became alarmed they used the pit, pit, pit call.When greatly alarmed, as when danger threatened nest or young, thecall changed to quirt, quirt, quirt, quirt, usually accompanied byswift zooming flights at the intruding person, bird, or object. Duringthis defensive demonstration the bill was snapped and the birds camewithin a few inches of the object of their fury. This happened onceupon the erection of a blind.Another sound made by both male and female was a squeakywhistle. During the nesting period both male and female wereheard to give this clear whistle upon several occasions. This wasused by either adult upon arrival at the nest with food, especiallywhen the young did not open their mouths to receive it. Sometimesit was necessary for an adult to repeat this at least four times. Itcan be described by saying that it seemed to have been produced byinhaling with the bill almost closed. It was often given when the
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bill was filled with food. The female sometimes gave this sound whileshe was on the nest. It was also used by the male when he sat atsome distance from the nest or when he arrived with food and thefemale did not leave the nest so that he could feed the young.Brackbill (1943) describes a "rudimentary or vestigial song"?anexplosive one used by the female in defense of territory.The young birds uttered a faint chip, which was the food call. Thiswas not loud enough to be heard at any distance but could be heardeasily from the blind. My first record of such a call was made, asmentioned before, four minutes after the young was free from theshell. This call also serves to indicate the location of the birds afterthey have left the nest. Brackbill (1943) says that the juvenilesbegan using a rudimentary form of the adults' rattle or trill, whichconsisted of three or four notes, at the age of 21 days. Also whenchased a young bird bursts into a series of calls similar to the adultcall I have described as pit, pit.Early in the season wood thrushes perched in the tops of thehighest trees in their territories to sing their loudest, most complete,and most varied songs of the season. A week later perches were about15 feet above the ground. Often they chose short, dead branches ofhemlocks. Others were known to sing from the ground, from largelogs, in the nest tree, or even from the edge of the nest in the absence ofthe female.From my observations, wood thrushes begin their morning songswith the break of day, singing at the end of June at 3:45 a. m. inIthaca, N. Y. At this time it is still quite dark and feeding has notyet begun. This singing continues both through the periods ofincubation and brooding. Evening song usually ceases at dark, orabout 8:00 p. m. in June in Ithaca, Wright (1912) made a study ofmorning awakening and evening songs of birds in the White Mountainsof New Hampshire in which he recorded the average of early wood-thrush songs as 3 :26 a. m. The earliest sunrise during the study was4 :02, and so the wood thrushes sang about half an hour before sunrise.Song on the breeding grounds begins with the arrival of the firstbirds; so it is believed that the males do not wait until the femalesarrive before the song period begins. Males arrive and sing to denotethe possession of their territory. There was song in the evening only,after the young had left the nest.On one occasion Brackbill heard a wood thrush sing a song of goodquality while on the wing and not in defense of territory.Forbush (1929) describes the calls and song as follows: "Notes, aliquid quirt, a low tut tut, a sharp pit pit or pip pip and a shrill tsee tsee.Song, a pure, clear, sweet, expressive, liquid refrain, often with abell-like ending; usually composed of a series of triplets, each beginning
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with a high note, then a low one, then a trill, often highest of all, butthe different phrases varying in pitch. It is calm, unhurried, peaceful,and unequaled in both power and beauty by any other woodlandsongster of New England."Saunders (1921a) claims that individual male wood thrushes havecharacteristic songs by which they can be identified. John Burroughs(1880) also makes this statement. Saunders says that a count ofpairs merely by singing males is not reliable, but such a count wouldbe possible if individual songs were studied.Charles W. Townsend (1924) and Francis H. Allen, quoted by him,state that they heard catbirds mimic the song of the wood thrush.The white-eyed vireo, according to Brand, is an imitator of this bird,and Forbush (1929) reports that it has been known to imitate thewood thrush.About the middle of October 1927, at 2 a. m. on a moonlight night,a large flock of birds alighted in tops of street basswoods in resi-dential Washington, D. C. (Hazen, 1928). Immediately at least 10wood thrushes burst into full song. They sang continuously for 20minutes, then one lone bird sang until the flock disappeared at2:45 a. m. The thrushes were accompanied by small tree-top birds,either vireos or kinglets.The latest songs of the wood thrush in the autumn were recordedon July 28 and August 10 at Ithaca, N. Y. Brackbill (1943) recordsAugust 2 in Baltimore, Md. Saunders (MS.) gives July 29 as hisaverage fall song date. His latest dates are August 8, 1928, andSeptember 7, 1941. As a rule, then, the song period closes about theend of July, and little is seen or heard from the birds from then on.During the postnuptial molt birds were located by listening for thecalls of excitement, but no songs were heard.Field marks.?The members of the genus Hylocichla have more orless spotting on the underparts and the young are spotted above andbelow in the juvenal plumage. The distinguishing characteristicsthat separate this species, mustelina, from the others of the genus areits larger size (over 8 inches in length) and greater sturdiness. Itsupperparts are bright cinnamon-brown, being brightest on the headand changing gradually to olive on the upper tail coverts and tail.(The hermit thrush has the cinnamon-brown most pronounced on thetail.) The underparts are white, thickly marked with large roundeddark brown spots, except on the throat and middle of the belly. Thisspecies is more strongly marked than others of the genus; the spotsare larger, more distinct, more numerous, and more generally dis-persed. The spots extend well down on the flanks, more so than onany of the other thrushes. In distinguishing this bird from confusingspecies other than thrushes, we may eliminate the brown thrasher by
118 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMthe fact that it is longer-tailed and is streaked below rather thanspotted. The large dark eye of the thrush is to be compared withthe yellow eye of the thrasher (Forbush, 1929). The fox sparrow isreddish-tailed, underparts streaked, not spotted, and the bill is thick,conical, and sparrowlike rather than slender like that of the thrush.Enemies.?Cats are responsible for the destruction of some woodthrushes. "Causes of death" listed on banding returns in the files ofthe United States Fish and Wildlife Service show that on 74 returns8 percent of the deaths were due to cats.In 1938 three nests were deserted because of the destruction of theentire clutch of eggs. In each case a few very tiny bits of the shellswere found in the nests. Those acquainted with the predators of theregion offered the suggestion that the red squirrel may have been guilty.Approximately one-fifth of the nests studied were parasitized by thecowbird. This social parasitism decreases the numerical strength ofthe species by causing desertion in some cases. A few instances willbe cited. In a nest containing one cowbird egg and three wood-thrusheggs, the thrush eggs disappeared, one each day, until only the cow-bird egg was left. The nest was deserted after the last egg disappeared.In another case the writer removed three cowbird eggs from one nest.In one nest containing a day-old cowbird and one thrush egg, thethrush egg did not hatch. In contrast, however, a nest containedfour wood-thrush eggs and one cowbird egg, all of which hatched andall the young survived to leave the nest.Friedmann (1929) in his book on the cowbird gives interesting in-formation on its relation to the wood thrush. The wood thrush islarger than the cowbird yet is frequently parasitized and is also seencaring for young cowbirds. Often the cowbird is the only survivorin a thrush nest. Records of such parasitism come from New Eng-land, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, Ohio,and Indiana.Perry (1908) describes a wood-thrush nest in Illinois in which fivecowbird eggs were laid. These were laid by at least two cowbirds,since two were deposited on the same day. Despite this, one youngwood thrush lived to leave the nest successfully.In one instance I recorded the feeding times of a young cowbirdwhich was in a nest with one wood thrush. There are many uncon-trolled factors that would discount any conclusions drawn, but in thiscase the feedings were of the same number, averaging about one every15 minutes.Wood thrushes react to cowbird eggs in several ways. There wassome evidence that the wood thrush tried to imbed the intruder's eggs.Friedmann (1929) said in the majority of cases the eggs and young
WOOD THRUSH 119
were tolerated, and tbat Lynds Jones knew a case in which the woodthrush tried to throw the cowbird egg out.Wood thrushes seem to be fairly free from external parasites, asnone were found on the many birds handled during the study madeby the author. There were indications at times that the adultspicked them from the nest; one time, after picking in the nest, theadult put her bill into the mouth of a young bird seeming to feed it.Peters (1936) lists two parasites found on this species, one a louse(Myrsidea incerta (Kellogg)), on a specimen from New York, anda tick (Haemaphysalis leporis-palustris Packard), on a specimen fromNorth Carolina.A study of the Federal Government's records of bird-bandingshows that, up to May 1936, the oldest banded wood thrush wassix years old. From my own records, I had a bird three years old,which nested in the same vicinity each of the three years.Fall.?Kecords of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service werestudied to make this summary of fall migration. In the Atlanticflyway in September, wood thrushes are still in their summer range,being found as far north as they were during the summer months,although there is no way of telling in what numbers they are present.The autumn migration begins in October. The northernmost recordsfor October are one for Maine, one for central Vermont, and one forNew Haven, Conn. They are still numerous in New York, Pennsyl-vania, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia. In November thereare about a dozen records of birds in the United States, so that bythis time most birds have left our country. The first actual recordof a bird south of the United States is one for Almirante, Panama, onOctober 30.In the Mississippi flyway in September, wood thrushes are still as farnorth as they were during the summer, being found in Ontario, butOctober records show a southward movement. The last fall record isat Ozark Beach, Mo., on October 27.There were only six records on file of fall dates in the Westernflyway. In September a record was made in Sioux Falls, S. Dak.The last fall record was made at Independence, Kans., near the endof October.In comparing these data we find that wood thrushes remain longestin the United States in the Atlantic Coast States.There is an interesting note by Weston (1935) about the fall migra-tion of wood thrushes at Pensacola, Fla.: "A heavy flight of woodthrushes filled the swamps with birds on October 13." The latestdate given by Howell (1932) for Florida is October 14.In Ithaca, N. Y., the latest fall record is September 18.
120 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMA. A. Allen (1934) and Lincoln (1935) state that the thrushesmigrate at night because light is less intense, they can then betteravoid their enemies, and they can take care of feeding during thedaytime.Fall migration, then, can be described as irregular since some birdsare found in the United States (Florida) every month of the year, butmost have left the country by the end of October.A study of migration records leads me to conclude that there is nodefinite route of migration either in spring or fall. This is contraryto the statement that thrushes prefer the Mississippi Valley flyway.Winter.?Most wood thrushes have left the United States by theend of October, but there are a few records for November some ofwhich are quite far north: New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey,and Pennsylvania. The scarcity of records, however, would indicatethat these are stragglers and that by November most of the birdshave left the United States. The United States Fish and WildlifeService had but a dozen records for November at the time this studywas made, and of those, four were from places south of the UnitedStates: One for Nicaragua, two for Costa Rica, and one for Panama.In December there are records from New Jersey, South Carolina,Alabama, and Florida, in the United States, and two for places southof our country, one from Costa Rica and one from Barro ColoradoIsland, Panama. The January records are from Georgia, Florida, andMexico, only one record in each case. These were the only recordsin the files for that month. The February records consist of fourfrom Florida, with others from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, andCosta Rica.Roberts (1932) summarizes, saying: "Winters in southern Mexicoand Central America and occasionally in Florida. Casual in migrationin the Bahamas, Cuba, and Jamaica; accidental in Colorado andBermuda."Id checking the Christmas bird-census records in Bird-Lore, I foundtwo records of observations of the wood thrush. At Cape May, N. J.,1934, one was seen by McDonald and others. Another record wasfrom Paris, Tenn., where three were seen in 1933.Howell (1932) lists four records of wintering individuals in Florida.O. Salvin (1888), in writing of the birds of the islands off the coastof Yucatan, says: "A migratory species from the north, and commonin Cozumel Island. It has not been noticed in Northern Yucatan,but it occurs in Cuba, though rarely. It is abundant in the wintermonths in Southern Mexico and Eastern Guatemala, the southernlimit of its range being Northern Honduras."Alexander F. Skutch, an American ornithologist in Costa Rica,writes me that he observed a wood thrush on Barro Colorado Island,
WOOD THRUSH 121in the Canal Zone, in March 1935. He says it "was singing when Icame upon him. Although it is stated by Carriker and others thatthe NorthAmerican birds which winter in Central America are 'almostinvariably as silent as so many shadows', this is quite untrue. Manyof the song birds which pass the winter here begin to sing a short timebefore their departure for the north."A note from Mr. Skutch to A. C. Bent summarizes his CentralAmerican observations of the wood thrush: "The wood thrush wintersin Central America throughout the length of the Caribbean lowlands;but I have found it far from abundant in Guatemala and Honduras,and exceedingly rare in Costa Rica and Panama. During the wintermonths it does not form flocks, but leads a solitary life, in the under-growth of the forest, in low moist thickets, or even in banana planta-tions. On March 21, 1935, I heard a wood thrush sing in the under-growth of the forest on Barro Colorado Island, Canal Zone. His songwas subdued but perfectly distinct, and beautiful as always. Thesingle thrush was in company with antbirds of several kinds. Myonly records that suggest the time of arrival and departure of thismigrant are: Tela, Honduras, October 1, 1930; near Los Amates,Guatemala, April 4, 1932 ; and Barro Colorado Island, March 21, 1935."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Eastern North America from southern Canada to Panama.Breeding range.?The wood thrush breeds north to northern Minne-sota (Deer River and Duluth) ; northern Michigan (Iron County,McMillan, and Mackinac Island) ; southern Ontario (Lake Nipissing,Algonquin Park, and Ottawa) ; southern Quebec (Lac Manitou andMontreal, and casually to Gaspe County); central Maine (Phillips,Sidney, and Dover-Foxcroft, occasionally) ; southern New Brunswick(St. Stephen); and possibly Nova Scotia (Digby). East to south-western New Brunswick (St. Stephen) ; possibly Nova Scotia (Digby) ;the Atlantic Coast States south to northern Florida (Orange Park,Middleburg, and Bostwick). South to northern Florida (Bostwick,Waukeenah, Whitfield, and Pensacola); Alabama (Spring Hill),Louisiana (Madisonville, Baton Rouge, and Avery Island); andsoutheastern Texas (Houston). West to eastern Texas (Houston,Tyler, and Marshall); central Oklahoma (Fort Reno and Ponca);central Kansas (Wichita, St. John, and Hays) ; central Nebraska (RedCloud, North Platte, North Loup, and Neligh); southeastern SouthDakota (Yankton and Sioux Falls, casually Pierre); and northernMinnesota (St. Cloud and Deer River).Winter range.?In winter the wood thrush is found north to extremesouthern Texas, rarely or casually (Brownsville) ; northern Florida(Whitfield and Gainesville). East to Florida (Gainesville and Fort792825?49 9
122 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMMyers); Quintana Roo (Palmul and Xcopen); British Honduras(Orange Walk and Cayo); Honduras (Omoa, Tela, and Ceiba);Nicaragua (Escondido River); Costa Rica (Peralta and Tuis); andPanama (Almirante and Barro Colorado, C. Z.). South to Panama.West to Costa Rica (Palmar and Miravalles); El Salvador, rarely(Mount Cacaguatique and Lake Olomiga); Guatemala (Godines);Oaxaca (Tehuantepec) ; western Veracruz (Matzorongo) ; easternPuebla (Metlaltoyuca) ; eastern Tamaulipas (Soto la Marina) ; andsouthern Texas (Brownsville). There are late December records fromPlainfield, N. J.; Columbus, Ohio; Raleigh, N. C; Fort Worth andHouston, Tex., which may be delayed migration or accidental winter-ing.Migration.?Some late dates of spring departure from the winterhome are: Canal Zone?Barro Colorado, March 21. Honduras
?
Tela, March 7. Guatemala?Quiriqua, April 4. Veracruz?Cerrode Tuxtla, March 29. Florida?Fort Myers, May 24.Some early dates of spring arrival are: Florida?Pensacola, March24. Georgia?Macon, March 28. South Carolina?Aiken, March17. North Carolina?Waynesville, April 4. West Virginia?Mor-gantown, March 16. District of Columbia?Washington, April 4.Pennsylvania?Glen Olden, April 26. New York?Syracuse, April 25.Massachusetts?Stockbridge, May 2. Vermont?Rutland, May 4.Louisiana?New Orleans, March 27. Arkansas?Helena, April 4.Tennessee?Nashville, April 5. Indiana?Indianapolis, April 23.Michigan?Grand Rapids, April 12. Ohio?Oberlin, April 10. On-tario?Toronto, April 24. Missouri?St. Louis, April 18. IowaKeokuk, April 20.?Wisconsin?Milwaukee, April 30. MinnesotaSt. Paul, May 3. Kansas?Independence, April 25. NebraskaLincoln, April 25. South Dakota?Yankton, April 27.Some late dates of fall departure are: South Dakota?Yankton,September 19. Nebraska?Omaha, September 30. MinnesotaMinneapolis, October 10. Wisconsin?Madison, October 12. IowaMarshalltown, October 2. Missouri?St. Louis, October 19. On-tario?Ottawa, October 4. Ohio?Columbus, October 5. Michi-gan?Detroit, October 5. Illinois?Lake Forest, October 28. Ken-tucky?Danville, October 20. Louisiana?New Orleans, October 18.Vermont?St. Johnsbury, September 29. Massachusetts?MarthasVineyard, October 2. New York?Rhinebeck, November 4. Penn-sylvania?Pittsburgh, October 4. District of Columbia?Washing-ton, November 27. North Carolina?Raleigh, October 16. Geor-gia?Athens, October 18.Some early dates of fall arrival in the wiDter home are: HondurasTela, October 1. Nicaragua?Bluefields, November 7. PanamaAlmirante, October 30.
ALASKA HERMIT THRUSH 123Casual records.?In October 1849 several specimens were taken inBermuda. One was noted on the Mazaruni River, British Guiana,on March 1, 1916. There are three positive records of occurrence inColorado: a specimen fiom near Holly, Powers County, on May 12,1913; two specimens from Dry "Willow Creek, Yuma County, on June24, 1915; one from Boulder, on May 13, 1942, and several sight records.Egg dates.?Illinois: 39 records, May 3 to July 10; 20 records, May22 to June 7, indicating the height of the season. Massachusetts:33 records, May 14 to June 24; 16 records, May 26 to May 30.New Jersey: 45 records, May 20 to July 18; 26 records, May 23 toMay 30.West Virginia: 62 records, April 25 to May 24; 48 records, May 12to May 21. HYLOCICHLA GUTTATA GUTTATA (Pallas)ALASKA HERMIT THRUSHHABITSThis, the type race of the species and the first of the several racesto be named, is the form that breeds from the Mount McKinley regionin Alaska south to Cross Sound, Kodiak Island, and northern BritishColumbia. It migrates south in winter to Cape San Lucas andnorthern Mexico.All the western subspecies of the hermit thrush have the sides andflanks grayish or olivaceous, rather than brown or buffy brown; thebill is relatively smaller or more slender, the tail relatively longer, andthe feet relatively smaller thao in the eastern subspecies. TheAlaska hermit thrush is one of the two smaller races, and its colorationis lighter than the other even smaller race, the dwarf hermit thrush.Spring.?In his notes made at Lake Crescent, western Washington,for April 25 to 30, 1916, S. F. Rathbun (MS.) thus describes the be-havior of the Alaska hermit thrush on its migration: "Each morningat daybreak I hear the songs of several hermit thrushes, coming fromthe thick fringe of shrubs and young growth along and near the shoreof the lake. This song is most delightful and continues for the spaceof about an hour, with but little intermission; after that it is seldomheard, and through the day not at all; but near sunset the birds singagain for a short time, and the effect of this beautiful song, heard inthe waning light of day, is most pleasing.
"These birds are of a retiring nature; they haunt the rather moreopen forest, or its edges where there may be open spots, but they alwaysseem to remain in close proximity to the forest. In such a localityone morning I had an opportunity to watch one of the hermits forsome time; it is a very quiet bird, and when in repose it is perfectlymotionless; from time to time it would rapidly move a short distance,
124 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMlooking for its food on the surface or under some of the leaves withwhich the ground was covered; but it was not continually in motion,and there were frequent intervals of complete repose, though shoulda winged insect chance to fly past, which happened several times,the bird sprang into the air quicker than a flash and was generallysuccessful in catching it; after that its former motionless position wasresumed. During my observation, which lasted for some time, thebird uttered no note and, as I remained perfectly quiet, it came attimes within a few feet of where I was."By the first of May all the birds seemed to have passed by, andtheir songs were no longer heard."Nesting.?The nesting habits of the Alaska hermit thrush seem tovary somewhat in different portions of its range, and for no apparentreason.In the Stikine River region, in northern British Columbia, HarryS. Swarth (1922) found this thrush in the spruce woods on the moun-tains at about 3,000 feet altitude. He collected two nests with eggs;the first nest was taken on May 26, with a set of five eggs. "It wasin the creek bottom, about two miles north of the town of TelegraphCreek, some three feet from the ground, in a spruce sapling. Thenest rested against the trunk and upon some small branches. Theouter structure is of twigs, weed stems, rootlets and bark strips; thelining is of fine rootlets and grass, with a good many of the long over-hairs of a porcupine. It measures as follows: greatest outside diam-eter about 160 mm.; outside depth, 90; inside diameter, 60; insidedepth, 40 mm."The second nest was taken on June 4, with four slightly incubatedeggs; it was in similar surroundings and was very much like the firstone in structure, even to the porcupine hairs in the lining, but thisone was "placed between two small spruce trees, thirty inches fromthe ground. * * * Both were in situations where there was littleconcealing vegetation, and were easily seen from some distance."A short distance farther north, in the Atlin region, Mr. Swarth(1926) found three nests: "One, June 13, with three fresh eggs; oneJune 23, with four fresh eggs; and one July 12, with four fresh eggs.All were on the ground, the first in a clump of small willows at theedge of a muskeg, the second in an opening in mixed poplar andspruce woods, and the third in rather dense poplar woods."Eggs.?The Alaska hermit thrush lays three to five eggs, probablyusually four. These are practically indistinguishable from those ofthe dwarf hermit thrush and differ from those of the other hermitthrushes only in size. The measurements of 18 eggs average 21.9by 16.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 23.3by 16.7, 22.4 by 16.8, 20.8 by 15.8 millimeters.
ALASKA HERMIT THRUSH 125Food.?The food of all the western races of the hermit thrush mayas well be considered here, as several of the forms live or spend thewinter in California, and as Professor Beal's (1907) study of thestomach contents of 68 hermit thrushes, taken in California, doesnot separate the food of the different subspecies. The food of allthe races is much the same under similar conditions. Beal's analysisshows the food to consist of 56 percent animal and 44 percent vegetablematter. Of the animal food, Hymenoptera, mostly ants, constitutethe largest item, 24 percent; caterpillars come next, 10 percent;beetles, all harmful species and more than two-thirds weevils, form11 percent of the food; other insects, spiders, and miscellaneous itemsamount to 12 percent. One stomach contained the bones of asalamander. Beal writes:The vegetable food is made up of two principal components?fruit and seeds.The former amounts to 29 percent of the whole, and is composed of wild species,or of old fruit left on trees and vines. A few stomachs contained seeds of rasp-berries, which, of course, must have been old, dried-up fruit. Seeds of the peppertree and mistletoe were the most abundant and, with some unidentifiable pulpand skins, make up the complement of fruit. * * * Seeds of all kinds amountto 14 percent of the food, but only a few are usually reckoned as weed seeds.The most abundant seed was poison oak (Rhus diversiloba) , which was found ina number of stomachs. While this plant is not usually classed among weeds, itis really a weed of the worst description, since it is out of place no matter whereit is. It is unfortunate that the birds in eating the seeds of this plant do notdestroy them, but only aid in their dissemination.Mr. Dawson (1923) watched them feeding in his yard and says:They tackle the pepper berries, and rather awkwardly at first. It is evidentlynew business for some of them, and they make hard work of it. One bird that Iparticularly observed would fly up to a bunch, hover a moment in midair, snatcha berry, and return to a more secure position. This he did repeatedly, withoutonce endeavoring to alight on the berry cyme itself, or trying to find a placewhere he might eat his fill unmolested. Another dashed up and fell to eatingthe berries as they lay strewn upon the ground. He fed very daintily, takingcare in each instance to discard the red husk. * * *One of our garden faucets drips incessantly and this is the favorite drinkingplace of the Hermit. A bird will alight on the faucet and, stooping over, willpluck the drops one by one as they fall. One morning I saw five birds at a timeeither waiting their turn or else making suggestive dives at the fellow who seemedto be tarrying too long at the faucet.Behavior.?Dawson (1923) gives the following good description ofa well-known bit of action that is common to all hermit thrushes, andby which they can often be recognized:Perhaps the most prominent characteristic of the Hermit Thrush, and the onewhich does most to remove it from the commonplace, is the incessant twinklingof the wings?the action is so rapid and the return to the state of repose so incal-culably quick that the general impression or silhouette is not thereby disturbed;but we have an added feeling of mobility of tensity on the part of the bird which
126 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMgives one the impression of spiritual alertness, a certain high readiness. I triedon a time to count these twinkles, with the compensatory flirt of the tail, as thebird was hopping about on the ground in my rose garden. The movementsoccurred about once per second, yet oftenest in groups, and so rapidly, that nota twentieth part of the bird's time seemed so consumed. * * *In one station which the bird occupied, being not over seven feet from me, Icould, by closing one eye and focussing the other upon a closely placed backgroundof greenery, note the extreme limit of the wing-motion. The tip, in each instance,travelled at least two inches from the body; yet the return was so instant and thedress so quickly composed that no detail of the readjustment could be traced.Howard L. Cogswell refers in his notes to the wing-flipping habit,described above, and says that "the hermit's habit of slowly raisingits tail after alighting, so often used in identification in the East, doesnot always take place in western birds, I have found."Fall.?Mr. Rathbun's notes mention the first arrivals of the Alaskahermit thrushes in Clallam County, Wash., on October 10, 1915, whenseven were seen along the shore of Crescent Lake near the beach,where the shore was overhung with bushes growing at the edge ofthe water.Referring to the Yosemite region in California, Grinnell and Storer(1924) say: "By the latter part of September, birds which have nestedin various parts of southern Alaska begin to arrive, to spend thewinter here. In the fall the Dwarf and Alaska hermit thrushes, asthe two races from the north are called, occur in considerable numbersat all altitudes below 9,000 feet. The arrival of heavy snow forcesmost of those in the higher zones to below the 4,000 or 3,500 footcontour."Winter.?Mr. Cogswell (MS.) says of this species: ''The hermitthrush is common throughout the winter in coastal southern California,but most common in the shady oak-sycamore association of the can-yons of the foothills, in tall, dense growth of climax chaparral (insmall canyons), and in the residential sections of many cities whereverthere is plenty of brush and hedge cover and a steady water supply.The highest altitude at which I have seen the hermit thrush in mid-winter was about 5,000 feet in the upper Santa Ana Canyon, SanBernardino Mountains, on December 28, 1941. This one was callingthe usual chuck-chuck note from underneath a canopy of snow-coveredchaparral, about 9 a. m., with the temperature at 20? F. Occasionalbirds are heard singing in soft, detached phrases from mid-Marchuntil they leave early in April; but during the rest of then stay inthe southern California lowlands, the chuck note and a louder, ringingcheeeeeeeee (slightly rising pitch) are their only notes."
ALASKA HERMIT THRUSH 127DISTRIBUTIONRange.?North America from central Alaska and northern Canadato Guatemala.Breeding range.?The hermit thrush breeds north to centralAlaska (Lake Aleknagik, Lake Clark, Mount McKinley, and ChitinaMoraine); southern Yukon (Donjek River, Little Salmon River, andWatson Lake); southwestern Mackenzie (mouth of the NahanniRiver, Fort Simpson, Fort Providence, Fort Resolution, andHill Island Lake); central Saskatchewan (Snake Lake and HudsonBay Junction); southern Manitoba (Lake St. Martin, Portage laPrairie, and Hillside Beach) ; central Ontario (Minaki on Lake of theWoods, Port Arthur, Lake Abitibi, and Ottawa); southern Quebec(Lake Mistassini, Godbout, and Natashquan); and southern Labrador(Mary Harbor and Chateau Bay). East to southern Labrador(Chateau Bay); Newfoundland (St. Anthony aad St. John's); NovaScotia (Baddeck, Halifax, and Barrington); New Hampshire (RyeBeach); eastern Massachusetts (Belmont, Roxbury, Cape Cod, andMarthas Vineyard), and Long Island (Yaphank). South to LongIsland (Yaphank), northern New Jersey (Beaufort Mountain); north-eastern Pennsylvania (Lords Valley and Pocono Mountains) and, inthe Appalachians south to western Maryland (Grantsville and Moun-tain Lake Park) and West Virginia (Cheats Bridge) ; southern Ontario(Dunnville and Plover Mills); northern Michigan (Douglas Lake,Wequetonsing, and Escanaba); northern Wisconsin (Mamie Lake,Rhinelander, and Lake Owen); central Minnesota (Mille Lacs Lakeand Otter Tail County); southern Manitoba (Winnipeg and Mar-garet); southern Saskatchewan (Indian Head); western Montana(Chief Mountain Lake, Great Falls, and Bear Tooth Mountains) ; andsouth along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming(Laramie); Colorado (Estes Park, Manitou, Wet Mountains, andFort Garland) to southern New Mexico (Cloudcroft and Silver City);southeastern and central Arizona (Chiricahua Mountains, Tomb-stone, Santa Cataiina Mountains, and San Francisco Mountain);southern Nevada (Charleston Mountains); and southern California(Providence Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, the SierraNevada south to Big Cottonwood Meadows, and the Coast Rangeto Little Sur River). West in California to the Pacific Ocean (LittleSur River, San Francisco, Gualala River, and Carsons, HumboldtCounty) ; to the Cascades in Oregon (Crater Lake, Salem, Beaverton,and Olney); Washington (Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, andTacoma); British Columbia (Vancouver Island: Nootka Sound andErrington, the Queen Charlotte Islands, Hazelton, and TelegraphCreek); and Alaska (Forrester Island, Sitka, Kodiak Island, Frosty
128 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMPeak, Alaska Peninsula, and Lake Aleknagik). There is an isolatedcolony in the Sierra de la Laguna in the Cape district of LowerCalifornia.Winter range.?The hermit thrush is found in winter north to Van-couver Island, British Columbia (Comox and Victoria) ; western Wash-ington (Bellingham and Seattle) ; western Oregon (Portland, Corvallis,and Fort Klamath) ; eastern California (Grass Valley, Placerville, andProvidence Mountains); extreme southern Nevada (opposite FortMojave) ; occasionally to extreme southern Utah (Zion National Park)
;
central Arizona (Fort Verde and Salt River National Wildlife Refuge)southern New Mexico (near Salinas Peak) ; western Texas (GuadalupeMountains) and southern and eastern Texas (San Antonio, Corsicana,and Gainesville) ; southeastern Oklahoma (Caddo) ; central Arkansas(Maumelle); southeastern Missouri (Cardwell and Tecumseh, oc-casionally) ; southern Kentucky (Bowling Green) ; southern WestVirginia (Bluefield) ; Virginia (Lexington and Beulahville) ; easternMaryland (Catonsville) ; southeastern Pennsylvania (Philadelphia);and central New Jersey (Princeton) ; occasionally north to Columbus,Ohio; Easton, Pa.; Orient, Long Island; Providence, R. I.; and thevicinity of Boston, Mass. East to central New Jersey (Princeton)and the Atlantic Coast States to southern Florida (Daytona Beach,Titusville, and Royal Palm Park). South to southern Florida (RoyalPalm Park); the Gulf coast of the United States; Tamaulipas (Vic-toria); Mexico (Amecameca); Puebla (Mount Popocatapetl) ; andGuatemala (Coban, Tecpam, and Volcan de Fuego). South toGuatemala. West to Guatemala (Volcan de Fuego and Momo-stenaogo) ; Jalisco (Jonila); Sonora (Alamos) ; Lower California (Triunfo,San Ram6n, and Todos Snntos Island); California (San Diego, SanClemente Island, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Eureka, and CrescentCity); Oregon (Corvallis); Washington (Port Angeles); and south-western British Columbia (Vancouver Island: Victoria and Comax).The above ranges apply to the species as a whole, of which sevensubspecies or geographic races are recognized. The Alaska hermitthrush (H. g. guttata) breeds in Alaska south to Cross Sound; the dwarfhermit thrush (H. g. nanus) breeds in the coastal region from CrossSound, Alaska, south to southern British Columbia; the Montereyhermit thrush (H: g. slevini) breeds in the coastal belt of Californiafrom northern Trinity County to southern Monterey County; theSierra hermit thrush (II. g. sequoiensis) breeds in the higher mountainsfrom southern British Columbia to southern California; the Monohermit thrush (H. g. polionota) breeds in the White Mountains, Monoand Inyo Counties, Calif., and the Charleston Mountains, Nev.;Audubon's hermit thrush (H. g. auduboni) breeds from southeasternBritish Columbia south through eastern^Nevada to the mountains of
ALASKA HERMIT THRUSH 129Arizona and to the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains in Montana,Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico; also in the Sierra de la Laguna,Cape district of Lower California; the eastern hermit thrush {H. g.faxoni) breeds from southwestern Mackenzie, central Alberta, Sas-katchewan, Manitoba, and northern Minnesota eastward to the At-lantic Ocean. The winter ranges of the various races overlap.Migration.?Some late dates of spring departure from the winterhome are: Guatemala?Tecpam, April 17. Mexico, Guerrero?Omil-teme, May 14. Texas?Somerset, May 6. Louisiana?New Orleans,May 15. Arkansas?Helena, May 10. Mississippi?Bay St. Louis,May 11. Tennessee?Nashville, April 25. Kentucky?Lexington,May 17. Alabama?Leighton, April 8. Florida?Pensacola, April23. Georgia?Athens, April 22. South Carolina?Charleston, April20. North Carolina?Charlotte, May 6. West Virginia?FrenchCreek, May 6. District of Columbia?Washington, May 17. Penn-sylvania?Wayne, May 11.Some early dates of spring arrival are: West Virginia?Parkersburg,April 1. Pennsylvania?Carlisle, March 21. New York?BallstonSpa, March 31. Massachusetts?Amherst, April 9. Maine?Orono,April 16. Quebec?Montreal, April 14. Nova Scotia?Halifax,April 19. New Brunswick?Grand Manan, April 5. Newfound-land?St. Anthony, April 24. Ohio?Oberlin, March 28. Ontario
?
London, March 30. Indiana?Bloomington, March 31. MichiganAnn Arbor, March 26. Illinois?Chicago, March 26. IowaKeokuk, March 30. Minnesota?Hutchinson, April 13. NorthDakota?Fargo, April 1. Manitoba?Winnipeg, April 22. Sas-katchewan?Regina, April 23. Colorado?Colorado Springs, April21. Wyoming?Torrington, April 19. Montana?Great Falls, May7. Alberta?Glenevis, April 28. Mackenzie?Simpson, May 6.Alaska?Ketchikan, April 16.Some late dates of fall departure are: Alaska?Wrangell, October 12.Mackenzie?Simpson, September 6. Alberta?Glenevis, October 7.Idaho?Priest River, October 12. Montana?Fortine, September 20.Wyoming?Laramie, October 30. Colorado?Denver, October 20.Manitoba?Aweme, October 15. North Dakota?Argusville, October21. Minnesota?Minneapolis, October 28. Iowa?Marshalltown,October 24. Wisconsin?Madison, October 24. Illinois?Waukegan,November 4. Michigan?Detroit, November 8. Ontario?Toronto,October 29. Ohio?Cleveland, November 3. Newfoundland?St.Anthony, October 24. New Brunswick?Scotch Lake, November 3.Quebec?Montreal, October 27. New Hampshire?Concord, Novem-ber 5. Virginia?Lexington, October 15. West Virginia?FrenchCreek, October 5. North Carolina?Raleigh, October 16. SouthCarolina?Spartanburg, October 10. Alabama?Leighton, October
130 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM16. Florida?New Smyrna, October 13. Mississippi?Ariel, Octo-ber 14. Arkansas?Delight, October 14. Texas?Dallas, October 16.Mexico: Chihuahua?Guachochi, September 28. Guerrero?Taxco,October 16. Guatemala?Tecpam, November 4.Banding records.?Banded birds have furnished some interestingrecords of migration and longevity. One banded at Demarest, N. J.,on October 9, 1938, was found February 10, 1939 at Valdosta, Ga.One banded at Zion, 111., on October 10, 1933, was caught aboutJanuary 22, 1934, at De Queen, Ark.; another banded at the sameplace on April 30, 1939, was killed January 24, 1940, at Pasadena,Tex. One banded at Blue Island, 111., October 1, 1934, was foundabout December 19, 1934, near Gould, Ark. One banded at Elm-hurst, N. Y., October 24, 1935, was caught August 19, 1937, at Lake-port, N. H. One banded at Zion, 111., October 4, 1932, was foundabout March 10, 1934, at Turkey, N. C. A bird banded at Almones-son, N. J., October 27, 1938, was captured November 19, 1938, atHatley, Ga. This indicates a rate of migration of more than 30miles a day.A longevity record is furnished by a bird banded as an adult atPhiladelphia, Pa., October 25, 1928, and found dead March 25, 1934,at Avera, Ga.Gasual records.?Three specimens of the hermit thrush have beencollected in Europe: in Germany on December 22, 1825; on the islandof Helgoland in the autumn of 1836; and one in Switzerland withoutdate. In June 1845 a specimen was collected at Amaraglik, GodthaabDistrict, Greenland. A specimen of the eastern race, was collected onSouthampton Island, October 4, 1929, and one of the Alaska race nearBarrow, Alaska, May 25, 1933.Egg dates.?British Columbia: 10 records, May 11 to July 12; 6records, June 4 to June 23.California: 65 records, May 13 to July 22; 35 records, June 3 toJune 21, indicating the height of the season.Colorado: 22 records, May 14 to July 11; 12 records, June 12 toJune 28.Maine: 38 records, May 13 to August 15; 20 records, May 29 toJune 12. HYLOCICHLA GUTTATA NANUS (Audubon)DWARF HERMIT THRUSHHABITSThis is the small, dark race of the hermit thrush that breeds iD thehumid coast belt from Cross Sound, Alaska, southward to southernBritish Columbia. Ridgway (1907) describes it as "similar to H. g.guttata but coloration darker and browner, the color of the back, etc.,
DWARF HERMIT THRUSH 131more sepia brown, upper tail-coverts more russet, tail more chestnut,aDd spots on chest larger and darker."Grinnell and Wythe (1927) state that the dwarf hermit thrushleaves the San Francisco Bay region in spring about the first of April,a late date being April 21 at Berkeley. And George Willett writesto me that "the species arrives in southeastern Alaska in late Apriland early May, and leaves mostly in September. It usually neststhree weeks to a month earlier than H. ustulata."Nesting.?Mr. Willett (MS.) reports two nests, each containingfour eggs. One that he took at Ketchikan, Alaska, on June 8, 1924,was located three feet from the ground among the roots of a windfallin the woods; it contained four eggs, advanced in incubation, and wasmade of moss and lichens, lined with rootlets and leaves; the nestmeasured 100 by 60 millimeters in outside dimensions, and the innercavity measured 72 by 37 millimeters.He collected another nest at Petersburg, Alaska, on July 3, 1936;this nest was placed 3% feet up in a young hemlock in the woods, andheld four eggs, about half incubated; the nest was similar to the otherin construction but of different dimensions; it measured 125 by 73millimeters outside, and 62 by 35 millimeters inside. He remarks:
"This latter is a very late nesting date for the region, young beingusually hatched by the middle of June and full-grown about July 18."S. J. Darcus (1930) mentions two nests found on Langara Island,in the Queen Charlotte group; they contained feathered young onJune 10. "Both these nests were built on top of stumps, the one 8feet from the ground, the other 6 feet."Two nests were recorded by the 1907 Alexander Alaska Expedition,according to Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1909). At Idaho Inlet, on July 22,a pair had a nest that contained young nearly ready to fly; "the nestwas built in a niche in a perpendicular moss-grown bank about fourfeet above the bottom." And on July 7, a nest was found at GlacierBay that held four fresh eggs. "The nest was situated in a crotchformed by a small limb and the naked body of a ten-inch hemlock andwas six and one-half feet above the ground. It was found by seeingthe female fly from it, and was seemingly but a stray bunch of moss inwhich a cavity had been made by the bird."Eggs.?Four eggs seems to be the usual number laid by the dwarfhermit thrush. These are like the eggs of the other hermit thrushes,usually ovate in shape and plain "Nile blue" in color, without mark-ings. The measurements of 16 eggs average 22.3 by 16.6 millimeters;the eggs showing the four extremes measure 24.0 by 16.0, 23.9 by17.3, 20.5 by 17.0, and 24.0 by 15.6 millimeters.Behavior.? W. L. Dawson (Dawson and Bowles, 1909) gives a very
132 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMgood description of the characteristic behavior of hermit thrushes ingeneral, which seems worth quoting:As one passes thru the woods in middle April while the vine maples are stillleafless, and the forest floor is not yet fully recovered from the brownness of therainy season, a moving shape, a little browner still, but scarcely outlined in theuncertain light, starts up from the ground with a low chuck, and pauses for amoment on a mossy log. Before you have made out definite characters, the birdflits to a branch a little higher up and more removed, to stand motionless for aminute or so, or else to chuckle softly with each twinkle of the ready wings. Byfollowing quietly one may put the bird to a dozen short flights without oncedriving it out of range; and in so doing he may learn that the tail is abruptlyrufous in contrast with the olive-brown of the back, and that the breast is moreboldly and distinctly spotted than is the case with the Russet-backed Thrush.Winter.?The dwarf hermit thrush spends the winter in California,Lower California, Arizona, and New Mexico. For the Fresno districtof California, John G. Tyler (1913) writes: "From mid-October untilMarch occasional examples of this thrush may be found in the willowsalong the ditches, where they seclude themselves for the most part inthe gloomiest shady clumps of large trees. They are quite silentduring the time they remain with us, and of such sluggish natures asto appear almost stupid at times. I have sometimes walked up towithin five or six feet of one of these birds without causing it the leastalarm. At a nearer approach it would leisurely hop to anotherbranch, just out of arm's reach, where it would assume an air ofindifference, and remain motionless for some time."Grinnell and Wythe (1927) say that the dwarf hermit thrush is an"abundant winter visitant throughout practically the whole [SanFrancisco Bay] region. Arrives ordinarily about the middle ofOctober; an early record is September 26, at San Geronimo. To befound in woods, in chaparral, in stream-side thickets, and in shrubberyof city gardens; in fact, it avoids only the most open ground ofmeadows, fields and hillsides."HYLOCICHLA GUTTATA SLEVINI GrinnellMONTEREY HERMIT THRUSHHABITSAccording to the 1931 Check-list, this small, gray hermit thrush
"breeds in the Transition Zone of the coast belt in California fromnorthern Trinity County to southern Monterey Comity. South inmigration and in winter to Lower California, Arizona, and Sonora."It is the smallest of all the hermit thrushes, and its general colora-tion is nearly as pale and ashy as in the Sierra hermit thrush.Grinnell and Wythe (1927) record the Monterey hermit thrush asa "summer resident in small numbers in the most humid parts of the
MONTEREY HERMIT THRUSH 133immediate coast district" in the San Francisco Bay region. It
"adheres closely to the denser redwood growths on shaded slopes andin canyon bottoms."Harry H. Sheldon (1908) says of a locality where he found it inSonoma County: "In June of 1904 the writer made a collecting tripto the South Fork of the Gualala River, a small stream about fortyfeet in width slowly winding itself down a deep thickly wooded can-yon. Its banks are bordered with a dense growth of huckleberry,and at their extreme edge the sweet azalea grows in myriads from atangle of various ferns and lilies. In such places as this the MontereyHermit Thrush (Hylocichla guttata slevini) makes his summer home."Migration.?Harry S. Swarth (1904) records the Monterey hermitthrush as a migrant only in Arizona, and remarks:At first it seems strange to find a bird belonging so decidedly to the PacificCoast wandering as far as eastern Arizona, but when we consider that such speciesas the Hermit and Townsend Warblers, Cassin Vireo, and others, pass regularlythrough this region, it is evident that there is a regular line of migration from thePacific Coast to the southeast, in spite of the formidable deserts that intervene,and might be expected to form an utterly impassable barrier.I believe slevini to be a fairly common migrant in the Huachucas, though butfew specimens were secured, for it is an extremely shy bird, and from the natureof the ground frequented, exceedingly difficult even to get sight of. Auduboniwas found mostly in the pine woods, and guttata along the canyons, but sleviniseemed to prefer the dense thickets covering the steep, dry, hillsides, an unpleasantplace to travel in at any time, and almost hopeless ground in which to pursue ashy, secretive bird like the present species. The specimens secured were, a maleshot on March 9, 1903, and two females taken on May 8th, and another on April19, 1902.Nesting.?In the locality mentioned above, Mr. Sheldon (1908)found several nests of the Monterey hermit thrush, with eggs or youngor under construction. One was "in a clump of branches of an oaktree about eight feet from the ground above the stream"; the bird wasworking on this nest on May 27, but it was never completed. OnMay 30 he found another nest, "placed in the shoots of an alder onthe bank of the river, and like our previous experience the bird sawus and the nest was abandoned." A nest previously located in processof construction was visited on June 3 and found to contain a completeset of three eggs. "This nest was placed in a bush of huckleberry onthe edge of the stream three feet from the creek bed. It was com-posed of chips of dead wood, small branches of huckleberry, deadleaves and twigs, and held together with mosses and rootlets. Thelining consisted of fine redwood bark, fibers, fine rootlets and theremains of dead leaves. * * * All nests found were placed fromtwo to eight feet from the ground, their favorite nesting site being inpatches of huckleberry and in all cases situated close to the stream."Robert R. Talmadge gives me this description of two nests: "The
134 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
first nest was composed mostly of green moss, with small rootlets, de-composed leaves, and small twigs. The lining was made of rootlets,decomposed leaves, and a little shredded redwood bark. The secondnest was located while I was looking for a place to eat lunch. I hadentered a small clearing and was approaching a small tan oak, when thebird flushed out into my face. This nest was quite different from thefirst, being composed mostly of small redwood twigs (with the needlesstill attached) and shredded redwood bark. There was a noticeablelack of moss, only a few bito being found. The lining was of rootlets,dried grasses and bark."Eggs.?The Monterey hermit thrush lays three to five eggs, prob-ably most often four. These are indistinguishable from the eggs ofother hermit thrushes of similar size. The measurements of 30 eggsaverage 21.5 by 16.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremesmeasure 23.2 by 16.9, 21.9 by 17.2, 20.4 by 16.1, and 21.2 by 15.6millimeters. HYLOCICHLA GUTTATA SEQUOIENSIS (Belding)SIERRA HERMIT THRUSHHABITSThis is a gray hermit thrush, similar in coloration to both auduboniand slevini, but intermediate in size between the two.Lyman Belding (1889a) described it as a distinct species under thename "big tree thrush," from specimens collected at Big Trees,Calaveras County, Calif. He says, in part: "In size between theDwarf and Audubon's Thrushes. In color paler than either or anyAmerican thrush I have ever seen; both above and below considerablyresembling T. aliciae, the spotting included, while its cheeks are stillgrayer than in aliciae. Tail and coverts about as light cinnamon asin T. auduboni."It breeds in the various mountain ranges from southern BritishColumbia to southern California and migrates southeastward toTexas and northern Mexico. Samuel F. Rathbun tells me that it isthe breeding form in the mountains of the Olympic Peninsula inwestern Washington, as well as in the Cascades; he found it in theformer mountains in summer at 3,700 to 4,300 feet; in the vicinity ofSeattle it occurs regularly, as a migrant only, in April and again fromabout the middle of August until late in fall.J. Stuart Rowley writes to me that, in the high Sierra coimtry ofMono County, Calif., he "found this bird to be a well distributed racefrom about 7,000 feet elevation upward to timberline."Nesting.?Mr. Rowley says in his notes: "I have observed manyoccupied nests; and fresh eggs may be found on the same day as young
SIERRA HERMIT THRUSH 135birds on the wing throughout the latter part of June and into July.The average seems to be four eggs, but often only three are laid, andI have found several containing five eggs. The nesting sites chosenseem to be almost anywhere. I have found them in aspens, in lodge-pole pine, in willow, and, along Mammoth Creek, in the Artemisiatridentata brush, much to my surprise. My notes show fresh eggsfound on May 30 and fresh eggs observed on July 9."Grinnell, Dixon, and Linsdale (1930) found several nests in theLassen Peak region. The site of the first one, found May 28, 1927,"was in deep, dark fir woods with lodgepole pines and aspens close by.The nest was slightly over one and one-half meters above the ground,saddled at the intersection of a dead fir stem four centimeters in diam-eter slanting at a forty-five degree angle against a live young fir stemnine and one-half centimeters in diameter. The slanting stem andemanating dead twigs furnished most of the support." In some othercases, the nests were placed between small trees, usually an incensecedar and a yoimg lodgepole pine, from 80 centimeters to a meterabove the ground, supported by branches and twigs of the two littletrees. A photograph of a nest in such a situation is shown.Dr. Grinnell (1908) found many nests, both old and new, in the SanBernardino Mountains above an altitude of 6,300 feet. "They wereall built in small firs or cedars usually growing in the shade of tallertrees not far from the streams. The nests varied from eighteen inchesto five feet in height above the ground, the average being about threefeet." A typical nest "was three feet above the ground near the topof a diminutive fir tree growing a yard from the stream. * * * Itwas snugly ensconced against the main stem and was supported byhorizontal branches. It was a compact structure deeply cup-shaped.The inside diameter was 2.40 and the depth 1.65 inches. Externallyit measured 4 X 4.75 inches. It was composed largely of pine needlesand weathered grass stems, and the cavity was lined with strips ofcedar bark and fine dry rootlets."Rollo H. Beck (1900) found an unusually high nest, which herecorded as a nest of Audubon's hermit thrush, but, as it was in theSierra Nevadas, it undoubtedly belonged to a Sierra hermit thrush.He writes: "We were near the summit of the Sierras on the 6th ofJune, 1896, and while looking around in a grove of trees, I noticeda nest well out on a pine limb, thirty feet from the ground. Onclimbing the tree, the bird was seen upon the nest and flew off whenclosely approached. The nest is strongly built of twigs and brightyellow moss (Evernia vulpina), with a layer of fine dry leaves, withinwhich is a heavy lining of fine grass stems. The nest contained fourfresh eggs."
136 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMTaylor and Shaw (1927) show a photograph, taken by Mr. andMrs. Finley, near the Third Crossing Bridge on the WashingtonCascades, Paradise River. It was "in the branches of a scrub firthat hung down from the top of a rock wall a few feet above therushing waters and not more than 20 feet from the railing of thebridge." The only nest found by Mr. Belding (1889a) "was in ahazel bush (Corylus) about three feet from the ground; was aboutfive inches across the top and about half as deep ; composed of smallroots and lined with shreds of the bark of incense cedar (Librocedrus) ,with moss, lichens and dead leaves on the exterior."Eggs.?The Sierra hermit thrush lays three to five eggs to a set,but most commonly four. These are similar to the eggs of otherhermit thrushes of similar size. The measurements of 30 eggs average21.8 by 16.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure23.3 by 16.8, 22.8 by 17.3, 20.3 by 16.3, and 23.0 by 15.5 millimeters.Behavior.?Grinnell and Storer (1924) describe the behavior ofhermit thrushes very well as follows:The demeanor of the hermit thrush is quiet and deliberate. When foragingon the ground it acts in much the same manner as a robin, hopping several timesin quick succession and then halting upright and immobile for a few seconds toscan the immediate vicinity before going forward again. There is this importantdifference, however: The hermit thrush seldom forages out in the open, and if itdees it never goes far away from cover, to which it can flee in case of need. Whenforaging on shaded ground strewn with dead leaves its characteristic performanceis to seize a leaf in its bill and throw it to one side with a very quick movementof the head, following this with an intent gaze at the spot uncovered. A thrushwill flick over leaf after leaf in this manner, every now and then finding someinsect which is swallowed, as is a berry, at one gulp. Hermit thrushes thus makeuse of a source of food not sought after by other birds; fox sparrows may forageover the same ground, but they are after seeds, which they get at by scratching.The thrushes do not use their feet at all for uncovering food. The thrushes'legs are relatively long, so that the birds stand high, and have consequently anincreased scope of vision.Taylor and Shaw (1927) write: "Curiosity is a marked trait. Oncewhile we visited our traps a thrush appeared within 15 feet. At shortintervals it gave a whistled twhit or whooit call. Frequently, but notalways, one, two, or three wing flirts were given at the same time asthe call. The bird seemed torn between conflicting emotions, onceor twice making as if to leave, but each time curiosity got the betterof it and it remained. It cocked first one eye at the intruder, thenthe other. Once it scratched the corner of its mouth. It remainedon the lower branches of a western hemlock usually 12 to 15 feet abovethe ground."Hermit thrushes usually are seen in dense thickets in deep forests,or in the lower branches of the larger trees, but Mr. Belding (1889b)says that the Sierra hermit thrush sometimes "wanders at a consider-
MONO HERMIT THRUSH 137
able height through the foliage of the firs and other coniferous trees,when it is followed with much difficulty, even if its brilliant song isoften heard. I shot the female type specimen while she was flutteringabout seventy-five feet from the ground at the ends of fir twigs andcatching insects in the manner of the warblers and tyrant flycatchers."On the fall migration this, like other thrushes, often resorts to yardsand gardens in towns and cities. Mr. Rathbun writes in his notes forAugust 30, 1913: "Another hermit thrush was seen this afternoon inthe garden at the edge of the shrubbery. I was watering with thehose, and the bird would run out and dabble in the water. Seeingthat it liked this, I created a little running stream, and the thrushtook advantage of this in which to bathe. The bird acted very tame,and I played with it for fully ten minutes, driving it from place toplace by means of the hose, and still it would not leave."Voice.?The song of the Sierra hermit thrush is not inferior to thefar-famed song of our eastern bird, which to my mind is the mostuplifting of all bird songs ; once heard in the picturesque surroundingsof its mountain haunts, its charm can never be forgotten. Everyonewho has heard it has praised it. When heard in contrast with thesongs of other birds, any other song, however charming it may ordi-narily be, seems like an intrusion on the soulful chant of this mountainminstrel.Dawson (1923) writes of it: "Having nothing of the dash andabandon of Wren or Ouzel, least of all the sportive mockery of theWestern Chat, it is the pure offering of a shriven soul, holding accept-able converse with high heaven. * * * Mounted on the chancelof some low-crowned fir tree, the bird looks calmly at the setting sun,and slowly phrases his worship in such dulcet tones, exalted, pure,serene, as must haunt the corridors of memory forever after."HYLOCICHLA GUTTATA POLIONOTA GrinnellMONO HERMIT THRUSHHABITSIn the White Mountains of Mono and Inyo Counties in California,Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1918) discovered this decidedly local subspecies,which he found only in a limited range in these mountains between8,000 and 10,000 feet altitude. He says of its characters:Size large, between that of H. g. sequoiensis of the Sierra Nevada and of H. g.auduboni of the Rocky Mountains, nearest the former. Color of top of head anddorsum different from that in either of these races and, in fact, from that in anypreviously known race of Hermit Thrush. The tone of this coloration is the
"olive-brown" of Ridgway (1912), and is close to that of the corresponding areasin the Olive-backed Thrush (Hylocichla ustulala swainsoni) ; it is if anything evenmore slaty. * * * The race sequoiensis, of the Sierra Nevada just across792825?49 10
138 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMOwens Valley to the west and in plain sight from the White Mountains, is ordi-narily referred to as a pale-colored or even grayish-colored Hermit Thrush; butcompared with polionota, the contrast in dorsal view is as of brown with slate-gray.The resemblance of polionota to the Olive-backed Thrush is striking. * * *In an examination of hundreds of specimens of Hermit Thrushes from through-out the United States elsewhere than from the White Mountains, the writer hasbeen unable to find one referable to the race polionota. It would seem that thissubspecies, like some other migratory brids of the high mountains of the south-west, goes south in the fall to, and back again in the spring from, some far south-ern winter home without touching the lowlands within hundreds of miles of itsrestricted summer habitat.M. G. Vaiden (1940) reports a specimen of this subspecies taken5 miles south of Rosedale, Mississippi, on April 12, 1940; this speci-men is now number 51587 in the collection of Dr. Louis B. Bishop,of Pasadena, Calif.Dr. Jean M. Linsdale (1938) has extended the breeding range ofthe Mono hermit thrush into the Great Basin region, where hefound it breeding commonly in the Toyabe Mountains in centralNevada, about 150 miles east of the California boundary. He saysthat it "seemed to be most numerous at about 8,000 feet, but nearlyall the range where there were trees was occupied. The lines andgroves of trees which grew close to streams were most certain to beoccupied by hermit thrushes. Also" they lived out over the ridges,on slopes covered with mountain mahogany, where the trees wereclose together, and where there was leaf litter on the ground. Onefactor of apparent importance in determining the presence of thisthrush was the availability of shade. However, the shade was notdense in most of the territory occupied in this area."Nesting.?Dr. Linsdale (1938) records some nine nests found byhim in the Toyabe Mountains; one found on June 18 contained foursmall young, four on the 19th held four eggs each, two on the 21stthree eggs each, and one found on June 24 contained three well-feathered young. These nests were all at elevations varying from7,500 to 8,500 feet; four of them were in aspens, living or dead, threewere in willows, and two were in sage; the heights above groundvaried from 2 feet in a sage to 15 feet in a dead aspen, but only twowere above 6 feet. Referring to the lowest nest, he says:Another nest in a small grove of aspens at 8,000 feet was in the crotch of asage bush, its rim only 2 feet above the ground. The rim, inside, measured 77mm.; outside, 180 mm. Depth, outside, was 120 mm. The outer part of thenest was mainly the dead flowering stems of sage. The inner part was made ofshreds of bark, rootlets, grass stems and black horsehair. Three eggs madeup the set.When I came within 3 feet, the brooding bird left and flew off silently. * * *With 1 or 2 exceptions when the bird may have been off the nest, all of the brood-ing birds showed a marked reluctance to leave. Most of them permitted approach
AUDUBON'S HERMIT THRUSH 139
close enough to touch them before starting. Then they usually dropped to aperch near the ground and moved away quietly.A nest that was 3 feet from the ground in a 5-foot sagebush "wason a slope 15 feet from the margin of a grove of aspens which bordereda stream. The bush was on a northwest-facing slope where it wasexposed to the sun for nearly the full day. Near it were grass,herbaceous plants, and Symphoricarpus."There are three sets of eggs in the Doe collection, University ofFlorida, that were placed somewhat higher; one nest, containing foureggs, was located 12 feet from the ground in a small yellow pine; a setof three eggs came from a nest that was 20 feet up and 10 feet out ona limb of a lodgepole pine; and another set of five eggs was in a nest 30feet from the ground in an aspen. These were all collected in theWhite Mountains.Eggs.?The set for the Mono hermit thrush usually consists of threeor four eggs, usually the latter number. These are very similar to theeggs of other hermit thrushes of similar size. The measurements of30 eggs average 22.2 by 16.7 millimeters; the eggs showing the fourextremes measure 24.1 by 15.3, 22.0 by 17.5, 19.9 by 16.0, and 21.6by 15.3 millimeters.HYLOCICHLA GUTTATA AUDUBONI (Baird)AUDUBON'S HERMIT THRUSHHABITSThis mountain race is the most widely distributed of the westernhermit thrushes, breeding from southeastern British Columbia andMontana, mainly in the Rocky Mountain region, south to Arizonaand New Mexico, and in the Sierra de la Laguna in southern LowerCalifornia.It was first recognized as distinct from the eastern hermit thrushby Baird (1864), who named it, based on a specimen from FortBridger, Wyo., of which he says: "The back is rather more olivaceousthan in pallasii, the rump paler and less rufous, and the colors generallymuch as in nanus. * * * Whether the present bird be specificallydistinct from T. pallasii or not, there is no doubt of its being a de-cidedly marked race, of larger size and grayer plumage above."It is decidedly the largest of the hermit thrushes and is quite similarin coloration to the Sierra hermit thrush, the other mountain race.It seems strange that this thrush should be found apparentlybreeding in the Sierra de la Laguna, so far removed from the remainderof the breeding range of this subspecies, with no other hermit thrushbreeding in the gap, but there seems to be no doubt about it. Mr.Frazar collected six specimens in these mountains for Mr. Brewster
140 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM(1902), five of which were typical of this subspecies; and, as theywere taken between May 1 1 and June 8, they were probably breedingthere. "This Thrush, which has not been previously reported fromany portion of Lower California, was found by Mr. Frazar onlyin the Sierra de la Laguna, where it inhabited deep, moist, shadycanons, and also, to some extent, dry pine woods. It was not numer-ous, but was seen almost daily during May, and up to the 9th ofJune when Mr. Frazar started for Triunfo. The males were in fullsong, and there can be little doubt that they and their mates weresettled for the season and preparing to breed on this mountain."Audubon's hermit thrush has well been called the Rocky Mountainhermit thrush, for everywhere its chosen summer home is at the higheraltitudes in the mountains, in the deep recesses of the pine woods, inthe open groves of aspens, or higher up in the dense forests of sprucesand firs, even up to the tree limit. In Arizona and New Mexico it maybe looked for in summer at between 7,000 and 12,000 feet elevation;and even as far north as Montana its range is between 4,000 and 6,000feet altitude. Mrs. Bailey (1928) gives the following picture of itshaunts in New Mexico:At 11,000 feet, on Jack Creek below Pecos Baldy, we found them so surprisinglyabundant in the dense spruce and fir forest that we named our camp HylocichlaCamp. From the woods above, below, and around us came their beautiful songs,the first heard in the morning and the last at night. At sunset, as we walkedthrough the cool, still, spruce woods, its pale beards lit by the last slanting rays,involuntarily treading lightly to make no sound, from unseen choristers a sereneuplifted chant arose, growing till it seemed to fill the remote aisles of the forest.Sometimes a silvery voice would come from the open edge of the dark forest, wherethe singer looked far down the mountainside and out over the wide mesa-cladplains?a wide view, the beauty and sweep of which seemed in rare harmony withhis untroubled spirit.Russell K. Grater tells me that this thrush is a fairly common sum-mer resident in Zion National Park, Washington County, Utah, above8,000 feet, nesting in June and July, in the fir belt.Spring.?Audubon's hermit thrush probably breeds in some of thehigher, spruce-clad mountains in Arizona, but Mr. Swarth (1904) metwith it in the Huachucas only as a migrant between April 18 and May19; the latter was in worn plumage and may have been a breeding bird."I secured most of my specimens of auduboni in the highest parts ofthe range, feeding, not in the thick bushes and underbrush, as most ofthe thrushes do, but on the open ground under the big pines, scratchingand working in the pine needles with which the ground was thicklycovered. One or two specimens were secured in the canyons as lowas 6,000 feet, but the great majority of the birds seen were along thedivide of the mountain, from 8,500 feet upward."
AUDUBON'S HERMIT THRUSH 141Nesting.?I can find no record of Audubon's hermit thrush nestingon the ground, as is the common habit of the eastern hermit thrush.The nearest approach to a ground nest is that described in the datafor a set in my collection, taken for Frederick M. Dille in Estes Park,Colo.; this was placed in what he called a "ground pine" and not 6inches from the ground.In New Mexico, according to Mrs. Bailey (1928), the nest is placed
"in bushes or low trees usually in pine or spruce, but also in oak sap-lings, 3 to 10 feet from the ground; bulky, made almost wholly of barkand coarse grasses, outside covered with moss." Dr. Edgar A.Mearns (1890) tells of a nest that was built near his camp in the moun-tains of Arizona. " The nest was saddled on to the middle of the lowestlimb of a large spruce, and the birds gathered material for its construc-tion close about my tent with perfect freedom from shyness, acceptingproffered bits of cotton for its completion."William L. Sclater (1912) has this to say about nests in Colorado:Gale's notes contain the record of a large number of nests found by him atvarious elevations, from about 6,000 to 11,000 feet; they were placed almostexclusively on spruce trees from about three to ten feet from the ground, generallyin a spot near a mountain stream or close to a spring.Nests were constiucted of various materials, such as rotten wood, mosses,grasses and plant stems, and lined with rootlets, horsehair or fine grasses. Allthese materials have been found in the nests, though by no means in every nest.The construction varied considerably, but no clay or mud is used. The nestswere very quickly completed; one begun on June 6th was finished on the 13th,and the first clutch of eggs laid by the 18th.The nests of this thrush seem to be quite large and well built.D. D. Stone (1884) describes such a Colorado nest as follows: "Nestin small pine, five feet from ground, a few feet from edge of heavytimber. Parent glided off the nest and out of sight without a note.Nest, a slight base, and sides of twigs and coarse grass stems, within acompact wall % inch thick, of green moss woven in with fine strawand rootlets. It is the most solid nest I ever saw, for one made with-out mud. Outer diameter 5% inches, height 3}i inches, inner diameter2% inches, depth 2 inches."Eggs.?Except for an average difference in size, the eggs of Audu-bon's hermit thrush are similar to those of other races of the species.Four is probably the commonest number, but sets of three or fivehave been found. The color is light greenish blue, or "Nile blue."The measurements of 40 eggs in the United States National Museumaverage 22.8 by 17.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremesmeasure 24.6 by 15.3, 21.6 by 18.5, 21.1 by 18.1, and 22.9 by 15.2millimeters.Food.?The vegetable food consists largely of wild fruit or waste
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cultivated fruit. Among the wild berries eaten are pokeberry, ser-viceberry, holly, black alder, woodbine, elderberries, mistletoe berries,and the seeds of poison-oak. Animal food includes ants, caterpillars,beetles and other insects, and spiders. It evidently does no harm tocultivated crops.Voice.?The exquisite song of this thrush is fully as beautiful andinspiring as that of its famous eastern relative, which, in my estima-tion, is one of our most beautiful bird songs. Mrs. Bailey (1902)expresses it very well as follows:As you travel through the spire-pointed fir forests of the western mountains,you know the thrush as a voice, a bell-like sublimated voice, which, like the tollingof the Angelus, arrests toil and earthly thought. Its phrases can be expressedin the words Mr. Burroughs has given to the eastern hermit, "Oh, spheral, spheral!oh, holy, holy!" and the first strain arouses emotions which the regularly fallingcadences carry to a perfect close. The fine spirituality of the song, its sereneuplifting quality, make it fittingly associated with nature's most exalted moods,and it is generally heard in the solemn stillness of sunrise, when the dark fir forestis tipped with gold, or in the hush of sunset, when the western sky is aglow andthe deep voice rises from its chantry in slow, soul-stirring cadences, high-up-high-up, look-up, look-up.Leon Kelso (1935), writing of it in Colorado, says: "They sing at alltimes of the day, but most often in the evening. June 17, 1933, theysang as late as 8:00 p. m. June 20, they sang as late as 8:20 p. m.One gave songs at intervals of 6-3-4-7-8-2-5 seconds. June 21, 7 :00a. m. the same bird sang at intervals averaging 5-6 seconds. At4-4:30 p.m. it sang at 5-10 second intervals while the writer stoodwithin ten feet of its perch. At 7:45 p. m. it sang at intervals of4-5-5-5-4-6-5 seconds. All birds of this species ceased singing at8:15 p. m. on this day, it then being quite dark."Enemies.?Audubon's hermit thrush is listed by Dr. Friedmann(1929) as a rare victim of the Nevada cowbird; but he has only onedefinite record, that of a nest in the R. M. Barnes collection that heldthree eggs of the thrush and one of the cowbird.Winter.?Audubon's hermit thrush goes farther south in winter thanany of the other hermit thrushes. Dr. Helmuth O. Wagner (MS.) saysof its winter haunts in Mexico: "In the winter time, from October 15to April 4, you will find it in the forests around Mexico City and in theparks of the city. In the mountains I saw at all times only singlebirds, neither with other birds nor with those of its own species. Theyprefer to stay in the barancas and on the sides of the small brooks.The winter is the dry season here, and they are living only in themoister parts of the forests. In the city I saw them on the lawnswhich are watered each day. If the winter is very dry they travelto places where conditions are better; this winter, 1942-43, is extremelydry; I saw the last bird on November 13."
EASTERN HERMIT THRUSH 143HYLOCICHLA GUTTATA FAXONI Bangs and PenardEASTERN HERMIT THRUSHContributed by Alfred Otto GrossHABITSThe hermit thrush ranks high in the list of our favorite NorthAmerican birds. The exquisite song of this modest bird of thenorthern woodlands has captivated the affections of a host of birdlovers. Those who have been privileged to hear its song possessdelightful memories of associations with the hermit : perhaps a woodedborder of some mirrored lake or some fern-carpeted woodland; oragain they may have heard the fluted notes ringing across somebrilliant sunset scene.John Burroughs has beautifully expressed the inspiration, the ele-vating character of the emotions with which the hermit's song infusesus when he wrote the following lines in "Wake Robin": "Mountingtoward the upland again, I pause reverently as the hush and stillnessof twilight come upon the woods. It is the sweetest, ripest hour of theday. And as the hermit's evening hymn goes up from the deep soli-tude below me, I experience that serene exaltation of sentiment ofwhich music, literature, and religion are but the faint types andsymbols."Unfortunately those who know the hermit only as a migrant areunfamiliar with this bird as the accomplished singer, for it passes onits migration without uttering more than a few uninteresting calls.Some of the earlier ornithologists were evidently unaware of its accom-plishments. Wilson did not know of its song and Audubon as far ashis personal acquaintance with the bird is concerned speaks only of itssingle plaintive note. One must meet the hermit in its nesting hauntsof the northern woods to know this bird at its best.O. Bangs and T. E. Penard (1921) found the two original namesof the hermit thrush untenable. Turdus solitarius Wilson is preoccu-pied by Turdus solitarius Linnaeus. Wilson's description is of thehermit thrush, but the plate to which he referred represents Hylocichlaustulata swainsonii (Cabanis). Turdus brunneus Brewer is preoccu-pied by Turdus brunneus ~Bodd&ert=Euphagus carolinus (Muller).But from Brewer's article it is difficult to determine whether Turdusbrunneus "Gmel." refers to Hylocichla guttata pallasii or Hylocichlaustulata swainsonii. Both names are thus of a composite nature, andthe authors considered it best to propose an entirely independentname, Hylocichla guttata faxoni subsp. nov., for the eastern hermitthrush.According tojRidgway (1907) the eastern hermit (thrush is mostlike Hylocichla guttata nana of the six western subspecies, but the
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upperparts are of a lighter, more isabelline or cinnamomeous brown,spots on chest averaging larger, sides and flanks more buffy brown,and bill stouter. The various subspecies of the hermit thrush are ofminor importance in a discussion of the habits and life history, andwhat is true of the eastern hermit thrush will in most instances alsoapply to the western forms.Spring.?The migration of the hermit thrush through the UnitedStates is confused by the presence of wintering individuals. Thereare countless numbers of migration records early in March, but itis apparent that the peak of migration up the Mississippi Valley andinto Canada is during April. An examination of some of the Canadianrecords of migration is of interest. According to J. H. Fleming (1907)the hermit is an abundant migrant at Toronto from April 13 to May10. His earliest date of spring arrival is April 8. At Aweme, Mani-toba, latitude 49? 42' N., Norman Criddle (1922) in 19 years of obser-vation found the average date of its first arrival to be May 2. Hisearliest record is April 19, 1917. Lynds Jones (1910) made extensivestudies of bird migration on the sand spit of Cedar Point, Ohio. Thecomparative isolation of the spit from the mainland makes it thefirst step in the flight to Point Pelee on the Canadian shore of LakeErie. In migration the birds are concentrated in this strip, whichcan be likened to the neck of a funnel. According to Jones the hermitsare usually so numerous during migration that they spread well overthe whole of the sand spit. The median date of spring arrival isApril 2, the earliest March 21, 1903. The median date of springdeparture is May 5, the latest May 20, 1907. It is seen that althougha few individuals arrive at the spit in March, possibly individualsthat wintered a relatively short distance south, the bulk do not arriveuntil April and do not leave until May.The hermit thrush is the hardiest member of its group, for it is thefirst to arrive in spring and the latest to leave in autumn. Indeed,some individuals remain in certain sections of the southern limitsof the breeding range, wherever there is an adequate food supply,to brave the cold winter. It dislikes snow, however, and usuallymanages to keep south of the line where snow remains on the groundfor an extended period. It normally winters south of the 40thparallel to the Gulf States and west to central Texas. The migrationstarts in March, and by the middle of April it arrives in central NewEngland, New York, southern Michigan, and Minnesota. Duringthe first week of May it has reached the northern limits of its breedingrange. It makes the journey by night and rests during the day.During the height of the migration large numbers are often seen inthe parks and churchyards among the tall buildings and bustling
EASTERN HERMIT THRUSH 145
life of our larger cities. After the ordeal of the nocturnal flight thebirds are hungry, often exhausted, and at such times exhibit littlefear and may be seen feeding about dooryards, allowing humanobservers to approach near to them. It they are caught in a snow-storm this behavior becomes even more pronounced. I have hadindividuals, benumbed by the cold, eat out of my hands, and onebird even allowed me to pick it up to be carried to the house to bewarmed.The hermits follow no special migration route in reaching theirnorthern home except in the far West. Here they fly on a directnorthwest route that takes them as far as the Mackenzie and YukonValleys. In fall the hermit starts southward in September, but it iswell toward the end of October before the bulk of them have lefttheir northern summer ranges. E. A. Preble tells me that he sawone early in December in Wilmington, Mass., about 1890.Nesting.?The nest of the hermit thrush is a compact structurebut often bulky in the amount of nesting materials used. Thefoundation and exterior of a typical nest are composed of twigs,strips of wood, bark fibers, dried grass, and ferns and ornamentedon the outside by bits of green moss. The lining is made up of pineneedles, delicate plant fibers, or fine rootlets. The interior dimensionsof the nesting bowl are about 2% inches across by 2 inches deep.The nest is generally built on the ground and in a natural depressionof a knoll or hummock, often under a small fir or hemlock whosebranches touch the ground, forming a kind of protective canopy overthe nest. One nest found in northern Michigan was in a rather openspace of woodland and was completely surrounded by blossomingbunchberries, and another nest was completely hidden from viewby a luxuriant growth of ferns. I have found them along the edgesof old wood roads and on the borders of pasturelands skirted byshrubbery and trees. In northern Maine the nests may be found intussocks of the wet sphagnum bogs that are surrounded by growthsof larches, spruce, and other coniferous trees. On Long Island thehermit frequents the hottest and driest barrens where the ground iscarpeted with little else but bearberry and pine-barren sandwort.Near the site of the University of Michigan Biological Station,Douglas Lake, northern Michigan, the hermit is one of the commonestof the nesting birds. During July 1928 we found six nests in dryupland covered with a second growth that had sprung up after asevere fire that had raged through the section a few years before.The hermit sometimes departs from its usual habit of nesting onthe ground. Henry R. Carey (1925) reports finding a nest 5 feet upin a small hemlock, and Horace W. Wright (1920) found a hermit's
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nest resting firmly on several bean poles at a point 4 feet above theground. A pair observed by John May was'nesting in what appearedto be a typical robin's nest 2 feet up in a young hemlock. This nesthad a foundation of coarse grasses and weeds, a middle layer of mud,and a lining of fine grasses. I found a hermit's nest on a barrenshelf of rock of a perpendicular ledge adjoining a deserted feldsparquarry in Topsham, Maine. The shelf on which the nest was builtwas 15 inches wide and 3 feet long and^about 7 feet above the ground.The nesting site though in an exposed situation was well shaded duringmost hours of the day by the dense foliage of several large hemlocktrees. The nest was made of the usual nesting materials, but thetwigs and leaves of the foundation were spread over an area of 12 to15 inches. The nesting bowl of the deep cupped nest was well formedand firmly constructed.Though we associate the hermits with lonely situations remote fromthe habitations of man, they have been known to nest about buildings.Miss Annie L. Warner, of Salem, Mass., wrote to Mr. Forbush (1929)that she found a hermit's nest with two well-grown fledglings about7 feet from the ground, on a shelf under the eaves of a piazza of anoccupied camp on Lake Winnipesaukee. Another hermit was reportednesting in a tin gutter under the eaves of the second story of a homeat Holderness, N. H. (E. DeMeritte, 1920). Verna R. Johnston (1943)found a hermit thrush nesting on a rafter under a roof of a building atthe University of Colorado Biological Station, at Boulder, Colo.The station is located at an elevation of 9,500 feet.Eggs.?The eggs of the hermit thrush are ovate or elongate-ovateand a plain greenish blue in color. They are similar in appearanceto the eggs of the Wilson's thrush but are of a much more delicateand lighter shade of blue. Occasionally the eggs are spotted. Incorrespondence received from Francis H. Allen he writes that one eggof a set of three found at Bridgewater, N. H., on August 1, 1883, hasthinly scattered small brown spots. Another found near the sameplace on August 9 of the same year contained three eggs, one of whichwas spotted. Harry G. Parker (1887) writes that in two eggs in aset of tliree there were minute spots of black. An application of anacid wash failed to remove the spots. Others have reported similarmarkings on the eggs of the hermit thrush, but spotted eggs are by nomeans of common occurrence.The number of eggs per complete set varies from three to six, butthe vast majority of nests contain three or four eggs.The measurements and weights in millimeters and grams of twotypical sets of eggs are as follows:
EASTERN HERMIT THRUSH 147NEST FOUND AT BRUNSWICK, MAINE, JULY 16, 1928Long diameter Short diameter
148 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMperched at the tip of a small dead tree stub in an open situation wherehe was readily observed from the blind. Whenever there was anaccidental noise or disturbance inside the blind to arouse his suspicionshe would utter a chuck, chuck call accompanied by a characteristicsudden up-tilting and slow lowering of his tail.The hermit is a wary bird, and during the first few days I spent inthe blind the least provocation caused the bird to leave the nest witha whir of wings. But in the course of a few minutes after each suchdisturbance she flew back to a place within a few yards of the nestand from that point approached with caution, frequently stopping atsome elevated knoll carefully to scrutinize the surroundings. Shethen crept close to the ground under cover of the vegetation, herprogress being made known by the rustling of the leaves. She oftentook a circuitous route and when near sometimes circled about thenest on wing suspended in' hummingbird fashion. Again afteralighting she went along stealthily in a series of hops and when finallyassured all was well went confidently to the nest. She adjusted theeggs with her bill and then settled on them, moving her body backand forth until the feathers of the breast were separated, permittingthe eggs to come in direct contact with her warm body. This adjust-ment is repeated several times and not until it meets with her com-plete satisfaction does she settle down to the arduous task of incuba-tion. The raised feathers of the neck and back then fall back to theirnormal position, the tips of the primaries are crossed over the rump,and the bill assumes an upward tilt. She is then motionless and hersoft brown colors blend so into the lights and shadows of the sur-roundings that she is practically hidden from view. The eggs areturned at frequent intervals during the course of the day. From timeto time the male, who seemed even more cautious than his mate, wouldtimidly approach the nest, announcing his coming with a wee call.With a look of apparent admiration and devotion he delivered somechoice insect or larvae in commendation of a task well done. Some-times instead of bringing food he carried nesting material. This wasgraciously received by the female who merely cast it to one side of thenest. This behavior is of frequent occurrence among certain groupsof birds such as the herons, gallinules, and hawks, but I have neverbefore noted this behavior, a response to an emotional urge, exhibitedin the Turdidae.Once a red-eyed vireo unwittingly alighted in the small tree underwhich the nest was located. The male immediately uttered his warcry and dashed at the unwelcome intruder. He was joined by hismate and both birds chased the vireo into the dense woodland beyond.At another time a red squirrel making his way through the grass andvines passed within 2 feet of the nest, but strangely enough his ap-
EASTERN HERMIT THRUSH 149pearance did not seem to excite the birds in the least. However, thefemale on the nest after having caught sight of the squirrel followedevery move until he had passed and was well out of sight. Onanother day a hummingbird hovered for 30 seconds between the nestand the blind not more than 3 feet above the nest, but neither birdpaid any attention to this unusual visitor. O. S. Pettingill, Jr.(1930), writes of a gartersnake that appeared among the leaves neara nest he was observing from a blind. The parent bird was muchperturbed. She flew from the nest screaming alarm calls and hover-ing over the unwelcome guest in a defiant defensive attitude. It isapparent that through some previous experience or hereditary tend-ency the birds recognized the snake as an enemy to be challenged onsight.Unless disturbed the female remained on the nest during the day,especially if it were cold and raining or when it was excessively hot.During the latter condition she would perch on the edge of the nestwith her wings somewhat extended to keep the burning sun rays offthe eggs or young. At one time when the temperature arose above90? she kept her beak wide open and panted incessantly in order toretain her normal body temperature. Only in the early morning orlate in the evening just before sunset did I see her leave the nestvoluntarily. These trips were doubtless taken to supplement thefood delivered to her by the male.Young.?After the eggs are pipped hatching proceeds rapidly.The struggling embryo breaks the shell in two parts, the crack takingplace near the greatest diameter. In the course of a few minutes theembryo is entirely free. Each time I saw this critical event happenthe adult was away from the nest. On her return, after carefullyinspecting the young, she picked up an empty half shell and carriedit away returning immediately to remove the other part. Theappearance of the young is an important event in the household andseems to excite the parents to greater activity. Both parents flitabout nervously and seem most anxious to serve their offspring.They now exhibit less caution and more daring in approaching thenest. A small green larva was delivered and fed to the young in lessthan five minutss after it had come into the world.At the time of hatching the young are nearly naked, being clothedby only a few scant tufts of dark grayish down on the crown anddorsal tracts of the body. Though the eyes are closed during thefirst two or three days, the young birds are most responsive to theapproach of the adults at the very start. In fact, a mere touch ofthe rim of the nest is sufficient to initiate the feeding response?up-lifting their heads, extending their gape, and displaying the brightcolors lining the mouth. Both parents take an active part in the
150 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMfeeding of the young and at all times take meticulous care of thesanitation of the nest. The excrement is received in their beaks assoon as it is emitted. The young are carefully examined and evenstimulated by a stroke of their bills after each feeding until the fecalsac appears. During the first few days it is eaten, but thereafter itmay be carried away and dropped at some distance from the nest.The food at first consists of small green larvae, but as the youngbecome older, mature insects, small grasshoppers, moths, beetles, andspiders are added to the diet. While the nestlings are very smallthey are frequently unable to swallow the food brought to them.After a morsel is thrust into an open mouth or into different mouthswithout being swallowed, the adult will mince it in her bill, or if thelarva is large and both parents are present each will grasp an end andpull it apart. Sometimes after repeated failures of the young toswallow the food it is eaten by the adults. At one nest there seemedto be a great deal of difference in the choice of the food delivered.One of the birds would invariably bring food of the proper size andtenderness, while the other would bring enormous larvae or wingedinsects such as large sphinx moths totally unsuited as food for the ageof the young being fed. The latter may have been a young inexperi-enced parent with its first offspring. Perhaps it was the male! Atleast human fathers are not supposed to know much about properinfant feeding.On the third day the eyelids of the young are parted, and from thenon their reactions are more and more responses to sight rather thansound. On the fourth day the papillae of the remiges have pierced theskin, and by the fifth day the chief feather tracts are welt defined. Onthe seventh day the tips of the primaries and secondaries are un-sheathed, and those of the other tracts have tips which display theolive-brown and buffy colors. By the ninth day the young frequentlypreen their feathers, thus facilitating the unsheathing process, so thaton the following day or two the full colors of the juvenal plumage areacquired. The young now exhibit evidence of fear when one ap-proaches or when there is a disturbance near the nest. The tail feath-ers are well developed at this time but do not attain their full lengthuntil later when they are about six weeks old. When the young are12 days old they are ready to leave the nest. If they are Dot fright-ened and not forced to leave the nest prematurely they are encouragedby the adults, who stay away from the nest and perch at some distancewith an appetizing morsel in their beaks. The parents hop from perchto perch calling constantly until the hungry youngster responds. Atsuch times I have seen one or more of the nestlings standing on the rimof the nest preening their feathers, flapping their wings, and goingthrough all the gymnastics of a young osprey whose first venture away
EASTERN HERMIT THRUSH 151is by flight. Finally when the decision of the young hermit does comeit leaps from the rim of the nest, flutters its wings, and then makes itsway along the ground and through the vegetation in the direction ofthe coaxing adult. After a few yards of travel the youngster is re-warded with food. This performance of the adults is continued untilall have left the nest in a similar fashion. If you attempt to followthe young they take a short flight at the same time, uttering a seriesof distress calls, which are a signal for the adults to come to theirrescue. At such times the adults exhibit unusual bravery and mayeven dash at the human intruder in rage.As is true with other ground-nesting birds a comparatively smallpercentage of young reach maturity. Miss Cordelia J. Stanwood(1910) states that out of 14 nests containing a total of 47 eggs only 19fledglings left the nest. Others are lost after leaving the nest beforethey are able to fly well enough to perch well above the ground out ofreach of terrestrial enemies.The relative growth of the young during the 12 days spent in thenest can be shown by their daily weighings. The average dailyweights of three young of an apparently typical family brood were4.12, 4.93, 7.21, 10.12, 14.76, 16.98, 19.21, 22.35, 24.60, 25.13, 25.61,and 24.81 grams, respectively, for the 12 days. It will be seen thatthe weighings increase rapidly during the first week of nest life, butthe proportionate increase diminishes as they grow older and was ac-tually less on the twelfth than on the preceding day. The weight atthe end exceeded six times the weight at the beginning of nest life.The nesting season of the hermit thrush extends over a relativelylong period from May to August, or about three months. O. W.Knight (1908) reports that he has found nests of the hermit thrushwith full complements of eggs as early as May 1. Others have foundnests with eggs during the first week of May. Miss C. J. Stanwood(1910) found a nest of the hermit thrush, containing three eggs, atEllsworth, Maine, on August 22, 1909. The young left on September8. Dr. C. Hart Merriam (1882) found a nest containing fresh eggs atLocust Grove, Lewis County, N. Y., on August 24, 1870. Augustnesting dates are by no means rare. This wide range in time of nest-ing dates, more than three months, is very suggestive that two or eventhree broods may be reared by a single pair of birds during one season.The incubation period is 12 days, and the time spent by the young inthe nest is also only 12 days; hence a nest can be built and the youngmatured in the course of a month. The two distinct summer singingperiods of the hermit are also suggestive of two nestings. It is wellknown that if the first nest proves a failure a second attempt will bemade during the same season.
152 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMPlumages.?The plumages and molts of the hermit thrush havebeen described by Jonathan Dwight (1900) as follows:Juvenal plumage acquired by a complete postnatal moult. Above, includingsides of head, sepia or olive-brown, the rump russet, and everywhere spottedwith large buffy white guttate spots bordered with black. The wings ratherdarker, the coverts and tertiaries with small terminal buffy spots. Tail burntumber-brown. Below, white faintly tinged with buff, spotted with deep black,on the sides of neck, across the breast and on the flanks and crissum, the throatand breast, the fore part of the abdomen and flanks faintly barred. Bill and feetdull pinkish buff remaining pale when older. * * *First winter plumage acquired by a partial postjuvenal moult, beginning latein August, which involves the body plumage, most of the lesser and mediancoverts, but not the rest of the wings nor the tail. Similar to previous plumagebut without spotting above and the black spots below fewer. Above, includingsides of head olive tinged mummy-brown, burnt-umber on rump and upper tailcoverts. Below, white tinged faintly with buff on throat and breast, with olivegray on the sides and spotted heavily on the throat and faintly on the breastwith large deltoid black spots. Lores and submalar lines black; orbital ring palebuff. The buff spotted coverts retained distinguish young from adults. * * *First nuptial plumage acquired by wear, the upper surface becoming rathergrayer and the buff below mostly lost.Adult winter plumage acquired by a complete post-nuptial moult in Augustand September. Averages darker and lacks the tell-tale coverts and tertials ofthe first winter dress. Young and old become indistinguishable.Adult nuptial plumage acquired by wear as in the young bird, from which itis usually distinguishable by the wing coverts.The plumages and molts are alike in the two sexes.Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1936) has determined the number ofcontour feathers in a number of passeriform and related birds. Hiscounts of the contour feathers of three hermit thrushes is as follows:
Date
EASTERN HERMIT THRUSH 153the year, though all the birds taken in winter were collected from theSouthern States, the District of Columbia, and California.Animal matter, consisting chiefly of insects and a few spiders, com-prises 64.51 percent of the total amount of the food eaten by the her-mit thrush. The insects consisted of beetlesh 5.3?percent, ants 12.46percent, bees and wasps 5.41 percent, caterpillars 9.54 percent, Hemip-tera (bugs) 3.63 percent, Diptera (flies) 3.02 percent, grasshoppersand crickets 6.32 percent, miscellaneous insects 0.27 percent, andspiders and myriapods 7.47 percent. Miscellaneous animals such assowbugs, snails, and angleworms make up the balance of the animalfood of 1.26 percent. Of the insects listed above less than 3 percentcan be considered useful; the remainder according to Professor Bealare chiefly harmful to man's interest.The vegetable diet of the hermit thrush (35.49 percent) consistslargely of fruit, but little of this can be classed as cultivated. Bealfound that 5.45 percent of the food eaten during September did con-sist of cultivated fruits but in most months the quantity was small,and in March, April, and May was completely wanting. The totalamount of cultivated fruit eaten during the entire year was only 1 .20percent. Of the wild fruits (26.19 percent) 46 species were identified.A few seeds, ground-up vegetable matter not identified, and rubbishmade up the remainder of the vegetable food, or 9.10 percent of thetotal.S. A. Forbes (1880) in the examination of 150 thrushes obtained inIllinois found them destructive to useful predaceous beetles. Theworst of the group in this respect was the hermit thrush, which main-tained a high ratio of these beetles throughout the fruit season whenthe total insect food fell away rapidly. It is important in consideringthe insect food of any species to take into account the beneficial aswell as harmful insects.While in its winter haunts of the Southern States the hermit thrushfeeds largely on wild fruits and berries such as dogwood, pokeberries,serviceberries, holly berries, blueberries, mistletoe, frost grapes, elder-berries, spiceberries, mulberries, blackberries, and seeds of the green-brier, Virginia-creeper, and sumac including the poison-ivy and poison-oak.The hermit keeps close to wooded retreats, and hence the productsof the farmer are seldom molested. The majority of the insects onwhich it feeds are injuries to trees and hence it can be considered avaluable tenant of the forest.Lewis O. Shelley (1930) reports that in southern New Hampshireafter a snowstorm on April 12, 1929, many species of birds includingthe hermit thrush made efforts to find earthworms and insects near hishome. The thrushes became so tame that they readily took earth-792825?49 11
154 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMworms from his fingers. In notes received from F. H. Kennard hestates that a hermit thrush was found in the middle of a meadow,warm but dead. There was a large earthworm protruding from itsmouth which had choked it to death.Coit M. Coker (1931) reports an interesting experience with anesting pair of hermit thrushes iD the Allegheny foothills of westernNew York. He states that in fully one-quarter of the trips madeto the nest with food both adults brought small salamanders of twospecies, the Allegany and red-backed salamanders. During the hotterparts of the day fewer salamanders were brought, and this Mr. Cokerattributed to the fact that the heat had driven the salamanders deeperunder cover. Others have reported salamanders comprising a partof the food delivered to the young. While observing a nest of hermitthrushes at Brunswick, Maine, I observed one of the adults deliver asalamander about 2 inches in length to the bird at the nest. Inthis case the salamander was not fed to the young, then five days old,but she ate it herself. A similar case was observed at a nest at DouglasLake in northern Michigan, indicating that salamanders are by nomeans a local menu.During the summer of 1941 I had an opportunity to observe thefood brought to the young throughout their life in the nest at Bruns-wick, Maine. The food was invariably held in the beaks of theadults so that it could be easily seen and often identified from theblind placed within 5 feet of the nest. The food the first three daysconsisted of small green larvae. During the first day the larvae wereminced in the beak of the adult before they were delivered, and atother times the larvae if large would be divided in two by each of thepair of birds grasping an end of the worm and pulling until it parted.On several occasions larvae too large for the young to negotiate afterthey were thrust into the extended mouths were swallowed by theparent. After the third day winged insects, spiders, and ants wereadded to the diet. On the seventh and eighth days large moths, grass-hoppers, and beetles were fed to the young without any mincing ortearing apart. During the many hours spent in the blind I did notsee fruit, berries, or vegetable matter delivered to the young, butHenry R. Carey (1925) reports that fruit including blueberries andwild cherries was delivered to the young of a nest observed in thePocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.Daniel E. Owen (1897) kept a young hermit thrush in captivityfrom the time it left the nest on June 26 until July 31. During thisperiod of about five weeks he made interesting observations on itsbehavior and especially of its food habits. Mr. Owen substitutedits usual food with raw beef cut into bits about one centimeter longby half a centimeter wide. To facilitate swallowing the pieces of
EASTERN HERMIT THRUSH 155meat were dipped in water. On June 28 between 8 a. m. and 7 p. m.it was fed eight times and swallowed 27 bits of meat. After July 4he weighed the bird's food as well as the bird itself. The bird's aver-age weight during five days was 27.7 grams and the average weight ofthe meat eaten daily was 13.56 grams, indicating that it ate about 50percent of its weight in meat. He experimented with earthwormsand found that the thrush ate 19 worms between 8:30 a. m. and 1 p. m.He noted that worms from a dung heap were frequently rejected,whereas worms taken from cool black garden mold were eaten with arelish. The thrush ate 9 grams of worms an horn-, so at this rate itwould not take more than a few hours for it to eat its own weight inworms. Experiments were made to determine the time requiredfor the food to pass through the alimentary tract by the use of blue-berries, which dyed the bird's excretions. Only half an hour wasrequired, which explains the enormous capacity the birds have forfood.Behavior.?H. R. Ivor (1941 and 1943) has observed the peculiarbehavior of "anting" in many species of birds, including the hermitthrush. In "anting" the birds seize the ants and place them in theirfeathers, usually under the primaries of the wings. They may alsocrush the ants with their bills and rub the juices on the feathers, orthe birds may dust themselves in anthills. Various theories havebeen advanced to explain this behavior: The ants are placed amongthe feathers to drive out ectoparasites; the bird anoints its featherswith the formic-acid secretions of the ant to repel ectoparasites; thebird eats the ants for the formic acid, which may be beneficial as amedication to increase muscular energy or to expel endoparasites
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the bird places the ants in the feathers to have a reserve food supplyduring migration. These and other suggestions have been made.Further observations and study of this behavior will be required toenable us to interpret the true biological significance of "anting."Voice.?As a boy living in central Illinois I knew the hermit merelyas the thrush with the reddish-brown tail, and in those days I neverheard its exquisite song as it passed through that part of the Stateon its way to and from the nesting grounds. It uttered nothing morethan a protesting quoit or chuck when we intruded upon its transitoryhaunts in the few scattered wooded areas of that prairie section. Itwas not until I came to Maine to live in the midst of its breedingarea that I fully appreciated this aristocrat of the bird world. InMaine this gifted songster is at its best soon after its arrival duringthe last week of April. At this season any visit during the earlymorning or evening hours to a particular evergreen forest traversedby a cool meandering trout stream is certain to be rewarded by thesuperb performances of this prima-donna songster. Indeed, the
156 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMhermit has been given the tribute of being the most gifted songsterin North America, and its song has often served as the inspirationfor poetic writers.M. Chamberlain (1882) described his impressions of the song ofthe hermit thrush as he heard it near St. John, New Brunswick,Canada, as follows:The music of the Hermit never startles you; it is in such perfect harmony withthe surroundings it is often passed by unnoticed, but it steals upon the sense ofan appreciative listener like the quiet beauty of a sunset. Very few persons haveheard him at his best. To accomplish this you must steal up close to his forestsanctuary when the day is done, and listen to the vesper hymn that flows sogently out upon the hushed air of the gathering twilight. You must be veryclose to the singer or you will lose the sweetest and most tender pathetic passages,so low are they rendered?in the merest whispers. I cannot, however, agreewith Mr. Burroughs that he is more of an evening than a morning songster, forI have often observed that the birds in any given locality will sing more frequentlyand for a longer period in the morning than in the evening. I prefer to hear himin the evening, for there is a difference; the song in the morning is more sprightly
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a musician would say "has greater brilliancy of expression"?and lacks theextreme tenderness of the evening song, yet both have the same notes and thesame "hymn-like serenity." The birds frequently render their matinal hymnsin concert and the dwellers in a grove will burst out together in one full chorus,forming a grander Te Deum?more thrilling?than is voiced by surpliced choirwithin cathedral walls. On one occasion an Indian hunter after listening to oneof these choruses for a time said to me, "That makes me feel queer." It was noslight influence moved this red-skinned stoic of the forest to such a speech.Aretas A. Saunders, who has made intensive studies of many birdsongs, has written his interpretations and analysis of the hermit'ssong, in personal correspondence as follows: "The song of the hermitthrush is a long-continued one, made up of rather long phrases of5 to 12 notes each, with rather long pauses. All the notes are sweet,clear, and musical, like the tone of a bell, purer than the notes of thewood thrush, but perhaps less rich in quality. The notes in eachphrase are not all connected. The first note is longest and lowestin pitch, and the final notes are likely to be grouped in twos or threes,the pitch of each group usually descending. Each phrase is similarto the others in form but on a different pitch, as if the bird sang thesame theme over and over, each time in a different key. If onelistens carefully for each note, however, two different phrases arerarely exact duplicates in form, but slightly varied, a likeness tocertain symphonies of some of the great composers.
"In records of 38 different individual birds the pitch ranges fromF" to D#"", one tone less than two octaves. The average individualhas a range of about an octave. In looking over my records it isquite apparent that birds in the Adirondacks ha ye a greater rangeof pitch than those in Allegany State Park in southwestern New
EASTERN HERMIT THRUSH 157York. Most of my records come from those two localities. TheAdirondack birds average two tonesWer an octave, and the AlleganyPark ones nearly three tones less than an octave. The average bird,from my records, has six different phrases, but some have as few asthree, several have nine, while one bird in Allegany Park had 14.
"Nearly every individual has one or two phrases pitched consider-ably higher than the rest, and these very high phrases sound weakand of poorer quality than the others. This may be due, however,not to actual poorer quality but to man's inability to perceive theovertones of the very high notes. It is the overtones that cause thepoor or rich quality or timbre of a sound."Albert R. Brand (1938) writes that in his study of bird recordingson film it is revealed that certain high notes are inaudible to thehuman ear, and his field observations of certain birds including thehermit thrush seem to confirm the suspicion. He states that hehas observed birds singing nearby through field glasses, he has seentheir bills open as if emitting notes, yet he heard no sound. Mr.Brand (1938) reports the lowest note recorded for the hermit thrushwas 1,475 vibrations per second, the highest 4,375 vibrations, withan approximate mean of 3,000 vibrations per second.Henry Oldys (1913), after describing the usual song of the hermitthrush and comparing it with the human voice, analyzes an unusualsong in developing a theory of the independent evolution of bird song.Mr. Oldys heard the unusual hermit thrush song at Pompanoosuc, Vt..,in which he noted a very perceptible normal order in the basal notesand their independent phrases, and that order made a harmonic pro-gression such as completely satisfies the requirements of human music.He concludes "that the evolution of bird music independently parallelsthe evolution of human music and that, therefore, such evolution ineach case is not fortuitous, but tends inevitably toward a fixed ideal."At Lost River, N. H., located in the midst of the White Mountains,both the hermit and olive-backed thrushes nest, and there I had anunusual opportunity to compare the songs and notes of these twosongsters. The musical ability of the hermit is more varied than thatof the oliveback. Its usual song dies out without the rising inflectionof the latter and there is a pause after the first syllable, while in theoliveback's song there is no pause and the second syllable is strong-ly accented, the whole song being quickly delivered.The alarm notes of the two thrushes are also quite different. Theoliveback thrush when disturbed utters a metallic note, short andsharp, often ending in a querulous call. The alarm note of the hermithas a catbird quality about it, lower pitched and less metallic thanthat of the oliveback. The hermit has a nasal note of complaintuttered in two syllables, a chuck like that of the blackbird, and a
158 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMlisp not unlike that of a cedar waxwing. The oliveback utters asimilar nasal note, but it is more liquid in quality and the cluck ofthe hermit may be compared to the puk or pink of the oliveback.The lisp is peculiar to the hermit, while there is a queer multiple noteof soliloquy peculiar to the oliveback.Norman McClintock (1910) has recorded the various notes utteredby the hermit thrushes about a nest which he observed at close rangefrom a blind. He frequently heard a note resembling quirk or quoit,which was uttered when the birds were slightly suspicious or whenthey mildly protested against the presence of an intruder. A secondnote was a high-pitched, thin, and wiry call resembling a cedarwaxwing's note but pitched several tones higher. This note wasused in warning the young of approaching danger. "To the littlebirds this call meant ' freeze'." McClintock continues:A third note, which this pair of Hermits used signified extreme distress. Thisnote sounded to me much like the note of a hoarse Canary. I can best describeit by the word boyb, spoken slowly and with a rising inflection. The note alsoreminded me of a mew of a kitten. Boyb was uttered by the thrushes with themandibles well open, whereas the Cedar-bird call was made with the mandiblesalmost closed.Besides the three notes described, there was a much used conversational notethat evidently contained no implication of suspicion or trouble and was a strongcontrast with the several notes already described. It was an exceedingly softand sweet little note that could be heard but a few feet, and which I can bestdescribe by wee. Wee was used by the parents to each other and to the young.It seemed, however, to be mostly employed to herald to the young the parents'approach with food. At a distance of six or eight feet from the nest a singlewee from a parent would announce to the young the former's proximity. As theparent hopped closer, the wees were rapidly repeated, wee-wee-wee-wee, and thenearer the parent came to the nest, the softer the wees were uttered, until theywere faint whispers. To these wees the young responded, during their first days,by erecting their heads and opening wide their mouths; but later, when they becamemore mature, they would rise to their feet upon hearing the first wee and ener-getically beg for food. * * *The fifth, and only remaining note, was one I heard but twice and both timesit came from the male. It was an indescribable explosive twitter of ecstasymade with fluttering wings. I first heard it on August 3, immediately after themale had been singing for four minutes. On another day, it was uttered in thepresence of the female, who was close by and towards whom it was directed.According to Miss Cordelia Stanwood (1910) the fledglings give aclear sweet whistle, p-e-e-p, a soft, husky, breathing sound, phee-phee,and occasionally pit-pit-pit!, an almost inaudible ventriloquial call.The adults are also capable of a certain amount of ventriloquialpower. Quite often when closely observing a hermit thrush singwhile I was concealed in the blind only a few feet distant, the voiceseemed to come from an individual located far away from the scene.The song probably could not be heard by an observer stationed 50
EASTERN HERMIT THRUSH 159yards away. At such times the throat of the bird vibrates or pul-sates but the mandibles are tightly closed, thus subduing the loud-ness and carrying power of the varied notes.Horace W. Wright (1912) has made a study of the times of theawakening and the evensong of the hermit thrush. Out of a list of57 species recorded the hermit took sixteenth place in order of thefirst voices heard early in the morning. Of 18 records of the hermitthrush the first song was 63 minutes and the latest initial song 45minutes before sunrise. Of 55 species of birds studied for the latestevening song the hermit stands in fifty-first place. Out of 20 recordsthe average number of minutes after sunset was 33, the latest finalsong 40 minutes after sunset, and the earliest final song 25 minutesafter sunset.The song season of the hermit thrush, unlike that of many of oursong birds/ is not limited to the time of the breeding season, butit is also in full song in its winter haunts in the south. Aretas A.Saunders (1929b) writes that he has heard the hermit commonlyand in full voice in the pine forests of central Alabama. Otto Wid-mann (1907) in writing of the winter resident hermit thrushes of thepeninsula of Missouri states: "He greets it with his most tenderstrains on his return in the fall, and sings aloud before he leaves itfor the north." Many other observers have had similar experiences,of hearing the full song of the hermit in their winter haunts althoughthis bird does not sing during its migration journey.W. DeW. Miller (1911) observed 12 hermit thrushes which winteredin a grove of red cedars, in a sheltered valley near Plainfield, N. J.,where there was an abundance of food in the berries of the floweringdogwood. He writes :j * * * heard three distinct call-notes from these birds, one, of course,the familiar low blackbird-like chuck. The two other notes do not seem to becommonly known, at least to those familiar with the bird only as a migrant.The first is a simple, high-pitched whistle, rarely loud; the second, a curious, some-what nasal cry recalling the unmusical note of the veery.The Hermit Thrush seldom sings while with us in the spring, and the songis so low as to be inaudible if one is more than a few yards from the singer. OnMarch 19, I was agreeably surprised to hear four or five of these thrushes singingthrough most of the afternoon, though it was raining at the time. The song ofonly one bird, however, was of sufficient volume to be heard at any distance.Enemies.?The hermit thrush is subject to the usual enemies suchas snakes, foxes, weasels, and skunks that molest ground-nestingbirds. The* domestic cat, which is so destructive to birds that nestabout or near human dwellings, is less of a factor in the life of a birdthat usually nests in remote situations seldom visited by cats. Thestomach examinations of hawks and owls reveal that \ the hermitsometimes falls a victim to these predators.
160 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMFew birds are more valiant in resisting attacks on their brood andcapable of creating a greater hubbub over the presence of marauders.Such an occasion invariably attracts other birds of the vicinity,adding a veritable chorus of protests. The parent birds, very tense,with crests erect, swoop and dash fearlessly, ' sometimes venturingso close that their wings strike the intruder. More often than notthey are successful in driving the enemy to cover.As is true with many birds, the hermit thrush is subject to infesta-tion by a number of external parasites. Under ordinary conditionsnone of them prove fatal to the bird, but some of them may be veryannoying to the host when they become abundant. Harold S. Peters(1936) has reported three species of lice, Degeeriella eustigma (Kellogg),Myrsidea incerta (Kellogg) , and Philopterus subflavescens (Geoffroy)
;
two species of bird flies, Ornithoica conjluenta Say and Ornithomyiaanchineuria Speiser; two ticks, Amblyomma tuberculatum Marx andHaemaphysalis leporis-palustris Packard; and the mite Trombiculawhartoni Ewing. In addition to the above Peters (1933) also reportedthe tick Ixodes brunneus Koch as a parasite of the hermit thrush.According to Herbert Friedmann (1929) the hermit thrush is a veryuncommon victim of the cowbird, and at the time of writing he knew ofonly six definite records. Contrary to Friedmann's statement, I havefound it to be a frequent victim. I have seen fewer than 15 nests ofthe hermit thrush, yet four of these were parasitized by the cowbird.On May 31, 1920, I found a nest near > Brunswick, Maine, thatcontained three eggs of the hermit thrush and two eggs of the cowbird.This nest was destroyed by some predator a few days later. On July8, 1928, a nest containing three eggs of the hermit thrush and one eggof the cowbird was found at Douglas Lake, northern Michigan. Inthis nest the cowbird hatched first and continued to thrive until it leftthe nest. Two of the eggs of the hermit thrush hatched, the third wassterile. Both of the two hermits were also successfully reared. OnJuly 6, 1928, also at Douglas Lake, Mich., I found a nest containingtwo eggs of the hermit thrush and one egg of the cowbird. On^July 12the cowbird egg hatched, followed a day later by the hatching of oneof the thrush eggs; the other thrush egg was sterile. The thrush andcowbird competed for food, but the cowbird proved more aggressiveand maintained its lead in size throughout the nesting period. OnJuly 19, when the cowbird was seven days old and the hermit six daysold, there was a marked difference in weight and size and relative de-velopment of the feathers. By July 25 both the cowbird and thrushhad left the nest. The adult hermit was seen feeding the cowbirdnearby, but the young hermit was not seen, although I have no reasonto believe that it perished.A fourth nest of the hermit thrush parasitized by the cowbird was
EASTERN HERMIT THRUSH 161found at Topsham, Maine, on June 6, 1941. This nest contained twoeggs of the hermit thrush and two eggs of the cowbird. No opportu-nity was presented to visit this nest a second time.In addition to enemies and parasites the hermit thrush is subject tomany hazards especially during the migration season. Along the coastof Maine the lighthouses exact their toll of these birds especially dur-ing the heavy fogs and storms which often prevail during that seasonof the year. Mention has already been made elsewhere of the destruc-tion to the earlier migrants, which succumb to sudden excessive coldwaves and late snowstorms, especially when the available food is cov-ered by a deep fall of snow.W. E. Saunders (1907) records a fall migration disaster in westernOntario as follows:The early days of October, 1906, were warm and damp, but on the 6th came anorth wind which carried the night temperature down to nearly freezing. Nearthere it stayed with little variation until the 10th, * * * the north windbrought snow through the western part of Ontario. At London there was only 2or 3 inches, which vanished early next day; and the thermometer fell to only 32degrees on the night of the 10th, and to 28 on the 11th, but ten miles west, therewas 5 inches of snow at 5 P. m. Oct. 10, and towards Lake Huron, at the southeastcorner, between Goderich and Sarnia, the snow attained a depth of nearly a footand a half, and the temperature dropped considerably lower than at London. Onthat night, apparently, there must have been a heavy migration of birds acrossLake Huron, and the cold and snow combined overcame many of them, so thatthey fell in the lake and were drowned.Along the shore of the lake near Port Franks there were an estimated5,000 dead birds to the mile along the beach. On the beach south ofGrand Bend, Mr. Saunders counted 1,845 dead birds, including 20hermit thrushes, in a relatively short time. On the beach at SableRiver he found the dead birds even more numerous than at GrandBend, the site of the above census. Mr. Saunders states that the bulkof the hermit thrushes had already passed by on October 6, yet theywere well represented among the dead birds found.Winter.?More than in the case of the other thrushes a considerablenumber of individual hermits spend the winter months in regions wellnoith of the well-established winter lange of the species. In corre-spordence from E. M. S. Dale he states that it is not unusual for thehermit thrush to winter in Ontario. He mentions one individual inparticular that lived through the winter of 1941-42 at London,Ontario. It fed on currants supplemented by gleanings of suetand other food from the food shelf of the chickadees and downy wood-peckers. Its favorite spot was a corner of the front veranda, shelteredby a discarded Christmas tree, in the lee of which the currants wereplaced. It disappeared when the spring brought others of its kindon their journey north.
162 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMThere are numerous winter records of the hermit thrush in southernNew England, where it has been reported in favorable situationsthroughout Massachusetts and Connecticut even at times when itwas very cold and tbe ground covered with snow. It has also beenreported from various sections of New York and New Jersey duringthe winter months. South of this area it is a regular winter resident.In South Carolina, according to A. T. Wayne (1910), the hermitarrives by October 23 and remains until the second week of April.The birds are not abundant until the middle of November, when theyare apparently settled for the winter. Contrary to reports of thewintering hermits in New England, Mr. Wayne states that the speciescannot endure a sudden change of weather, especially if very lowtemperatures prevail for even a few days, as great numbers perishedon February 13 and 14, 1899. During January and February 1895,hundreds succumbed to cold weather, although the food supply wasplentiful. Mr. Wayne states that the hermit is the least shy of thethrushes and can be readily approached within a few feet, especiallyduring cold weather. According to W. P. Wharton (1941) the hermithas a strong tendency to return to the same winter quarters. Of 81of the birds he banded at Summerville, S. C, he had 10 returns, or12.34 percent.In Florida, according to A. H. Howell (1932), the hermit is a com-mon winter resident in the northern and central parts of the State butrare in the southern part. He states further: "During the winterseason, these Thrushes inhabit thick hummocks and the bordersof wooded swamps. [In many parts of the south because of thischaracteristic habitat the hermit is known as the 'swamp sparrow'or 'swamp robin.'] While not particularly shy, the birds are soquiet and retiring in disposition that they attract little attention asthey feed on or near the ground."In the Middle West there are winter records of the hermit thrushfoi Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, the majority from thesouthern sections of these States. In the winter of 1906-07 I foundthe hermit to be a very abundant bird in the wooded river bottoms ofthe Mississippi and Ohio Rivers in southern Illinois. Otto Widmann(1907), in writing of the wintering buds of the Peninsula of Missouri,states: "It is seldom heard to sing in transit, but may be heard in itswinter home, where it frequents the same swampy ground as the win-ter wreD adjoining the drier haunts of the fox, white-throated and othersparrows." The hermit is very abundant in the Mississippi RiverValley south of Missouri, but the majority pass southward in Octoberand northward in April.
RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH 163HYLOCICHLA USTULATA USTULATA (Nattall)RUSSET-BACKED THRUSHHABITSThe russet-backed thrush, the western race of a widely distributedspecies, lives hi summer in a comparatively narrow range from Juneau,Alaska, to San Diego County, Calif., west of the Cascades and theSierra Nevada. Throughout most of this range it is an abundantsummer resident and a greatly admired songster. The 1931 Check-list gives it as a transient in Lower California, but M. Abbott Frazarcollected for William Brewster (1902) four males in the Sierra de laLaguna, on May 4, 7, and 16, and a female at Triunfo on June 13, allof which they both thought were settled for the season and werebreeding, or about to breed. There is a wide gap between southernLower California and San Diego County, where no thrushes of thisspecies are known to breed.In the willow thickets in the lowlands of Los Angeles County, andespecially along densely shaded streams, we found the russet-backedthrush to be a common breeding bud. Grinnell and Wythe (1927)record it as abundant in summer in the San Francisco Bay region,
"nesting in lowland orchards, along willow-bordered streams, and inforested canyons, wherever in the whole region such occur." In theYosemite region, Grinnell and Storer (1924) found this thrush breedingonly among the foothills and in the valleys, in the streamside low-lands. Grinnell, Dixon, and Linsdale (1930), referring to the LassenPeak region, write: "Russet-backed thrushes that lived in the sectionin summer were restricted closely to clumps of shrubby vegetation,chiefly willow and white alder growing in moist places?either border-ing streams or on wet ground, as in the lower mountain meadows."These haunts, west of the Sierra Nevada, are in marked contrast tothose of the closely related olive-backed thrushes in the fir forestseast of that range, and very different from the summer haunts of oureastern birds in the coniferous forests of northern New England andeastern Canada.Spring.?The russet-backed thrush seems to be a rather late migrantin spring, advancing rather slowly. Grinnell and Wythe (1927) saythat it "arrives later than most of the summer visitants in the SanFrancisco Bay region, about the last of April; an early date is April15, at Berkeley." It seems to be much later farther north. We didnot record it at all during the first two weeks in May in westernWashington, though we made careful field notes every day; it is anabundant summer residentUhere, and Mr. S. F. Rathbun's notes
164 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMindicate that it usually arrives around the middle of May, his earliestdate being May 6. George Willett tells me that it arrives in southernAlaska mostly late in May, his earliest date being May 16.Nesting.?The only nest of the russet-backed thrush that I have seenwas evidently fairly typical of this subspecies. It was found onMay 30, 1914, in Los Angeles County, and contained three fresh eggs;it was placed 8 feet from the ground in a crotch of a slender willow ina grove of willows in a damp spot; there was a foundation of deadleaves, twigs, and rubbish, mixed with mud, on which was built asuperstructure of twigs, leaves, and plant fibers; it was lined with finerootlets, fine fibers, and skeleton leaves.Six other California sets in my collections were taken from nestsin willows, blackberry tangles, or other low bushes; the lowest nestwas only 2 feet from the ground. J. Stuart Rowley tells me that,in the vicinity of Los Angeles County, these thrushes seem to preferthe tangles of wild blackberries, or the willow thickets in the lowlands,as nesting sites.Mr. Rathbun says, in his notes from western Washington, that thisthrush nests from June 10 up to the middle of July, but the greatmajority of the nests will be found during the latter half of June.He has "found them generally well within the forest, and a favoritelocation is among the low growth along the forest's edge, particularlyif in the proximity of the water." The nest "is generally built quiteclose to the ground in a variety of places, sometimes in the salal shrubsor on the top of fallen masses of the dead brackens, and many timesin some low-hanging, rather dense branch of a bush. On occasionsI have found nests at some considerable height above the groundnear the extremity of a limb of some small tree, but these locationsare out of the ordinary. The nests are almost always attractive inappearance and well made. They consist outwardly of an abundanceof green mosses and dead leaves, and often with these are strips ofthin, flat inner bark; within this at times is some dry, rotten vegetablematter quite smoothly moulded; and the nest is lined with dry grasses."He describes an especially beautiful nest as follows: "It was builtquite near the ground on a branch of a huckleberry bush. Therewas first used in its construction a few of the dead stalks of the bracken,into which was woven quite a mass of dead moss taken from thetrunks of fallen trees, this forming a substantial wall for the nest.The outward covering was entirely of bright green, living strips ofmoss, so beautifully placed that nothing but this color showed, andthis moss so arranged that the long strips hung downward, givingthe nest a draped effect. In its color scheme the nest blended per-fectly with its location, for the under part was the shade of the twigs
RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH 165
on which it was placed, a neutral reddish-brown hue; whereas thecolor of the moss placed exteriorly blended with that of the leaves ofthe huckleberry. To carry out the illusion further there were inter-woven in the green moss across the more exposed side of the nest,three of the brown bracken stalks, these giving the effect of beinghuckleberry branches and, also, affording additional support."W. L. Dawson (1909) says of Washington nests: "In distance fromthe ground, nests varied from six inches to forty feet, altho a fouror five foot elevation was about the average." Again he says "some-times 30-60 feet high in trees."Eggs.?The russet-backed thrush lays three to five eggs to a set, thecommonest number being three or four; some say that three is thecommonest number and some say four. The eggs are practicallyindistinguishable from those of the olive-backed thrush, which thereader will find described under that subspecies. The measurementsof 50 eggs in the United States National Museum average 23.2 by 17.2millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 25.4 by 17.8,24.4 by 18.0, 20.8 by 16.8, and 21.3 by 15.2 millimeters.Young.?The period of incubation is said to be 14 days, and theyoung birds are said to remain in the nest for about the same length oftime, if not disturbed. I have no information as to whether both sexesincubate or not, and nothing seems to have been published on thecare and development of the young except in Professor Beal's (1907and 1915b) papers on food. "Two nests were carefully and regularlywatched, and from these it was determined that the parent birdsfed each nestling 48 times in 14 hours of daylight. This means 144feedings as a day's work for the parents for a brood of three nestlings,and that each stomach was filled to its full capacity several timesdaily, an illustration that the digestion and assimilation of birds,especially the young, are constant and very rapid."He examined the stomach contents of 25 nestlings, eight broods ofyoung birds sacrificed in the cause of science, and found that theirfood was 92.60 percent animal and only 6.8 percent vegetable matter,a considerably higher percentage of insects than was found in thestomachs of adults. Caterpillars formed the largest item, nearly27 percent; beetles amounted to 22 percent, including 7.7 percent ofhard-shelled Carabidae; Hemiptera, including stink bugs, leafhoppers,treehoppers, shield bugs, and cicadas, made up 13.8 percent of thefood; ants and a few other Hymenoptera amounted to 12 percent;only three stomachs contained remains of grasshoppers. "The vege-table food consisted of fruit (6.8 percent), mainly blackberries orraspberries, found in 11 stomachs, and twinberries in 1, and two orthree other items, including a seed of filaree and some rubbish."Plumages.?Mrs. Irene G. Wheelock (1904) says of a brood of three
166 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMyoung russet-backed thrushes that were evidently about a week old:"They were sparsely covered with brownish gray down, and pin-feathers were just showing along the feather tracts."Subsequent molts and plumages are apparently similar to those ofthe olive-backed thrush, which are more fully described under thatsubspecies.Food.?Professor Beal (1907) examined 157 stomachs of the russet-backed thrush, taken mainly in the San Francisco region from Aprilto November. The examination showed 52 percent of animal and 48percent of vegetable food. Ants formed the largest item in the insectfood, amounting to 16 percent; "Hymenoptera, other than ants(mostly wasps), bugs, flies, and grasshoppers, with some spiders,amount altogether to 12 percent of the year's food," but grasshopperswere found in only four stomachs. Beetles, only 3 percent of whichwere useful species, constituted 11 percent of the year's food; andcaterpillars amounted to somewhat more than 8 percent.The vegetable food consists mainly of fruit and only a trace of weedseeds. "It is probable that the greatest harm done by this bird is tothe cherry crop, though undoubtedly it eats the later fruits to someextent. In May and June the fruit eaten reaches 41 and 38 percent,respectively, and this probably represents the greatest injury whichthe bird does, as most of the fruit was the pulp and skins of cherries."Other vegetable food included seeds of blackberries, raspberries, bothwild and cultivated, and seeds of the twinberry, elderberry, coffee-berry, peppertree, and poison-oak. Fruit eaten in Septemberamounted to 80 percent, the largest amount for any month.Ian McT. Cowan (1942) records the russet-backed thrush amongthe species that he has seen feeding on the^termite Zootermopsisangusticollis in southwestern British Columbia, where "the extensiveareas of deforested land, strewn with decaying logs and stumps, pro-vides ideal habitat for termites."Behavior.?The russet-backed thrush is a close sitter when incu-bating and will allow a close approach to the nest; it then slips quietlyoff the nest and disappears in the shrubbery, keeping out of sight anduttering its peculiar notes of protest but offering no attempt at activedefense. At other times it is a shy retiring bird, much oftener heardthan seen; one hears its beautiful song or its characteristic alarm notesand attempts to follow it, but it fades away under the cover of thethick foliage, and one hears its notes again from some more distantpoint. It feeds mainly on the ground, as the other thrushes do,running over the ground and drawing itself up to its full height whenit halts, as the robin does on the lawn. It seems less nervous thanthe hermit thrush, and is seldom seen to raise and lower its tail whenexcited.
RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH 167Stanley G. Jewett (1928) tells an interesting story of a russet-backed thrush that assisted in feeding a brood of young robins in theirnest. He and his sister watched the robin's nest for a period of fourhours one afternoon, during which time the thrush made at least 12visits to the nest and fed the young robins. "There were two robinsand two thrushes near the nest during the entire afternoon. Al-though a systematic hunt was made for the thrushes' nest, it was notfound."Voice.?One who is familiar with the song of the olive-backed thrushin the East should easily recognize the the song of the russetback ; thesongs are very similar with the same rising pitch. Grinnell and Storer(1924) write:By early June, and sometimes sooner, the Russet-backed Thrushes in YosemiteValley are in full song and may be heard during the day as well as in the morningand evening hours. The song is set in character and each individual thrushbegins his song on about the same key?not changing from song to song as doesthe Hermit. The first syllables of any individual's song are always on the samepitch, and full, clear, and deep; the remainder are more wiry, ascending, and some-times the last one goes up so high in pitch as to become almost a squeal: wheer,wheer, wheer, whee-ia, whee-ia, whee-ia, or quer, quer, quer, quee-ia, quee-ia, quee-ia.The call note oftenest heard is a soft liquid whistle, what or whoit, sounding muchlike the drip of water into a barrel. An imitation of this note by the observerwill often bring a thrush into close range. Now and then a thrush will give anabrupt burred cry, chee-ur-r; and again there may be a single whistle, louder andhigher than the usual call. The song season lasts until early July, after which thebirds become quiet. By the end of the month not even the call note is to be heard.According to Mr. Rathbun, this thrush does not sing its full songimmediately on its arrival in western Washington, for in his notes forJune 5 he wrote: "Although in a good locality, where this bird wascommon, its song was seldom heard, and even then was not sung infull. The song of the russet-backed thrush is a succession of round,smooth notes, flowing easily in an ascending scale, the latter parthaving a reedy sound. It spirals upward, as it were, and will be heardat its best in the early morning and in the dusk of evening on a quietday. Its song practically ceases by the end of July, except on rareoccasions; then a period of silence seems to ensue; and about the firstof September, one will again hear the call notes, and shortly thereafterthe migration southward begins."Enemies.?Dr. Friedmann (1929) records only one case in which thisthrush has been imposed upon by the dwarf cowbird; there were twoeggs of the thrush and one of the cowbird in the nest.Field marks.?The russet-backed thrush is not likely to be confusedwith any other bird on the Pacific slope except with one of the hermitthrushes, but the uniform russet-brown of its back is easily distin-guished from the contrasted brown back and rufous tail of the hermits;
168 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMfurthermore, the haunts of the two, during the breeding season at least,are quite different.Fall.?The russet-backed thrush spends a rather short season on itsbreeding grounds. Mr. Willett tells me that it is not seen in southernAlaska after late August; and Mr. Rathbun's notes indicate that itdisappears from western Washington during the first week in Septem-ber. Most of these thrushes have probably left California before theend of the latter month, though Professor Beal (1907) mentions speci-mens taken there in October and even November.Winter.?The 1931 Check-list states that the russet-backed thrush
"winters from Vera Cruz, Guatemala, and Costa Rica to easternEcuador and British Guiana," but it apparently does not go so farsouth. Ludlow Griscom (1932) says: "The intensive collecting of thelast twenty years has failed to produce a single record of ustulataanywhere in the New World south of Costa Rica. This fact wascorrectly pointed out by Salvin in 1879, and ignored by everyonesince."In their report on the birds of El Salvador, Dickey and van Rossem(1938) record it as a "common winter visitant throughout the higherparts of the Arid Lower Tropical Zone and in lesser numbers in thelowlands. Extreme dates of arrival and departure are October 14 andMarch 15." They say further:The russet-backed thrush differs radically from the two olive-backs in that itappears as a common winter visitant, while the olive-backs are, in the main,migrants. The distribution of the present race is apparently general over thewhole of the hill country lying within the Arid Lower Tropical Zone. In thelower country it is decidedly rare, for only two or three birds were noted in thecoyol-palm growth at Puerto del Triunfo in January, 1927. It is in the multitudeof berry- and fruit-bearing shade trees growing above the coffee that the russet-backs are commonest. On Mt. Cacaguatique in November and December, 1925,they literally swarmed in suitable localities; some trees had constantly arrivingand departing streams of these birds, with perhaps twenty-five or more in a treeat once.Alexander F. Skutch has sent me the following interesting notes onthe winter haunts and behavior of this thrush in Central America:"On the Pacific slope of both Guatemala and Costa Rica?andprobably also in the intervening countries?the russet-backed thrushwinters in considerable numbers. It is particularly abundant in thezone of heavy, humid forests between 2,000 and 4,000 feet above sealevel. Arriving in Guatemala early in October, and later in the monthin Costa Rica, it is at first shy, retiring, and little in evidence, althoughoccasionally a liquid quit reveals its presence in the dense under-growth. After the beginning of the new year, it becomes an increas-ingly prominent member of the avifauna. Thus on the Finca Moca,a huge coffee plantation at the southern base of the Volcan Atitlan in
RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH 169
western Guatemala, I found the bird abundant late in January in atract of low, dense thicket dominated by scattered great trees thatsurvived the destruction of the original forest. Here the thrush'sliquid monosyllables were heard on every hand during the morninghours. It was surrounded by many other winter residents, includingworm-eating, hooded, Kentucky, Wilson's, and MacGillivray'swarblers.
"In the basin of El General in southern Costa Rica, it winters chieflyin the undergrowth of the high forest and, like its resident neighborsof the same habitat, never forms true flocks. During most of itssojourn here it is so retiring that, but for an infrequent call note, itmight easily be overlooked, despite its abundance. Sometimes itventures forth into the adjacent clearings, where the forest has beenfelled and burned to plant maize, then the land temporarily abandonedafter the harvest. Such clearings are usually filled with a luxuriantgrowth of that widespread 'fireweed' of tropical America, the jaboncillo(Phytolacca rivinoides) , a kind of pokeberry, which during the earlymonths of the year bears a profusion of deep purple berries thatattract a multitude of birds, from big toucans and finches to littletanagers, manakins, and honeycreepers."The russet-backed thrush sometimes joins the mixed flocks of smallbirds that follow the foraging swarms of army ants. Like most if notall of these birds, it does not devour the ants themselves but snatchesup the insects and other small creatures driven from where they havelurked beneath the fallen leaves, in rotting stumps and crevices in thebark of trees. The thrush hovers about the outskirts of the swarm;and I have not seen it dash into the midst of the fray to seize a fugitive,in the manner of the tropical birds more adept at this kind of hunting.What strange company for a bird hatched among northern spruce andfir trees! Who that knows the russet-backed thrush only amid thesevere simplicity of a northern coniferous forest could imagine it inthe infinitely varied tropical silva, burdened with huge woody vinesand a hundred kinds of epiphytes, where it consorts on intimate termswith such birds as manakins, woodhewers, antbirds, and ant-tanagers?Truly these migratory birds lead double lives.
"Late in February or early in March the russet-backed thrushesbegin to sing in an undertone. Soon their slender liquid spirals ofsong arise in the forest on every side, not merely in isolated instances,but again and again and again. Their soft quit is also heard oftenernow. In April they sometimes become so numerous that they haveappeared to me the most abundant bird in the region, save only themigratory swallows passing northward in their myriads. Since theresident birds of the understory of the tropical forest are in the mainparsimonious of song, at times early in April the russet-backed thrushes792825?49 12
170 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMproduce more music than any other species of the woodland. I amnot familiar with this thrush on its nesting ground; but it seems that,although it sings so much here, it is always in an undertone, as whilepassing northward through the middle tier of the United States laterin the spring. While earlier in the year they have been confined to theforest and its edges, these birds are now often seen in the bushy clear-ings, in hedgerows, and sometimes even in cultivated fields. At timesin April, riding along the grassy cartroads of El General, I have heardthe song and the fluid quit arising from every little patch of woodlandthat skirted the road. At this season one individual frequently pur-sues another; apparently their instinct to defend a territory begins toawaken while they are still so far from their summer home.
"While usually these so numerous birds are rather evenly dis-tributed, with little tendency to flock, at sunrise on April 14, 1940,while watching great clouds of northward-bound swallows pass overthe open crest of a hill, I saw about eight russet-backed thrushes to-gether at the edge of a small tract of woodland, beside the open pasture.They created the impression of a migrating flock just come down torest and forage.
"Late in April or the first days of May, while still to all appearancesas numerous as ever, the russet-backed thrushes sing much less thanat a slightly earlier date. I can explain this falling off of song, notedin several years, only by the hypothesis that the males depart first,leaving a preponderance of females that do not sing. With most othermigrant song birds, the males that linger latest are the most songful atthe time of their departure.
"Although the russet-backed thrush arrives late in El General, italso lingers late. My earliest"date for its arrival is October 18, 1936.My last spring records are : May 10, 1936; May 4, 1937; May 11, 1939;April 21, 1940; and April 30, 1942. I have'never seen the species any-where on the Caribbean slope of Central America except late in spring,when migration was in progress. My actual records are: Barro Colo-rado Island, Canal Zone, April 4, 5, and 6, 1935; Vara Blanca, CostaRica, 5,500 feet, April 3 to May 7, 1938; and Pejivalle, Costa Rica,2,000 feet, April 15, 1941. During the year I spent on the Sierra deTecpan in west-central Guatemala, studying the bird life between7,000 and 10,000 feet, I recorded this species only on April 12 andOctober 19 and 20, 1933. I have not attempted to distinguish theraces of Hylocichla ustulata in the field ; but according to the analysisof Griscom (Bird Life in Guatemala, 1932) the birds wintering on thePacific slope would all belong to the race ustulata, while the transientsrecorded on the Caribbean slope might be either this race orswainsoni."
RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH 171DISTRIBUTIONRange.?The range of the russet and olive-backed thrushes is fromnorthern North America to central South America.Breeding Range.?The breeding range is north to central Alaska(Tanana, Fort Yukon, and the Porcupine River); northern Yukon(La Pierre House) ; the Mackenzie River Valley (McPherson, Simpson,and Resolution); northern Alberta (McMurray); northern Saskatche-wan (Black Bear Island and Reindeer River near its mouth) ; northernManitoba (Norway House, Oxford House, Jack River, and YorkFactory) ; northern Ontario (Moose Factory) ; central Quebec (RupertHouse) ; and southern Labrador (Upper Hamilton River and ParadiseRiver). East to Labrador (Paradise River, Petty Harbor, and CaplinBay); Newfoundland (Nicholsville) ; Magdalen Islands, Quebec; andNova Scotia (Wolfville and Halifax). South to Nova Scotia (Halifax)
;
southern Maine (Machias and Ellsworth); New Hampshire (Ossipeeand Mount Monadnock); New York (Slide Mountain, Catskills);Pennsylvania (Laanna and the Pocono Mountains) ; the mountains ofWest Virginia (Shavers Mountain and Cheat Mountains); NorthCarolina (one record Mount Mitchell) ; northern Michigan (KalkastaCounty, Douglas Lake, the Beaver Islands, and Newberry); northernWisconsin, rarely (New London and Orienta); northern Minnesota(Cook County, Walker, and Fosston); southern Manitoba (HillsideBeach, Lake Winnipeg, and Aweme) ; southern Saskatchewan (IndianHead and the Cypress Hills); southern Alberta (Red Deer River re-gion) ; south in the Rocky Mountains through Montana (Fortine andBelton); Wyoming (Yellowstone Park and Laramie); Colorado(Estes Park, Pikes Peak, and Grove Creek, Mesa County); northernUtah (Kansas, Parleys Park, and Salt Lake County) ; Nevada (Frank-lin Lake and Truckee Valley); and southwestern California (SanBernardino, Pasadena, and Santa Barbara). West to the Pacificcoast of California (Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Alameda, andEureka); Oregon (Marshfield, Saline, and Portland); Washington(Cape Disappointment, Clallam Bay, and Blaine); British Columbia(Courtenay, Vancouver Island and Massett, Queen Charlotte Islands)and Alaska (Sitka, Lake Clark, McKinley Fork of the Kuskokwimand Tanana).The breeding range as outlined^applies to the entire species, of whichthree subspecies or geographic races are recognized. The russet-backed thrush, the typical race (H. u. ustulata) , breeds from south-eastern Alaska, the coastal region of British Columbia west of theCascades, to southern California; the western olive-backed thrush(H. u. almae) breeds in the Rocky Mountain region west to easternNevada; the olive-backed thrush (H. u. swainsoni) breeds from cen-
172 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
tral Alaska, northwestern Mackenzie, and northern British Columbiaeastward to the Atlantic.Winter range.?The winter range of the russet-backed thrush groupis as yet imperfectly defined owing to the scarcity of carefully identifiedwinter specimens. The russet-backed thrush winters north to centralMexico (Tres Marias, Minca near Mexico City, and Misantla, Vera-cruz); and south to Guatemala (Coban and Los Amates). Some racewinters from El Salvador (Colima, Mount Cacaquatique, and Puertodel Triunfo) to southern Costa Rica (Basin of El General and Boruca).These have been recorded as swainsoni but it seems possible that somemay be the more recently recognized almae. Specimens from CostaRica in spring have been identified as this race.The olive-backed thrush (H. u. swainsoni) winters in South Americafrom the Santa Marta region of Colombia east to northwestern Brazil(Cocuy and Marabitanas) ; central Bolivia (Buenavista and EntreRios); and northwestern Argentina (Lules, Tucuman). South tonorthwestern Argentina. West to Peru (La Merced and Chinchao);western Ecuador (Zamora, Cuenca, and Quito); and western Colom-bia (San Antonio, Novita, and Santa Marta). Since there is as yetno record from Venezuela, it seems probable that a specimen takenat Roraima, British Guiana, on December 6 was a delayed migrant.Migration.?In the migration, no attempt has been made to dis-tinguish between the races. Some late dates of spring departure are:Ecuador?San Jos6 de Sumaco, April 18. Colombia?Valparaiso,March 24. Panama?Perine, April 22. Costa Rica?Volcan deIrazu, April 15; Guatemala?Patulul, April 3. British Honduras
?
Augustine, April 26; Mexico?Presidio, Veracruz, May 6. FloridaTortugas, May 22. District of Columbia?Washington, June 2.Pennsylvania?Jeffersonville, June 9. Louisiana?Shreveport, May13. Iowa?Sioux City, June 3. Texas?San Antonio, May 18.Kansas?Fort Riley, May 24. North Dakota?Charlson, June 5.Arizona?Tucson, May 30.Some early dates of spring arrival are: Georgia?Macon, April 19.North Carolina?Chapel Hill, April 22. District of ColumbiaWashington, April 18. Pennsylvania?Pittsburgh, April 24. NewYork?Rochester, April 22. Massachusetts?Harvard, May 5.Maine?Ellsworth, May 4. Nova Scotia?Wolfville, May 8. NewBrunswick?Scotch Lake, May 17. Quebec?Quebec, May 23.Louisiana?New Orleans, April 2. Tennessee?Nashville, April 18.Kentucky?Guthrie, April 3. Ohio?Columbus, April 22. On-tario?Toronto, April 24. Missouri?Columbia, April 16. IowaIowa City, April 17. Wisconsin?Madison, April 25. MinnesotaMinneapolis, April 30. Texas?Austin, March 2. OklahomaNorman, April 21. Nebraska?Lincoln, April 28. North Dakota
RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH 173Fargo, April 25. Manitoba?Aweme, May 10. Saskatchewan
?
Indian Head, May 5. Colorado?Denver, April 24. WyomingLaramie, May 5. Idaho?Lemhi, May 10. Montana?Miles City,May 11. Alberta?Edmonton, May 2. Mackenzie?Simpson, May24. Arizona?Paradise, April 20. California?Witch Creek, March9. Oregon?Sutherlin, April 13. Washington?Destruction Island,April 25. British Columbia, Queen Charlotte Islands, April 25.Yukon?Dawson, May 24. Alaska?Mount McKinley, May 12.Some late dates of fall departure are: Alaska?Sergief Island,September 4. British Columbia?Courtenay, Vancouver Island,September 21. Washington?Yakima, October 17. CaliforniaBig Creek, October 30. Mackenzie?Simpson, September 10. Al-berta?Athabaska Landing, September 14. Montana?Fortine, Sep-tember 23. Wyoming?Laramie, October 20. Colorado?FortMorgan, October 5. Manitoba?Shoal Lake, September 30. NorthDakota?Fargo, October 7. Nebraska?Valentine, October 16.Minnesota?St. Paul, October 5. Iowa?McGregor, October 27.Wisconsin?North Freedom, October 15. Illinois?Lake Forest,October 17. Kentucky?Bowling Green, October 27. OntarioOttawa, October 21. Michigan?Ann Arbor, October 30. IndianaIndianapolis, October 19. Mississippi?Bay St. Louis, October 31.Quebec?Montreal, October 1. New Brunswick?St. John, October5. Nova Scotia?Pictou, October 11. Maine?Portland, October20. New York?New York, November 1. Pennsylvania?Berwyn,November 6. District of Columbia?Washington, November 1.Cuba?Vifiales, November 28.Some early dates of fall arrival are: North Dakota?Argusville,August 25. Texas?Castle Mountains, September 11. Missis-sippi?Ariel, September 11. District of Columbia?Washington,September 1. North Carolina?Weaverville, September 2. SouthCarolina?Summerton, September 13. Florida?Pensacola, Septem-ber 27. Mexico?Escuinapa, Sinaloa, September 13. NicaraguaBluefields, October 3. Costa Rica?La Hondura, September 27.Panama?Changuinola, October 15. Colombia?Chicoral, October11. Ecuador?Zamora, October 23. Peru?Chinchao, October 26.Bolivia?Entre Rios, October 17.Banding records.?An olive-backed thrush (probably the form nowrecognized as Alma's) was banded at Madison, Minn., on May 25,1937, and found dead about June 17, 1937, at Vulcan, Alberta. Abird banded at Fort Smith, Ark., on April 16, 1939, was found deadon May 2, 1940, at Fairport, N. Y.Casual records.?There are several records of the occurrence of theolive-backed thrush in Bermuda in September, October, February,and April. The accidental occurrence of this species at Puerto Ber-
174 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
toni, Paraguay, is recorded without date. A specimen of H. u.ustulata was collected on January 22, 1894, at Los Gatos, Calif.Egg dates: Alaska: 11 records, June 1 to July 2.California: 124 records, April 15 to July 15; 66 records, May 19 toJune 9, indicating the height of the season.Maine: 51 records, May 29 to July 24; 26 records, June 7 to June 14.New Brunswick: 43 records, June 6 to June 26; 27 records, June 12to June 18. HYLOCICHLA USTULATA SWAINSONI (Tschudi)OLIVE-BACKED THRUSHHABITSThe wide breeding range of the two eastern forms of this speciesincludes most of the forested regions of Alaska, north and east of thePacific coastal ranges, practically all the Canadian Zone in Canadaand Newfoundland, and extends southward in the United States tonorthern California, east of the Cascades and the Sierra Nevada,Nevada, Utah, Colorado, northern Michigan, northern New England,and in the mountains to Pennsylvania and West Virginia.This range includes that of the race almae, which did not appear inthe 1931 Check-list. Dr. H. C. Oberholser (1898), in naming anddescribing Alma's thrush, says: "The present race differs from theeastern Hylocichla ustulata swainsonii in the more grayish, less oliva-ceous color of the upper surface, this being usually more noticeable onthe rump and upper tail-coverts. The sides and flanks also averagemore grayish. No apparent difference in size exists. No comparisonwith H. ustulata proper is necessary, for Hylocichla u. almae, althoughgeographically intermediate, is even less closely allied to ustulatathan is swainsonii."H. S. Swarth (1922) made some interesting observations on thedistribution of the thrushes of this species in the Stikine River regionof northern British Columbia; he writes:At Great Glacier, August 11, a young bird was collected, not yet able to fly,that is clearly referable to swainsoni. This last record is of considerable interestas it carries the breeding range of swainsoni westward in this region to a pointabout thirty miles from the coast, the habitat of Hylocichla u. ustulata. Althoughthe habitats of the two subspecies thus approach so closely, there is no evidenceof intergradation of characters between them. In the Stikine River series ofswainsoni there is not one specimen of an equivocal character. On the contrary,these birds, like those from the Yukon region, show an extreme of grayness, com-pared with typical swainsoni from eastern North America, that carries themfarther from ustulata in appearance than are specimens from the Atlantic coast.In northern New England and in eastern Canada the summerhaunts of the olive-backed thrush are in the spruce and fir forests of
OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH 175the Canadian zone, where it is one of the commonest and mostcharacteristic of the birds. It is less common in the mature, dense conif-erous forests than it is in the bordering growth of smaller trees, whereyoung balsam firs are growing up, with a mixture of birches and afew other deciduous trees, but the presence of at least a fair proportionof firs or spruces seems essential. A preference is shown for the lowerand damper sections of the forest, especially in the vicinity of wood-land streams, but the birds are often found breeding in the dry uplandconiferous woods. In the more mountainous regions of northernNew England, the olive-backed thrush breeds at lower levels thanBicknelTs thrush. Wendell Taber writes to me: "In my experience,there has always been a very sharp line of demarcation in habitat,altitudinally, between this species and Bicknell's thrush." But"the last oliveback will often be a few yards up grade from the firstBicknelFs. I heard two olivebacks at an altitude of 3,800 feet orhigher on Whiteface Mountain, Sandwich Range, N. H. On MountKatahdin, Maine, my highest oliveback was at about 2,600 feet, witha Bicknell's also present."Edward H. Forbush (1929) draws the following attractive pictureof the haunts of this thrush in the Berkshire hills:Among the hills of western Massachusetts there remain isolated remnants ofthe spruce growth that clothed them in days of yore. There today in the mur-muring forest, tall, straight columnar trees still stand, their serried ranks extend-ing far up the mountain sides. As they fall in death, succumbing to age or the axof the woodsman, the sun streaming in between the remaining trunks stimulatesthe seeds buried by birds and squirrels in the soft mold of the forest floor and startsa dense miniature forest of beautiful little spruces. In time these cover the groundto replace the ancient wood and hide the great, moss-covered, decaying trunks onthe ground. Here and there young trees of moosewood and black birch are grow-ing, and little brooks fringed by overshadowing ferns prattle noisily down overtheir beds of age-old moss-grown rocks. Here the winds whisper the secrets ofthe forest and here the Hermit Thrush with time and eternity all his own, singshis unhurried, ethereal lay. Jays call mournfully from the distant tree-tops,and at the foot of the slope we hear the strange chant of the Olive-backed Thrush
.
Prof. Maurice Brooks writes to me: " Apparently olivebacks werefound originally throughout the West Virginia spruce belt; whenmost of the original timber was removed the birds have seeminglybeen able to adjust themselves quite well to the brushy secondgrowth areas, particularly if there was some spruce regeneration.They are not always restricted to spruce, however; I have foundthem a few times in hemlock, and in Canaan Valley they may occurwhere the forest is largely deciduous, although, so far as I have seen,there must always be some spruce, balsam, or hemlock present.One of our favorite spots is the fire lookout tower on GaudineerKnob of the Cheat Mountains. The tower stands at 4,445 feet
176 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMabove sea level; the top of the mountain is covered with a wonderfulgrowth of red spruce in the seedling and sapling stages."Id northern Michigan, the breeding haunts of this thrush are some-what similar to those in the east. Dr. Max Minor Peet (1908),referring to Isle Koyale, says: "The damp places bordering streamswere a favorite resort, the birds being usually found on the lowerborder of the balsam and spruce or among the decay-leaves aDdrubbish at their bases. Owing to the dense shade the lowest branchesusually died and dropped off, so for a height of three to five feet itwas relatively open. It was this rather open, yet heavily shadedcondition which seemed to be best suited to these thrushes duringthe breeding season. They were also found in the dense alderthickets and resorted to the border of the woods and the roadsideduring migration."In the Stikine River regioo of northern British Columbia, Mr.Swarth (1922) found the olive-backed thrush breeding in quitedifferent surroundings. He says: "This is a bud of the poplarwoods and willow thickets of the lowlands, primarily, but we foundit also in small numbers well up the mountain sides. On July 17Dixon saw several at the upper edge of the spruce timber (about4,000 feet) on the mountains." But all the nests they found wereat the lower levels. Farther south, ia the Rocky Mountains, thesethrushes breed at higher elevations, 6,000 to 9,000 feet in Colorado.Spring.?In Massachusetts, the transient olive-backed thrushespass through during May or the first week in June. They come withthe warblers and other late migrants, and, like the warblers, they areoften seen in the tree tops, feeding on insects in the opening foliage.They are not wholly confined to the woods at this season, but areoften seen in orchards, gardens, or parks, wherever there are treesor shrubbery.The migration in Ohio is only slightly earlier, but the flight issometimes very heavy. Milton B. Trautman (1940) says that, inthe vicinity of Buckeye Lake, Ohio, "during the spring and fallperiods of maximum abundance between 40 and 300 individualscould be daily recorded. Principally because of its large numbersthis was the most conspicuous of the thrushes, particularly in springwhen the males sang persistently. The Olive-backed Thrush in-habited the shrub layer of swampy remnant forests. It was presentin small numbers about brushy fields, weedy aDd brushy fence rows,edges of brushy swamps, cattail marshes, and shrubbery near farmhouses and cottages."There is a heavy migration, both spring and fall, across LakeErie, between Cedar Point, Ohio, and Point Pelee, Ontaiio, as de-
OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH 177
scribed in some detail by Dr. Lynds JoDes (1910) and by Tavern erand Swales (1908).What few banding records are available seem to indicate that sub-stantially the same route is followed on both migrations while thebirds are passing through some parts of the United States. Mrs.Arch Cochran (1935) reports that she banded two olive-backedthrushes at her banding station in Nashville, Tenn., on May 15, 1932.On September 18, 1932, both returned and were taken in the sametrap. On May 30, 1933, one of them returned to the same location;and it was captured again on September 24, 1933, in the same trap.At least a part of the same route was followed on each of four migra-tions, an interesting record. (See remarks under "Fall.")Nesting.?Practically all the nests of the olive-backed thrush foundby my companions and me in northern New England were in sprucesor balsam firs; of those recorded in our notes, 11 were in spruces and10 in balsams; they were almost always in small trees where the forestgrowth was more or less dense; the height from the ground variedfrom 2 to 20 feet, but only two were above 7 feet; the nests were usuallybulky and well made and were generally built on two or more hori-zontal branches and close to the trunk, though occasionally one wasabout two-thirds of the way out on a branch. Dr. Brewer (Baird,Brewer, and Ridgway, 1874) gives a very good description of the nest,as follows: "The nests average about 4 inches in diameter and 2in height, the cavity being 3 inches wide by about 1% deep.They are more elaborately and neatly constructed than those ofany other of our thrushes, except perhaps of T. ustulatus. Conspic-uous among the materials are the Hypnum mosses, which by theirdark fibrous masses give a very distinctive character to these nests,and distinguish them from all except those of the T. ustulatus, whichthey resemble. Besides these materials are found fine sedges, leaves,stems of equisetaceous plants, red glossy vegetable fibres, the floweringstems of the Cladonia mosses, lichens, fine strips of bark, etc."Six nests before me measure externally 4 to 4.5 inches in diameterand 3 to 3.5 in height; the inner diameter varies from 2.25 to 2.5 andthe depth of the cavity from 1.5 to 1.75 inches. They vary consider-ably in general appearance and in composition. One very compact,dark-colored nest is made up largely of fine spruce or tamarack twigs,carried up the sides and into the rim, mixed with grasses, strips ofweed stems, and black and green lichens; it is lined with dead leaves.Another is made almost wholly of grasses and weed stems, with only afew very fine twigs in the base; this is lined with skeletonized leavesand lichens. Three others are more or less intermediate in construc-tion between the above two. A fifth is made largely of strips of theinner bark of the cedar, mixed with black rootlets and much rotten
178 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMwood and very little black lichen; it is lined with finer strips of theabove material. The sixth consists almost entirely of mosses andlichens of different colors, reinforced with fine twigs. The materialsmentioned above by Dr. Brewer and below by Miss Stanwood appearin many of the nests, and several of them are profusely decoratedaround the base with loose strips of the outer bark of the yellow birch.Miss Cordelia J. Stanwood, of Ellsworth, Maine, who has sent mesome voluminous notes on the olive-backed thrush, describes one ofher nests as follows: "Foundation, swamp grass, spruce twigs, brackenstipes, black and green usnea moss; cup of peat, taken up with rootsso that it resembles a mud cup ; lined with usnea moss, black and green,and some of the black, thread-like parts of the roots of decayedcinnamon ferns."She says that it takes the thrushes about four days, on the average,to build the Dest. Most of her nests were in spruces or firs, but one
"nest rested in the crotch of a gray birch, formed by the bole of thesapling and a rudimentary braDch, three feet above the ground.It was well surrounded aDd concealed by the branches of youngfirs."Ad editorial note in the Journal of the Maine Ornithological Society,volume 5, page 27, mentions a nest found at Pittsfield that was in atall cedar about 30 feet from the ground, apparently a record height.William Brewster (1938) records two nests, found at Umbagog Lake,Maine, that were out of the ordinary: "The first was built preciselylike the nest of a Wood Thrush, on a prong of a dead birch some fourfeet above the ground. The position of the second was unique?ina hollow scooped in the earth that adhered to the roots of a fallentree, and perfectly concealed by a portion of the bank which projectedabove it. The situation of this nest was in every way similar to thatusually chosen by the Water Thrush."J. R. Whitaker sent me a set of eggs from Grand Lake, Newfound-land, that was taken from a nest in an old birch stump, 4 feet aboveground. Robie W. Tufts has sent me his data for five Nova Scotianests, all of which were in spruces or firs, from 4 to 8 feet up.Western nests are more often placed in deciduous trees and bushes.A. Dawes DuBois reports in his notes a Wisconsin nest that was"about 7 feet above ground, in the top of a maple sapling in a woods-clearing grown up with underbrush, in low ground." Of his twoMontana (Flathead County) nests, one was "about Q% feet up in alarch sapling, at a low place near a small spring," and the other was"about 7 feet from the ground, supported on a dead tree-limb leaningagainst a small maple." P. M. Silloway (1901) says that, in Montana,the olive-backed thrushes' nests have been found in fir trees, in lowwillow sprouts, and once in a syringa bush.
OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH 179There is a set in my collection from Estes Park, Colo., that camefrom a nest that was placed near the base of a small bunch of willowson a meadow near a stream. And the nests found by Mr. Swarth(1922) in the Stikine River region, British Columbia, were all at thelower levels in willows or alders. Dr. Paul Harrington writes to methat, in central Ontario, he has found the nest in balsam, hemlock,tamarack, spruce (black and white), cedar, top of a stump, andrarely in a deciduous tree. One was 30 feet up in a birch.Eggs.?The set of eggs laid by the olive-backed thrush varies fromthree to five; sets of five are apparently rare, and sets of three seemto be about as common as those of four. The eggs are usually ovatein shape, with occasional variation toward elongated-ovate or rounded-ovate, and they have very little gloss. The ground color varies from
"Nile blue" to "pale Nile blue" or even lighter. They are generallymore or less evenly marked with spots, small blotches, or fine dots oflight browns, "hazel" to "cinnamon," or paler yellowish brown.Some are heavily marked about the larger end, and some are verysparingly marked with very pale brown; very rarely an egg appearsto be nearly immaculate. The measurements of 40 eggs in the UnitedStates National Museum average 22.4 by 16.5 millimeters; the eggsshowing the four extremes measure 26.7 by 18.3, 25.7 by 18.6, 20.3by 16.3, and 22.9 by 14.7 millimeters.Young.?Miss Stanwood made some extensive and intimate studiesof the nest life of olive-backed thrushes in several different nests andsays in her notes: "I found the eggs hatching in 1908 on the twelfthand thirteenth days, and in 1913 on the tenth, eleventh, and twelfthdays from the beginning of the incubation period. The young maturesufficiently to leave the nest in from 10 to 12 days. The motherolive-backed thrush appeared both to incubate the eggs and to broodthe young. For the first few days after the babes were hatched sheleft the nest only for very brief periods; during this time she broodedthe young and moved back onto the rim of the nest every few minutesto feed the youngsters digested food and cleanse the nest. She fedeach nestling, in the beginning, every time she cared for them; stand-ing astride the little ones, she dealt with one sturdy individual at atime; she pecked him and touched him with her beak until he heldhis head up and begged lustily for food. She also burrowed underthe young to remove all parasites from the nest and from the sensitivebodies of the bantlings. Frequently she ministered to the babes asoften as once in four minutes. When brooding she changed her posi-tion on the nest frequently, to accommodate herself to the wrigglingyoung, shielding them with her body from the hot sun and the coldrain. Both the male and the female fed the bantlings fresh insect
180 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMfood, as well as digested food, and removed all waste matter fromthe nursery. At first tender insects were doled out to them."On the third morning I peeped through a crevice in the blindeight hours, during which period the female fed the young digestedfood 17 times, and both birds made 33 visits with fresh insect food.Spruce bud moths were fed on 15 occasions. From 2 to 12 mothswere given at a repast, but mostly they were given by the beakful.Caterpillars were dealt out 13 times. The quantity varied from oneto a billful, and the mouth of the olive-backed thrush is capacious.Usually the birds brought a goodly number. All four birds were fedon all these visits."Her list of food given to the young includes "all colored inchworms,cutworms, earthworms, yellow-green, blue-green, and gray-green cat-erpillars, all tones of tan and brown caterpillars, rosy maple-mothcaterpillars, rosy maple moths, June bugs, click beetles, flying ants,craneflies, geometrid and spruce bud moths, orange-colored worms,grasshoppers, larvae of cherry hawkmoth, and fruit."The young thrushes increase in size and weight very rapidly. MissStanwood measured and weighed the young in four nests every dayduring their nest lives. One of these, during 1 1 days, grew in lengthfrom 1% to 4% inches; and the same bird increased in weight from60 grains to 445% grains. For further details, the reader is referredto her published paper (1913). The feather tracts were in evidenceby the end of the first day; on the second day the eyes were beginningto open; all the feather tracts were well indicated on the third day;by the end of the fifth day the bird was well covered with quills andpinfeathers; feathers began to appear on the seventh day; and by theend of the tenth day the young bird was well feathered and practicallyfree of quill casings. With the gain in size and weight came an in-crease in activity and the development of the sense of fear.Both parents assisted in cleaning the nest. At first the excretalsacks were eaten; the birds began carrying away some of the sackson the ninth day, but some of the excreta were eaten up to the end ofthe nest life of the young. In a later note she says that the femalebegins to incubate sometimes after the second egg is laid, but alwaysafter the third egg is deposited.Plumages.?The natal down in the young olive-backed thrush isvery dark brown, Miss Stanwood says "so dark brown that it lookedblack."The young thrush, in fresh juvenal plumage, is described by Dr.Jonathan Dwight, Jr. (1900), as follows: "Above, olive-brown, wingsand tail darker, the feathers of the pileum, back, lesser, median andsometimes part of greater coverts and the rump with linear shaftstreaks or terminal spots of buff. Below, strongly washed with buff
OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH 181on throat, breast and sides, and heavily spotted with black on thebreast and sides of throat, the fore parts and sides of whiter abdomenindistinctly barred. Sides of head buff, spotted with black; orbitalring distinct, pale ochraceous buff; submalar stripes black."The first winter plumage is acquired by a partial postjuvenal molt,beginning about the middle of August and involving all the bodyplumage and the lesser wing coverts, but not the rest of the wingsnor the tail. This is essentially like the adult winter plumage, but theupperparts are somewhat less richly colored and the spotted medianwing coverts are retained until the following summer.At next postnuptial molt, which is complete in August and Sep-tember, adults and young become indistinguishable. Both young andold birds in fall and early winter are richly colored, above deep olive-buff in young birds and rich brownish olive in adults; and the sidesof the head, throat, and upper breast are washed with rich ochraceous-buff. There is apparently no spring molt, but wear and fading haveproduced a somewhat grayer back, and the buffy tints are much palerin spring birds.Food.?Professor Beal (1915b) examined the contents of the stomachsof 403 olive-backed thrushes, from widely scattered localities in theUnited States and Canada, and distributed over nine months fromMarch to November. The food consisted of 63.52 percent animaland 36.48 percent vegetable matter. He writes:Beetles of all kinds amount to 16.29 percent. Of these 3.14 percent are of theuseful Carabidae. The others belong to harmful or neutral families. Weevilsor snout beetles (Rhynchophora) amount to 5.29 percent, a high percentage forsuch insects. One Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decendimeata) was foundin a stomach taken on Long Island. Hymenoptera collectively aggregate 21.50percent. Of these, 15.20 percent are ants?a favorite food of Hylocichla. Theremainder (6.30 percent) were wild bees and wasps. No honeybees were found.Caterpillars, which rank next in importance in the food of the olive-back, form agood percentage of the food of every month represented and aggregate 10.30percent for the season.Grasshoppeis are not an important element in the food of thrushes, as theychiefly inhabit open areas, while Hylocichla prefers thick damp cover, wheregrasshoppers are not found. An inspection of the record shows that most ofthe orthopterous food taken by the olive-back consists of crickets, whose habitsare widely different from those of grasshoppers, and which are found understones, old logs, or dead herbage. The greatest quantity is taken in August andSeptember. The average for the season is 2.42 percent.Diptera (flies) reach the rather surpiisingly large figure of 6.23 percent. Theseinsects are usually not eaten to any great extent except by flycatchers andswallows, which take their food upon the wing. The flies eaten by the olive-backare mostly crane flies (Tipulidac) or Maich flies (Bibio), both in the adult andlarval state. Crane flies are slow of wing and frequent shady places. Thelarvae of both groups are developed in moist ground, and often in colonies ofseveral hundred. With these habits it is not surprising that thev fall an easyprey to the thrushes.
182 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMHemiptera (bugs), a small but rather constant element of the food, were foundin the stomachs collected every month, and in July reached 11.11 per cent.They were of the families of stinkbugs (Pentatomidae), shield bugs (Scutelleridae),tree hoppers (Membracidae), leaf hoppers (Jassidae), and cicadas. Some scaleswere found in one stomach. The total for the season is 3.76 per cent. A fewinsects not included in any of the foregoing categories make up 0.48 per cent ofthe food. Spiders, with a few miliipeds, amount to 2.22 per cent, the lowestfigure for this item of any bird of the genus Hylocichla. Snails, sowbugs, angle-worms, etc. (0.32 per cent), complete the animal food.The vegetable food consists mainly of small, soft-skinned fruit,mostly wild varieties. "Wild fruit (19.73 per cent) is eaten regularlyand in a goodly quantity in every month after April. Weed seedsand a few miscellaneous items of vegetable food (4.04 per cent) closethe account." He lists 50 varieties of fruits, of which only the follow-ing were found in ten or more stomachs: Blackberries or raspberriesin 67, wild black cherries in 15, domestic cherries in 29, woodbine in10, and elderberries in 15.Miss Stanwood (MS.) emphasizes the spruce bud moth (seeForbush,1929, p. 400) among the food of the young and mentions other moths,all of which are probably eaten by the adults also. The olive-backedthrush evidently procures much of its food among the foliage of thetrees, as well as on the ground, and some of it in the air. Ora W.Knight (1908) says: "I have known them frequently to catch moths,flies and mosquitoes while on the wing, and locally applied names ofnorthern Maine are Mosquito Thrush or Flycatching Thrush."E. W. Jameson, Jr., has sent me the following note from Buffalo,N. Y.: "On September 20, 1942, at 10:30 a. m., I came upon a flockof 15 or 20 olive-backed thrushes feeding in the top of a 30-foot wildblack cherry (Prunus serotina). The birds were in constant motion,flying back and forth between nearby black oaks and butternuts.When a bird had picked off a cherry, it manipulated it in its bill, soas to strip it of the fleshy part which it ate; and then it let the stonefall to the ground. In this way the thrushes were making a greatsupply of food available to a host of small mammals that lived below.A chipmunk trapped nearby had three fresh stones in its pouches, andpine mice, deer mice, and short-tailed shrews as well, probably utilizedthis source of supply."Behavior. The behavior of the olive-backed thrush is similar to thatof its western relative, though it is more given to frequenting thetree tops, especially on migrations. It is a close sitter on its nestbut otherwise shy and retiring. Amos W. Butler (1898) gives hisimpression of the migrants, as he saw them in Indiana: "Whensurprised they fly upon the lower branches of a tree or bush, usuallygetting behind a limb or a tree trunk out of view, sometimes simplyturning the back to the intruder and then sitting motionless. Often
OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH 183when frightened from this perch they will fly wildly away with aflight almost as erratic as that of Wilson's Snipe." Sometimes thebird will sit thus motionless for some time, but usually not for long,and one must seize the first opportunity to note the buff eye ring, forhe is not likely to get another chance. If taken from the nest at theright age, a young thrush can become a tame and interesting pet;Miss Stanwood adopted one that was ten days old and was quitesuccessful with it; she gives a brief account of it in her publishedpaper (1913).Voice.?The olive-backed thrush is a fine singer, but most observersagree that it is inferior as a vocalist to either the wood thrush or thehermit; some even place the veery as superior to it; all three of thesethrushes have certain qualities in their songs that appeal more stronglyto the listener than does the oliveback's song.Aretas A. Saunders has sent me the following excellent descriptionof the oliveback's performance: "The olive-backed thrush, like otherthrushes, has a long-continued song, but the phrases of which it iscomposed sound so much alike that the average listener is likely to con-sider that the bird is singing the same song over and over. Eachphrase consists of 5 to 15 notes, generally all of them of equal lengthand usually all connected. The phrase progresses upward in pitch,the lowest note being the first or second one in the phrase and the high-est the last or next to the last. In a typical phrase the first note islowest, while the second, fourth, sixth, etc., are each progressivelyhigher than any previous note. But the notes between these are lowerthan the note that preceded them. It is as though the song progressedupward by going over a series of higher and higher mounds, eachmound followed by a valley."The quality is sweet and musical but less rich than that of the woodthrush and not so pure and clear as that of the hermit. There is asomewhat windy quality about it, as though the bird were sayingwhao-whayo-whiyo-wheya-wheeya. Each phrase is slightly different inarrangement or pitch from the others, but the difference is less appar-ent than in other thrushes. Often a bird interpolates its call notewhit between the phrases, or at other times a high piping note, muchlike the call of the spring peeper (Hyla crucijer) .
"I have records from twenty-seven birds. The pitch ranges fromE ' ' to F ' ' ' ', half a tone over two octaves, but the majority of birdssing between A ' ' and C ' ' ' '. Individual birds have from three tonine different phrases, the majority about six.
"It is not uncommon for the olive-backed thrushes to sing on themigration. I usually hear more or less of the song nearly every yearin Connecticut; in fact I have missed it only 7 years in 25. The first
184 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMbirds to be seen are generally not singing, and the song is not heard tillthe species has been present for several dates. The average date forthe first bird seen, in my records, is May 13, but the average date forthe first song is May 19. Generally the last birds to be seen, late inMay, are still in song."On the breeding grounds the birds sing till late in July or early inAugust; the average date of the last song in 15 years of observation isJuly 30, the earliest July 12, 1929, and the latest August 8, 1928. AtFlathead Lake, Mont., where the oliveback is the most abundantbreeding bird, 12 different individuals could be heard in the eveningfrom the Biological Station. They sing later in the evening than anyother diurnal bird. In Allegany State Park, N. Y., where four speciesof thrushes can be heard in the evening chorus, the last one to sing, asdarkness comes on, is the olive-backed thrush. In the Adirondacks Imet a party of people who mistook its late singing for that of the whip-poorwill."As an aid in remembering the song, A. D. DuBois (MS.) thinks of itas saying "whip-poor-vrill-a-will-e-zee-zee-zee, going up high and fine atthe close. Sometimes there is an extra a-will." Albert R. Brand(1938), who has recorded on films the virbration frequencies in thesongs of so many birds, found for the olive-backed thrush an approxi-mate mean of 2,925, the highest note 3,850 and the lowest 2,000 vibra-tions per second; the high note is considerably lower than that of eitherthe hermit or the veery, but the low note of the hermit is much lowerin pitch than either of the others. Comparison with the high frequen-cies of two of the shrillest singers is very striking. The correspondingfigures for the grasshopper sparrow are 8,600 mean, 9,500 high, and7,675 low; and for the blackpoll warbler the mean is 8,900, the high10,225, and the low 8,050 vibrations per second.Stewart Edward White (1893) studied the song of one of thesethrushes that sang regularly near his cottage in Michigan; he figuredthat this bird sang 4,360 songs per day, and writes: "He sings on anaverage nine and a half times a minute with extreme regularity.During the song periods of morning and evening his constancy ofpurpose is remarkable; except to seize a passing insect, he neverbreaks the regular recurrence of his song. From a series of recordsit is found that he begins on an average about 3.15 a. m., and singssteadily (of course by that I mean ten times a minute, not con-stantly) until about 9.00 a. m.; he is nearly silent until noon, afterwhich he sings occasionally for a minute or so. About 4.30 he beginsagain, and only ceases to retire for the night about 7.30 p. m."Only a few observers have written about the night singing, butDr. Wilfred H. Osgood (1909) has given us a pleasing account ofhearing such a concert in Alaska:
OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH 185Although rarely heard in the daytime except in cloudy weather, they sangalmost continuously through the night. One of the greatest delights of summercamping in the Yukon Valley is to lie in one's blankets at night listening to theringing chorus of these thrushes. If the camp be fortunately chosen, one hearsnot one or two but a score of songsters. First we may have a bird less than 20feet from the tent whose every utterance is audible, varying from tones of thegreatest depth and richness to exquisite inarticulate gurglings and confidentialwhisperings. Then a few rods farther away may be several others alternatingwith one another in a long-continued obligato, while still farther back in somesmall ravine are those whose songs are borne on the air with a slight reverberation,giving added charm. While we lie in delicious enjoyment of these nearer songs,a general sense of music pervades the air to the farthest echoes. Perhaps thereis a momentary lull, a sudden silence crowded with expectation. Then from adeep canyon beyond the wooded ridge behind us comes a far-away note, faintbut full of character, and though little more than an echo, still with a tone thatthrills. In the same way other notes, or a whole chorus, faint but sweet, areborne from the distant thickets across the river.Field marks.?The four common thrushes that migrate throughthe United States can be readily recognized by the color pattern ofthe upperparts. The wood thrush is more rufous on the head andmore olivaceous toward the tail; the hermit thrush is just the reverse,more olivaceous toward the head and more rufous toward the tail,especially on the tail; the olive-backed and russet-backed thrushesare uniformly brownish olive above; and the upperparts of the veeryare uniformly more rufous. Furthermore, the wood thrush is moreconspicuously spotted with larger and blacker spots on the breast;and the veery is very faintly spotted there with obscure spots. Thegray-cheeked and Bicknell's thrushes, which are rarer, cannot beeasily distinguished from the oliveback by the color of the upper-parts; it is necessary to see clearly the buff cheeks and the conspicu-ous buff eye ring of the oliveback to recognize it.Enemies.?The nests of the olive-backed thrush are so conspicu-ously placed and usually so accessible that they are very vulnerable tothe attacks of crows, jays, squirrels, other wild predators, and straycats. Mr. DuBois says in his notes: "At nest 5, small pieces of brokenegg shell in the nest and a larger piece on the ground indicated destruc-tion by some animal. Nest 6 contained two fresh eggs, one of whichhad a large hole in the side and had been partly eaten. A chipmunkwas chattering and running in the brush not far away. The thrush,nearby, had been calling its alarm note."Dr. Friedmann (1929) records it as "an uncommon victim" of thecowbird, five cases having come to his notice.Taverner and Swales (1908) say that this and the gray-cheekedthrushes, on migration at Point Pelee, "suffer greatly during theSharp-shinned Hawk flights as mentioned before. During the periods
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of this Hawk's abundance little scattered piles of thrush feathers canbe found every here and there through the underbrush."Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1923) heard the distress cries of a pair ofolive-backed thrushes and on investigation "found two of these birdsflying about a Red Squirrel who sat erect on a fallen tree, holding in hisfore-paws a partly eaten Thrush in the spotted juvenal plumage. Thesquirrel's face was smeared with blood and it was altogether a mostlamentable spectacle."Harold S. Peters (1933) lists as external parasites of this thrush alouse, Myrsidea incerta (Kellogg), and a tick, Haemaphysalis leporis-palustris Packard.Many thrushes, as well as other birds that migrate at night, meettheir death by flying against lighthouses.Fall.?Mrs. Cochran's (1935) banding records, referred to in theparagraph on "Spring," suggest that the spring and fall migrations ofindividuals follow the same route. This is probably not true of thespecies everywhere. In the Connecticut Valley, Mass., it seems to bevery irregular in its appearance from one year to another, and morecommon in the spring than in the fall; Bagg and Eliot (1937) "expectto see twenty to thirty individuals each May and only five or six eachautumn." Actual count was kept for the first time in 1936 byMr. Eliot; in May he saw over 50 olivebacks in Northampton alone;in the fall seven. In 1937 he saw about 30 in the period May 9-24.Miss Stanwood tells me that "the olive-backed thrush remains untilthe wild fruits grow scarce, near the middle or last of September," inMaine. It passes through Massachusetts mainly in September, butsome are seen in October ; while with us it is associated with the gray-cheeked thrush, from which it can be distinguished with difficulty, andit may be found almost anywhere in open woodland glades, in theshrubbery along streams or along country roads, and often in theshrubbery of gardens or parks, wherever it can find a little cover.E. S. Dingle tells me that the earliest date of arrival in South Caro-lina was September 13, 1916. Paul Griswold Howes (1914) has pub-lished an interesting paper on the fall migration of the olive-backedthrush, as observed at Stamford, Conn., from which I quote: "Thenight voices fill the September air; weird, almost awesome are thesewhistles of the migrating thrushes, guided by some unknown powerthrough thousands of miles of space to their winter home in the tropics.It is thrilling indeed when one hears the sound high in the air and farin the distance. Gradually it comes closer as the bird flies steadilysouthward. As it passes, unseen, directly over head, again the cryfloats down to earth and a fainter answering call in the north, tells oneof a companion or perhaps a mate. Thus the voices echo back andforth across the sky from evening 'till early morn, when the birds
OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH 187drop down from the high road of travel to feed and rest in the friendly-woods and thickets." He recognizes the notes of the olive-backedthrush on migration as different from any other bird with which he isfamiliar; "a singular mellow and almost plaint-whistle, sweet-tonedand far reaching, seems best to describe the calls of this thrush.* * * As I have seen birds" come down to rest as early as 5 a. m.,and on the other hand, leave for the night's journey at 6 p. m., it isnot unlikely that this species travels the air for eleven hours at a time.If they cover two hundred miles in a night, which is not a maximumfigure by any means, their rate of speed while in the air would beslightly over eighteen miles per hour, which, as near as I could judge,was about the speed that the individuals traveling in the early morningwere making." All the birds observed over his marked square wereflying almost directly southwest, which would be part of an almoststraight line from Newfoundland to New Orleans.The fall migration is very heavy at times at Point Pelee, Ontario, onthe islands in Lake Erie and on Cedar Point, Ohio. At the formerpoint, according to Taverner and Swales (1908), "in September, 1905,the first arrived the 6th, becoming very common the 8th. It dis-appeared that night, but gradually increased again to the 13th, whenit fairly swarmed all over the place, then slowly decreased in numbersto the end of our stay, the 16th." And Dr. Jones (1910) says: "Onthe day of my arrival on Pelee island, August 29, there were nonefound, nor any the next day in spite of a careful search, but with thefirst faint dawn of the 31st the peculiar notes of this bird were heard,and the full light revealed hundreds of them in the bushes and every-where in the woods. They remained thus numerous until my de-parture the evening of the next day."Mrs. Nice (1931) calls the olive-backed thrush a regular springtransient throughout Oklahoma, but remarks: "The lack of fallrecords is curious; for seven reasons [seasons?] I followed the fallmigration with the keenest interest, but never once saw a thrush ofany species." This is additional evidence that this thrush does notalways follow the same route on both migrations. Perhaps the mainfall flight may cross the Gulf of Alexico to southern Central America,or to South America. Ludlow Griscom (1932) says that, in Guate-mala, "October and November are the main months of the fall migra-tion. November 15 is the latest date for western Panama, and thereis one December record for Costa Rica." According to Dickey andvan Rossem (1938), it occurs in El Salvador only as a spring migrant,or a "rare midwinter visitant."Winter.?The 1931 Check-list says that the olive-backed thrush
"winters from southern Mexico to Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and Argen-tina." But Mr. Griscom (1932) says: "The Olive-backed Thrush
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winters over much of South America east of the Andes, and is acommon spring and fall transient in Central America, unrecorded fromthe Pacific slope north of Costa Rica. * * * Its supposed winter-ing in Central America is based on assumption, and there is not asingle critically determined specimen on record in this country[Guatemala], collected in January or February."HYLOCICHLA USTULATA ALMAE OberholserWESTERN OLIVE-BACKED THRUSHHABITSAlthough the western olive-backed thrush was described manyyears ago, it was not until within comparatively recent years that itwas admitted to our Check-list in the nineteenth supplement (Auk,vol. 61, p. 457).In naming this race, Dr. Harry C. Oberholser (1898) gives a veryfull and detailed description of it and then remarks: "The present racediffers from the eastern Hylocichla ustulata swainsonii in the moregrayish, less olivaceous color of the upper surface, this being mostnoticeable on the rump and upper tail-coverts. The sides and flanksalso average more grayish. No apparent difference in size exists.No comparison with H. ustulata proper is necessary, for Hylocichla u.almae, although geographically intermediate, is even less closely alliedto ustulata than is swainsonii. * * *
"Alma's Thrush is a common bird in eastern Nevada, where itinhabits the growth of trees and bushes that fringe the mountainstreams. In the Monitor and East Humboldt Mountaius, it isapparently the most numerous species of the family."We have no reason to think that the habits of this thrush differmaterially from those of neighboring races that five in similar en-vironments. HYLOCICHLA MINIMA MINIMA (Lafresnaye)GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSHHABITSThe gray-cheeked thrush spends the summer farther north thanany of our eastern thrushes, up to the tree limit and even beyond thatpoint nearly or quite to the Arctic coast of the far northwest. Dr.E. W. Nelson (1883) describes its summer haunts in northern Alaska,as follows:In middle latitudes where our acquaintance is made with this bird we associateit with damp woodlands and sheltered glens, and it would seem almost incongruousto one familiar with it in such surroundings to look for it as an inhabitant of thebarren stretches of arctic lands where for many miles not a tree raises its shaft
GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH 189Such is its northern home, however, and throughout the entire arctic regionnorth of Hudson's Bay to Bering Strait and across into Kamtchatka the bird isfound in a greater portion of this range as an extremely abundant species. Wher-ever clumps of dwarf willows or alders have gained a foothold along the sterileslopes and hillsides in the north, a pair or more of these wanderers may be lookedfor. Along the entire Bering Sea coast of Alaska, and north around the shores ofKotzebue Sound, it is numerous among the many alder bushes found on theseshores.It was formerly supposed to be only a straggler across the Straitinto northeastern Siberia, but, according to Thayer and Bangs (1914),it "is one of the American species that have extended their breedingrange across Bering Strait, and it now breeds west at least to theKolyma River region."Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1900) says that "in the Kowak Valley it wasto be heard from every willow bed and tract of spruces." Fromthere eastward, along the northern fringe of stunted spruces, willows,and alders, the range extends to the delta of the Mackenzie, theAnderson Kiver region, northern Labrador, and even to parts ofNewfoundland.Spring.?The gray-cheeked thrush is the champion migrant amongour small thrushes, making the longest migration and, in some partsof its journey, the most rapid advance. Frederick C. Lincoln (1939)says: "An excellent example of rapid migration is that of the Gray-cheeked Thrush. This bird winters in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru,Venezuela and British Guiana and does not start its northwardjourney until many other species are well on their way. It does notappear in the United States until the last of April?April 25 near themouth of the Mississippi and April 30 in northern Florida. A monthlater, or by the last week in May, it is to be seen in northwesternAlaska, the 4,000-mile trip from Louisiana having been made at anaverage speed of 130 miles a day." By reference to his map, itappears that the progress is much more rapid in the western part ofthe route, especially on the latter half of the journey, than it is upthe Atlantic Coast States; by May 20 it has reached New England,having covered but little over 10? of latitude; while, during the sametime, it has advanced over 30? of latitude, well beyond the 60? latitudein Mackenzie; and, during the next five days, it has advanced nearly10? more to the northern limit of its range in Alaska. These datesand distances are probably only approximate averages.During the spring migration the gray-cheeked thrush spreads outover all of the eastern United States, from the Atlantic coast to theMississippi Valley, and only sparingly a little farther west. Dr.Nelson (1883) writes of the migration:It passes by the groves and farms of the Northern States just as the buds areswelling and the warm, misty rains of spring are quickening into life the sleeping
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seeds and rootlets; filled with buoyant exultation it pauses now and then to pourforth those strange but pleasing cadences which once heard in their full sweetnesswill never be forgotten. But it has no time to tarry, and ere long it is alreadyfar on its way to the north. The strange, wild song which arose but a short timesince in pleasant woodland spots and quiet nooks in southern groves is now heardby wandering Indians who seek their summer fishing-grounds by the banks ofnorthern streams. Yet a little later and it troops in abundance near to the shoresof the Arctic, where the Mackenzie and other rivers pour their spring floods intothe icy sea. Down the Yukon these birds pass, using the densely bush-grownbank of the river as their highway, raising now and then their song which findshere fittest surroundings. Reaching the mouth of the Yukon, many wanderalong the coast of Bering Sea to the north, and some are said to cross the straits.On migration gray-cheeked thrushes may be seen almost anywherethat they can find sufficient cover, in woodlands, or along the edges,in thickets along streams, in roadside shrubbery, in thick growths ofyoung evergreens, and even in village yards or gardens or in city parks.They come along with the host of later migrants and are often incompany with olivebacks, or in the east with the smaller BicknelFs;they can hardly be distinguished from the latter in life and must beseen under favorable circumstances to tell them from olivebacks.In the great wave of migrating birds that swept through the narrowtimber belt along Maple Creek, southwestern Saskatchewan, onJune 8, 1906, thrushes were very numerous. Only two were collected,one of which proved to be aliciae and the other a small specimen of afemale bicknelli identified by my companion, Dr. Louis B. Bishop.Lucien M. Turner, in his unpublished Labrador notes, says: "Atthe head of Hamilton Inlet, this thrush occurs in abundance, arrivingabout the 25th of May and remaining until the middle of September,breeding there plentifully even in the undergrowth surrounding thehouses."Nesting.?Breeding in a region where trees are stunted or replacedby low bushes, the gray-cheeked thrush builds its nest not far fromthe ground or even on it among low-growing shoots. A nest found byJohan Koren at Nijni Kolymsk, in northeastern Siberia, on June 15,1912, was "placed on the ground among the stems of young alders,"according to Thayer and Bangs (1914); it contained five fresh eggs.Dr. Grinnell (1900) says that, in the Kotzebue Sound region of north-ern Alaska, "the nests of this species were quite variously situated,according to environment. In willow and alder beds I found themwithin a foot of the ground built on the slanting or horizontal trunks.While in the spruce woods they were found as high as twenty feet,though commonly about six feet above the ground. A typical nestis of fine shriveled grass blades, incorporated when damp, and mixedwith a small amount of mud. The lining is of fine dry grasses. Whenthis structure dries it is remarkably compact and firm, in fact almost
GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH 191indestructible by the elements, for the woods were full of old nestssome of which must have survived many seasons."Dr. Brewer (Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, 1874) gives a very gooddescription of the nests, as follows: "The nests measure about 4inches in diameter and 2% in height. The cavity is 2 inches deep, andits diameter 2K inches. They are usually compact for the nest of athrush, and are composed chiefly of an elaborate interweaving of finesedges, leaves, stems of the more delicate Equisetaceae, dry grasses,strips of fine bark, and decayed leaves, the whole intermingled withthe panicled inflorescence of grasses. There is little or no liningother than these materials * * *. The Hypnum mosses, somarked a feature in the nests of T. swainsoni, as also in those ofT. ustulatus, are wholly wanting in those of T. aliciae."Dr. Nelson (1887), however, found a nest at St. Michael that was"composed mainly of these mosses mixed with a small amount ofcoarse grass."There is a set of eggs in my collection, taken by Rev. W. W. Perrettat Makkovik, Labrador, on June 27, 1899, that came from a nest madeof small twigs, moss, and dry grass, lined with fine grass and a fewdry leaves and rootlets; the nest was placed about 3 feet from theground in a small spruce. Another nest in his collection was similarlyconstructed but placed on the ground under a small juniper. Anotherset in my collection was taken by J. R. Whitaker at Grand Lake,Newfoundland, on June 26, 1919; the nest was 18 inches from theground on a prostrate tree. Dr. George J. Wallace (1939) also saysthat this thrush builds "a mossy nest." Herbert Brandt (1943)found the gray-cheeked thrush breeding in the Askinuk Mountains,near Hooper Bay, Alaska, "in the alder growth below an altitude of500 feet," and says that "the outside of some nests is so profuselydecorated with moss and lichens as to cover completely the grassywall." The nests were in upright crotches, entirely without con-cealment, from 2 to 4.50 feet above the ground.Eggs.?The gray-cheeked thrush lays ordinarily four eggs, some-times only three and frequently five; Dr. Wallace (1939) says "fromfour to six."The eggs are usually ovate in shape, but some are more elongatedand some more rounded. They have very little or no gloss. Theground color is a light, greenish blue, from "Nile blue" to "pale Nileblue" or even paler. They are usually more sparingly and more faintlymarked than the eggs of the olive-backed thrush, but with similarshades of brown, "hazel" to "cinnamon" or paler. Some eggs havefairly large blotches about the larger end, and some are uniformly andevenly sprinkled with minute dots. In some eggs the markings areso small and faint that the egg appears almost immaculate. The
192 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMmeasurements of 50 eggs in the United States National Museumaverage 23.0 by 17.0 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremesmeasure 24.9 by 16.0, 23.9 by 19.8, 20.6 by 16.8, and 22.4 by 15.8millimeters.Plumages.?The natal down of the gray-cheeked thrush does notseem to have been described. Dr. Dwight (1900) describes thejuvenal plumage of an Alaskan specimen, as follows: "Above, greenisholive-brown, wings and tail darker, the pileum, back, wing coverts(except primary and greater) and rump with buffy white linear shaftstreaks. Below, white, very faintly tinged with pale buff on thebreast and sides, the breast and throat spotted with black, tending tobarring on forepart of abdomen and flanks. Sides of head pale buff,black spotted; submalar streaks black; distinct orbital ring rich buff.* * * This dress is grayer and with less buff than the correspond-ing plumage of T. u. swainsonii."The first winter plumage is acquired by a partial postjuvenal molt,which involves the body plumage and the lesser wing coverts, but notthe greater wing coverts, or the rest of the wings, or the tail. Dr.Dwight (1900) describes this plumage as "above, similar to corre-sponding plumage of T. u. swainsonii, the olive-brown usually darkerwith less yellowish tinge, especially on the head. Below, with no buffexcept a faint wash on the jugulum; the sides of the head and breastare therefore much grayer and the orbital ring distinctly white. Thebuffy edgings or terminal spots of the retained juvenal wing covertsare usually distinctive of the first winter dress." The postjuvenalmolt of young birds and the postnuptial complete molt of adults areboth, apparently, accomplished in August before migration. Thereis evidently no molt in spring, but wear and fading produce a slightlygrayer effect. The sexes are alike in all plumages.Dr. Wallace (1939) writes: "Breeding birds of the Newfoundlandtype vary from Brownish Olive, which is the migration color ofaliciae, to Olive-Brown or Sepia. Thus they differ from summerspecimens of the continental form by the almost complete lack ofgrayish suffusion in the dorsal plumage, the gray being replaced bybrownish hues. Below, they are similar to the northern gray-cheeks,but with more buffy appearance on the throat and breast."Food.?Professor Beal (1915b) examined the stomachs of 111gray-cheeked and BicknelFs thrushes, combining the two subspecies.The analysis showed 74.86 percent of animal matter and 25.14 per-cent of vegetable food. Beetles were the largest item in the former,33.32 percent; but only 2.83 percent were the useful Carabidae; theremainder belonged to harmful families, such as the Scarabaeidae,Elateridae, and the weevils. Ants amounted to 16.34 percent, andother Hymenoptera, as wasps and bees, were eaten to the extent of
GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH 1935.60 percent; no honey bees were found. Caterpillars were third inimportance, 8.81 percent. Grasshoppers were not a favorite food,amounting only to 1.72 percent. Other insects, including theremains of a seventeen-year locust in one stomach, amounted to 2.89percent, spiders 5.77 percent, and a few other animals, such as craw-fishes, sowbugs, and angleworms, to 0.41 percent.Among the vegetable food, a few seeds of blackberries or rasp-berries were found, but they may have come from wild plants andamounted to only 0.15 percent. "Wild fruits of 18 different species(23.98 percent) make up nearly one-fourth of the whole food." Theonly fruits found in more than two stomachs were: Wild black cherriesin 5, wild grapes in 5, flowering dogwood in 5, and elderberries in 3stomachs.Francis Zirrer, of Hayward, Wis., sends me the following note: "Inspring this bird, and many others, subsist largely on larvae of variousDiptera, inhabiting the rich woodland soil in such masses, that fromthe bottom of a small puddle of snow water a few yards square a goodhandful might be obtained, drowned and dead. During the fallmigration the bird feeds often on the hairy caterpillars (Arctiidae)which at that time crawl everywhere. However, it does take con-siderable time and much pounding before the caterpillar is disposedof. But most of the fall feeding is done on the berries of Araliaracemosa. As shy as this thrush usually is, it will come directly underthe windows of a lonely woodland cabin, if the plant grows there andthe fruit is plentiful, which is usually the case, as this plant with itslater period of blooming does not, as a rule, suffer from late frosts.This is the best opportunity for the dweller to watch this and the nextthrush at the closest possible range through the window pane, oftenonly 2 or 3 feet away. And, since the ripening of these berries on thetruly enormous clusters proceeds slowly and over a period of severalweeks, the birds will stay as long as there are any berries left, unlessthe weather turns exceptionally cold and nasty."Behavior.?Like other thrushes of this group, the gray-cheeked isextremely shy, both on migrations and on its breeding grounds. Wemay hear it singing on the top of some bush or small tree, but, aswe approach, it dashes down into the underbrush and disappears.It is even more shy than the oliveback. It is most often seen on theground during migrations, hopping about in a characteristic thrush-like attitude, erect on its long legs and searching for food, most ofwhich is found on the ground among the fallen leaves. It is seldomseen in the high treetops, as the oliveback so often is.Wendell Taber writes to me that on May 17, 1942, in a cemeteryat Nahant, Mass., "one of these birds seemed to have a definitepreference for the top of a wooden fence. Although a number of us
194 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMdrove him away, he kept returning. Later, after we had walkedthrough the cemetery and returned, the bird was again on top. Amost peculiar action was the position of the bird ; wings were extendedfrom the body with primaries turned down and apparently touchingthe fence?in short a three-point landing. The bird did not appearto be wet or show any difficulty in flying."Dr. Dayton Stoner (1932) "watched one of these birds for sometime as it took its morning bath in one of the pools of shallow waterin a bog. The ablutions were continued for several minutes and wereaccompanied by a great deal of fluttering and splashing of water.Then followed a most careful and meticulous preening and oilingof the contour feathers; particular attention being given the tail andlarge wing feathers, the vanes of which were run carefully throughthe mandibles so that the disengaged hooklets?if any?would bere-engaged. The entire procedure lasted between ten and fifteenminutes.
"
A rather peculiar action was noted by Cyril G. Harrold on NunivakIsland, Alaska, mentioned by H. S. Swarth (1934): "These birdshave a habit of making for the boulder-strewn shore when alarmedand hiding under the large rocks, where it is very difficult to locatethem."Mr. Turner (MS.) writes: "I have observed this species on boththe Pacific and the Atlantic Arctic regions, and cannot consider it asa shy bird, that is, difficult to approach. It is of a retiring nature,and in certain positions very apt to be overlooked, being oftenerseen as it flits from one thicket to another than otherwise."Voice.?The song of the gray-cheeked thrush is evidently inferiorto those of the hermit and wood thrushes, and some think that theveery and even the oliveback are superior vocalists. This is largelydue to the fact that the graycheek does not sing its best song whileon migration, though it is often heard. Few of us have been priv-ileged to hear it on its northern breeding grounds, where it is heardat its best and where the full, rich, sweet song is doubly appreciatedin the barren surroundings of its summer home. Here it mountssome low tree or bush and pours out a most delightful melody. Itceases to sing, however, when the care of young nestlings absorbsits attention. Eugene P. Bicknell (1884) writes:As a result of my experience with these birds, I have little hesitation in char-acterizing the song of the Gray-cheeked Thrush as weaker than that of the Olive-backed, entirely dissimilar in tone, and with a somewhat different dispositionof the notes. Instead of musically outbursting, it is singularly subdued, andhas a far-away and rather ventriloquial sound. It seems more the expressionof some distant emotion revived in memory than of a suddenly felt presentemotion which the song of the Olive-backed Thrush suggests. * * * The
GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH 195
song of the Gray-cheeked Thrush commences low and reaches its loudest, andI think its highest, part a little beyond half its continuance. It is throughoutmuch fainter and of less forcible delivery than the song of the Olive-backedspecies.John A. Gillespie (1927) gives a very good description of the song:
"Briefly described, the song in question commenced with a slurring
'wee-oh,' strongly suggesting the beginning of a common variationof the White-eyed Vireo's song. This was followed by two, and some-times three, high pitched, staccato notes resembling 'chee-chee,'intermingled with almost inaudible cymbal-like tones. From notestaken at the time, the whole song might be represented as 'Wee-oh,chee-chee-wee-oh, wee-oh/ the latter half suggesting the Goldfinchin tone and execution."To A. Dawes DuBois (MS.), the song of a bird that he heard inIllinois sounded like "We-tichi-wheee, whitchee-u. The we, the firstsyllable of the tichi and roost of the wheee are of approximately thesame pitch, but the second syllable of the tichi is lower. The lastportion of the wheee is tremulous and slurs downward, after whichthe whitchee-u begins on the lower note, but is slurred quickly upward,and then gradually downward on the tremulous chee-u ending."The gray-cheeked thrush has a harsh scolding note and some shortcall notes like what, chuck, pheu, or fee-a, which probably expressdifferent emotions.Lucien M. Turner (MS.) has this to say about the midnight songof the gray-cheeked thrush on its breeding grounds: "At the mouthof Whale River, Ungava, I was lying in my sleeping bag, preparingfor a few hours' rest on the open ground, with naught but sky aboveme. The time was but a few minutes after midnight, and it was sostill that the only sounds to be heard were the contending currentsof the river, but a few feet distant, and the distress cries of a pair ofsemipalmated plovers whose nest was nearby. A drowsiness soonpossessed me, but hearing a strange, clear song of a bird, which madethe stillness tinkle with its music, I could not sleep so long as it con-tinued. The next morning, I saw a pair of Alice's thrushes and knewthey had sung their midnight song to the rising sun, for at this date,June 27, there is no darkness; the sun passes below the horizon, butleaves the daylight behind."Field marks.?As its name implies, the best field mark is the graycheeks. At short range and in good light, this character will dis-tinguish this thrush from the oliveback, whose cheeks and eye ringare conspicuously buffy, though this character is not so well markedin the young bird in the fall. The plain, olive-brown back will dis-tinguish this species from the wood thrush, veery, or hermit, all ofwhich show some rufous on part or all of the upperparts. From
196 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMBicknell's thrush the gray-cheeked can be distinguished only by size,a poor field mark.Enemies.?All thrushes have plenty of enemies among the numerouspredators, but few have the kind that persecute the gray-cheekedthrush on its breeding grounds. Dr. Nelson (1887) writes: "As soonas the breeding season is over they become less retiring and frequentthe vicinity of villages and more open spots, where many are killedby the native boys, armed with their bows and arrows. Their skinsare removed and hung in rows or bunches to dry in the smoky hutsand are preserved as trophies of the young hunters' prowess. In thewinter festivals, when the older hunters bring out the trophies of theirskill, the boys proudly display the skins of these thrushes and hangthem alongside."Dr. Max Minor Peet (1908) mentions one that was killed at IsleRoyale, Mich., by flying against a lighted window at night duringa storm.Only one louse, Myrsidea incerta (Kellogg), is reported by HaroldS. Peters (1936) as an external parasite of this thrush.Fall.?Gray-cheeked thrushes leave their northernmost breedinggrounds by the last of August, or early in September, and travelsouthward over much the same routes that they traversed in spring,which covers practically all of Canada and the United States east ofthe Rocky Mountains. Dr. Wallace (1939) remarks that "apparentlynot even the Alaskan and Siberian inhabitants migrate along thePacific coast. Habit is deeply intrenched in such migratory species;otherwise the Siberian representatives might better winter in south-ern Asia than to retrace their flight across the intercontinentalpeninsula, and migrate the whole length of North America to winterin South America."Ludlow Griscom (1932) records it as "migrating along the outerislands of the east coast of Central America, very rare or casual onthe mainland (4 records only)." But Dr. Wallace (1939) says: "Ofthe ten or more Central American records for this form only threeappear to be from these outer islands, and two of these are of doubtfulidentity. Apparently they migrate over all the available routes toSouth America, by way of the West Indian chain of islands, alongthe Florida peninsula and across Cuba, by the outer islands along theeastern Central American coast, and particularly over CentralAmerica as a whole."We seldom think of thrushes as migrating in flocks, but, at IsleRoyale, Mich., Dr. Peet (1908) found these thrushes very abundantin September: "Large flocks were seen every day throughout theremainder of our stay [Sept. 12 to 22], the border of clearings and theroadways being the places where they were the most abundant."
GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH 197They pass through Massachusetts in September and October,when they frequent mainly the berry-bearing thickets, feeding onthe fruit of cornels and the berries of the deadly nightshade, barberry,spicebush, woodbine, wild grapes, the seeds of poison-ivy, etc. Butwe often see them in the shrubbery along the roadsides and even inour yards and gardens, feeding among the fallen leaves.Winter.?The gray-cheeked thrush spends the winter in northernSouth America, mainly in Colombia and Venezuela, but also in BritishGuiana, Ecuador, and Peru. We do not know much about its winterhaunts and habits. Dr. Wallace (1939) says that "they reach theirwinter quarters by late October, but apparently are not found in thevalleys much later than that, seeming to move up into the mountains."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Northeastern Asia and North America, to northwesternSouth America.Breeding range.?The gray-cheeked thrush breeds north to north-eastern Siberia (Nijni Kolymsk and Pitalkaj); northern Alaska (CapeBlossom and the Kobuk River, rarely to Point Barrow); northernYukon (Old Crow River and Lapierre House); northern Mackenzie(Aklavik, Franklin Bay, MacTavish Bay on Great Bear Lake, andArtillery Lake); northern Manitoba (Churchill); northern Quebec(Chimo); and northern Labrador (Nain). East to Labrador (Nain,Davis Inlet, and Cape Charles); Newfoundland (St. Anthony, FogoIsland, and St. John's); Miquelon and St. Pierre Islands, and NovaScotia (Seal Island). South to Nova Scotia (Seal Island), and themountains of northeastern United States: Maine (Mount Katahdinand Mount Abraham); New Hampshire (White Mountains andMoosilauke) ; Massachusetts (Mount Greylock) ; and New York(Adirondack and Catskill Mountains); southeastern Quebec (Gaspe"County and Romaine); Hudson Bay region (Great Whale River,Quebec, and York Factory, Manitoba); southern Mackenzie (HillIsland Lake), northern British Columbia (Fort Nelson River andAtlin); southern Yukon (Lake Marsh); southern Alaska (CopperRiver, Kodiak Island, Nushagak, and Hooper Bay) ; and northeasternSiberia (Cape Tschukotsk). West to northeastern Siberia (CapeTschukotsk and the tributaries of the Kolyma River).The breeding range as outlined includes the entire species of whichtwo subspecies or geographic races are recognized. The typical race,the gray-cheeked thrush (H. m. minima), is the northern race breedingfrom Siberia across northern Canada, Labrador, and in Newfoundland;BicknelTs thrush (H. m. bicknelli) breeds in Gaspe County, Quebec,Nova Scotia, and the mountains of northeastern United States.
198 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMWinter range.?In winter Bicknell's thrush has been found onlyon the island of Hispaniola (Morne Malanga, Haiti; and PuertoPlata, Sanchez, Aguacate, and San Domingo, Dominican Republic).The gray-cheeked thrush continues to South America where itoccurs from the Santa Marta region of Colombia east through theOrinoco Valley of Venezuela (Me"rida, Barinas, Caicara, and theMount Auyan-tepic region) to British Guiana (Kamakusa, the Kama-rang River, and Bartica). It appears to winter at least casually inthe Cauca Valley of Colombia (Puerto Valdivia) ; on the east slopeof the Andes in Ecuador (Hacienda Machay in the province of Ambatoand the Rio Suno) ; and in eastern Peru (Chamicuras)
.
Migration.?The gray-cheeked thrush has an interesting migrationroute. The records indicate that the birds breeding in Siberiamigrate through the Mississippi Valley of the United States. Westof the hundredth meridian the species is known only by a few (possiblycasual) records in eastern Wyoming and Montana, and there arevery few records from southern Alberta, and none from British Colum-bia except north of the Peace River. It is apparently unknown inMexico except in the islands off the coast of Yucatan, and there isone specimen from Guatemala; and several records for Cuba, CostaRica, and Panama.As many of the dates of migration are based on sight records, noattempt has been made to separate the races.Some late dates of spring departure are: Colombia?Santa Marta,May 3. Guatemala?Uaxactun, April 28. Mexico?Cozumel Island,April 30. Bahamas?Cay Sal, May 19. Florida?Tortugas, May22. North Carolina?Asheville, May 21. District of Columbia
?
Washington, June 3. Texas?Cove, May 21. Louisiana?Shreve-port, May 16. Missouri?St. Louis, June 4.Some early dates of spring arrival are: Florida?Pensacola, April21. South Carolina?Aiken, April 24. Virginia?Lynchburg, May5. District of Columbia?Washington, May 6. PennsylvaniaHarrisburg, May 1. New York?Rochester, May 2. Massachu-setts?Boston, May 14. New Hampshire ?Hanover, May 17.Maine?Dover-Foxcroft, May 1. Quebec?Quebec, May 21. Lou-isiana?Baton Rouge, April 22. Mississippi?Biloxi, April 21. Ten-nessee?Memphis, April 23. Indiana?Indianapolis, April 26.Michigan?Ann Arbor, April 25. Ontario?Hamilton, April 27.Missouri?St. Louis, April 30. Wisconsin?Racine, May 2. Texas-Houston, April 23. Nebraska?Red Cloud, April 29. NorthDakota?Fargo, May 4. Manitoba?Aweme, May 5; Churchill,June 6. Alberta?Edmonton, May 13. British Columbia?FortSt. John, May 13. Alaska?Kobuk River, near the mouth, May 24.
BICKNELL'S THRUSH 199Bering Sea?St. Lawrence Island, May 26. Siberia?Nijni Kolymsk,June 8.Some late dates of fall departure are: Bering Sea?St. Paul Island,September 9. Alaska?Nome, September 8. British Columbia
?
Atlin, September 1. Alberta?Athabaska Landing, September 12.Manitoba?Churchill, September 6. North Dakota?Fargo, October4. Minnesota?Minneapolis, October 1. Iowa?Iowa City, Octo-ber 16. Michigan?Ann Arbor, October 7. Ontario?Point Pelee,October 9. Ohio?Columbus, October 6. Mississippi?Ariel, Octo-ber 9. Texas?Cove, October 18. Quebec?Hatley, September 24.Maine?Phillips, September 20. Massachusetts?Harvard, October5. New York?Astoria, October 23. Pennsylvania?Philadelphia,October 16. District of Columbia?Washington, October 24. NorthCarolina?Weaverville, October 28. Georgia?Athens, October 18.Alabama'?Greensboro, October 20. Cuba?Habana, October 21.British Honduras?Toledo, November 13. Costa Rica?Tambor,November 2. Panama?Cocoplum, November 12.Some early dates of fall arrival are: Minnesota?St. Paul, August31. Illinois?Chicago, August 26. : Louisiana?Thibodaux, Sep-tember 21. North Carolina?Statesville, September 4. Georgianear Atlanta, September 9. Florida?Princeton, September 19.Cuba?Habana, October 16. Costa Rica?Rio Sicsola, October 4.Casual records.?A specimen was collected at Godthaab, Green-land, in June 1845; and another in south Greenland in August 1852,and one in postjuvenal plumage was collected on the south fork ofCave Creek, in the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona, on September11, 1932.Egg dates.?Alaska: 17 records, June 6 to July 8; 9 records, June15 to June 23, indicating the height of the season.Labrador: 5 records, June 17 to June 28.Manitoba: 26 records, June 11 to June 30; 13 records, June 19 toJune 22.New Hampshire: 5 records, June 17 to June 28.HYLOCICHLA MINIMA BICKNELLI RidgwayBICKNELL'S THRUSHContributed by George John WallaceHABITSIn 1881 E. P. Bicknell surprised American ornithologists by theunexpected discovery of a new thrush, apparently breeding in theCatskills, close to the stamping grounds of many of the foremostbirdmen of that time. Specimens of the new form were submitted
200 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMto Ridgway, who described them as southern subspecific representa-tives of the better-known and more widely distributed gray-cheekedthrush. Subsequent explorations soon disclosed the presence of thethrush on the nearby mountains of New England, causing ornitholo-gists of that period to express both surprise and chagrin that theexistence of a bird regularly breeding in the Northeastern Statesshould have gone so long undetected.Aside from its very scattered and restricted distribution in theCanadian Maritime Provinces, Bicknell's thrush proved to be a strictlymontane form, limited in the breeding season to high elevations in themountains of New England and eastern New York. It belongsprimarily in the ecological niche extending from the 3,000-foot levelup to timberline, in an environment of dense, stunted evergreens,where the rocky fir-clad heights are almost perpetually bathed in mistsand clouds.Because of the Bicknell's occupation of such a limited zone in onlythe most isolated regions, and because of its habit of nesting in themost inaccessible parts of these remote areas, the bird has long re-mained in comparative obscurity, its taxonomy and nomenclatureconfused, its distribution incompletely or erroneously recorded, itslife history and ecology but little known. Excursions into its breedinghaunts revealed many interesting but rather fragmentary and some-times conflicting bits of information that at best were an inadequaterecord of the haunts and habits of the thrush. In 1935, however, thepresent writer had an opportunity to follow the bird through one com-plete breeding cycle, thus making it possible to clear up some of theobscure features regarding this interesting thrush.Spring.?Bicknell's thrushes appear in the United States early inMay, at which time they reach the southern Atlantic States from theirwest Indian winter home (the first continental spring records sub-stantiated by specimens are for Charleston, S. C, on May 2, and thenorth Floridian coast on May 3). From there they move northwardalong the coast, passing through Washington, D. C, about the middleof May and arriving in southern New England during the latter halfof the month (18 of the New England specimens were taken betweenthe 20th and 30th of May, 5 earlier than the 20th, and 1 as late asJune 11). During this period also they gradually move up into themountains, presumably as soon as the retreating snows permit. Theyhave been found returning to Mount Moosilauke in New Hampshirebetween the 25th and 30th of May (G. M. Allen, 1902), have beenreported for Mount Mansfield, Vt., on May 25 (Davenport, unpub-lished bird list), and for Mount Greylock, Mass., between May 28and 30 (Maynard, 1910). In 1935, in a considerably retarded spring,only a few were found in the snow-bound summit of Mount Mans-
BICKNELL'S THRUSH 201
field on May 27, but the birds moved in rapidly during the ensuingfew days (coincident with a thaw) and seemed to have reached theirpeak of numbers by May 31.Courtship.?The belated arrival of the birds on their nesting groundsand the shortened season at high altitudes necessarily curtail the timeavailable for mating and courtship. Though apparently the birdsare unmated at the time of their arrival, nesting activities startpromptly, leaving little time for prenesting nuptials. Such activities,moreover, take place largely in the dim light of evening, which makesobservations on this phase of their breeding cycle difficult. Someprobable sexual flights were observed on Mount Mansfield. Themale pursues the female in swift flight, his crest feathers erected, andbill gaping. He often bursts into passionate song as the two dodgeswiftly through the thickets. Such flights, however, are not restrictedsolely to the mating period, for during incubation the male frequentlyappears at the nest and drives the female away on a chase through thetrees. Such a sexual flight was once observed in July; and apparentlythe pair later reared a second brood.The evening is the great playtime of these thrushes. As the lightof day retreats, the twilight-loving birds emerge from their concealingshelters and indulge in their remarkable flight-singing ceremonies untildarkness envelops the woods. Occasionally they may be seen alight-ing upon stumps or rocks, a perfect picture of alertness, flutteringtheir wings tremulously as they dance nervously on their perch.Though these flight-singing performances are not confined strictly tothe courtship period, their obvious concentration during the earlypart of the breeding season suggests that their major role is in nuptialaffairs.Young birds exhibit sex reactions at an early age. A young birdkept in confinement would, when a little over a month old, suddenlymount an object'?a hand, foot, pencil, or small object on the floor
?
press its body down close upon it, flutter its wings, and open its beak.This behavior continued at intervals through the fall and winter, andthough it may have been a mere playful impulse, to all appearancesit looked like a reaction toward coitus with the opposite sex.Nesting.?In spite of the special interest that attached to the homelife of Bicknell's thrush in the period following its belated discovery,the revelation of actual nesting sites and pertinent life-history datahas been slow, the bird's habit of breeding in isolated and relativelyinaccessible habitats, and of building well-hidden nests in these places,necessarily hindering the gathering of such information. Knownnesting records, published or disclosed through correspondence, havebeen given in some detail by Wallace (1939) and need not be repeatedhere. In 1935, the writer had an opportunity to follow the nesting792825?49 14
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cycle through an entire season on Mount Mansfield. The followingnesting data are based largely on the 13 occupied nests studied thatsummer, supplemented by less detailed observations in 1933 and 1936.Nest-building on Mount Mansfield in 1935 started during the firstdays of June, in less than a week after the arrival of the birds. OnJune 4, and again on June 6, birds were found laying materials forthe foundations of their nests. On June 5 a bird was found workingon a nest that was already probably several days old. Later observa-tions on egg-laying, incubation, and hatching pointed to early Juneas the period of most active nest-building, with later nests probablydue to some interruption in the nesting cycle.Bicknell's thrushes build their nests by laying twigs and mossesloosely across one to several horizontal branches, usually close to thepoint where the branches diverge from the trunk. After a consider-able mass of material is assembled, they start building up the sidewalls with moss and supporting twigs, and shape the cavity by sittingin the nest and working with rotary motions of the body until thecavity conforms to the size of the bird. In consequence, a sittingbird, thus perfectly adjusted to its nest, forms an efficient watershedfor the eggs and young during rainy weather. Sometimes there is adelay of a day or two before the final lining is added. Nest-buildingactivities were spread over the first half of June, though no individualstructure is known to have required that long for construction. Attwo nests where an attempt was made to determine the nest-buildingperiod more accurately, the birds deserted.Fresh green moss and small twigs comprise the bulk of the typicalBicknell's nest. Usually moss predominates with just enough twigsto give strength and stiffness to the structure. Long green strandsof an abundant pleurocarpous moss (Calliergon schreberi) are mostfrequently used, often mixed with, or more rarely, entirely replacedby, the erect lighter green tufts of sphagnum. Supporting twigs aremainly spruce and balsam, usually with the addition of some minoritems such as nonconiferous twigs, flower stalks, the pinnae or stemsof ferns, dry leaves, shreds of bark, rotten wood, or hair. In one casethe exterior of a nest was beautifully ornamented with a network ofgray-green lichens. Moss, so readily available on the mountain forbuilding purposes, is freely used by both ground- and tree-nestingbirds, but none use it so freely as Bicknell's thrushes. Nests of theolive-backed thrush in the same region characteristically lack themossy character of the Bicknell's nest.Moss and twigs constitute only the body of the nest. The interioris filled with partially decomposed organic debris, apparently dug upbeneath evergreen trees and no doubt replacing the inorganic mudused by robins and wood thrushes. Into the well-rounded cavity is
BICKNELL'S THRUSH 203then placed a lining of fine black rootlets, to which may or may notbe added some dry, well-bleached grasses, and a leaf or two, the latteroften dumped carelessly into the finished nest, and then left for a dayor two, as if to mask the newness of the structure.The dimensions of 20 nests were as follows: Outside diameter,4.00 to 5.50, averaging 4.50 by 5.00 inches; inside diameter, 2.25 to3.40, averaging 2.47 by 2.79 inches; outside depth, 2.75 to 3.75,averaging 3.34 inches; and inside depth, 1.50 to 2.50, averaging 1.81inches.The projection of twigs beyond the body of the nest was not in-cluded in the measurements of the outside diameter. Six nests hadthe interior cavity perfectly symmetrical, but the remaining 14 showedsome distortion of diameter, usually due to compression of the nestagainst the trunk of a tree.Nests are typically situated in small or medium-sized evergreens,usually placed where two or more horizontal branches join the mainstem. Often it is set close against the trunk, so that the impressionof the tree is permanently registered in the wall of the nest; lessfrequently it is a few inches to a few feet away from the trunk; andin three instances (out of more that 30) nests were found at theextremity of long low branches in large evergreen trees.Though all the nesting records in the literature refer to nests inevergreens, three of the 30 or more structures located in the Mansfieldregion were situated in birches. The birds' apparent preference forevergreens is probably not alone due to the dominance of conifersover deciduous growth, but is no doubt correlated with the fact thatbirches (the only deciduous trees that are common at this altitude)are not leaved out early in June when nest-building begins, and thuswould afford adequate concealment only for belated nests.In height above the ground the nests varied from 3 to 12 feet. Theaverage of 16 nests was 7.3 feet. Nests in the deep woods arecommonly higher than those out in the dwarfed groves near thesummit, the former being 8 to 12 feet high, the latter more often 5 or6 feet. Tufts (Thayer, 1907) reported a Seal Island (Nova Scotia)nests 25 feet high and two others at 15 feet. Bent (MS.), however,found Seal Island nests at 8 to 10 feet, which closely corresponds to theheights for Mount Mansfield nests in the deep woods.With few exceptions the nests are concealed in well-protectedsituations, usually in or on the margin of a dense evergreen tangle,so that the camouflaging character of the green mossy nests, and thefact that the wary birds seldom offer give-away clues to its location,make nest-hunting a painstaking and often unrewarding procedure.The finished nest, in most cases, is an exceedingly artistic and sub-stantial structure. Though a few nests fall in ruins at the close of
204 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMthe nesting season, others, owing to their solid structure and protectedsituation, may survive through one or more winters, their mossy wallsstill green, still structurally perfect except for the debris-filled interior.Eggs.?Three or four bluish-green, lightly spotted eggs are laid.Seven nests out of 13 had three eggs, and six contained four eggs,averaging 3.46 eggs per nest for the 1935 season on Mount Mansfield.Possibly this average is too low, since nests with three young wereassumed to have had three eggs; but in two cases one and two eggswere known to disappear from a nest without affecting the remainingeggs. The brown spotting on the eggs is a variable feature ; the eggsof the grayer-backed birds (there are two color phase types of Bicknell'sthrush on Mount Mansfield) are less spotted, sometimes nearly immac-ulate, the eggs of the browner-backed birds more heavily spotted.However, there was often variation among the eggs in the same nest,with two or three eggs nearly immaculate and the other more heavilyspotted.In dimensions the eggs of eight sets (29 eggs) varied from 21.0 to23.0 millimeters in length, averaging 21.9, and were from 16.0 to17.5 millimeters in width, averaging 16.6. The eggs of the olive-backed thrush in the same area are typically larger and more heavilyspotted.Egg-laying in 1935 began on June 9 and continued through most ofJune, with one clutch of July eggs; but egg deposition after mid-Junewas believed to be due to the failure of earlier nesting attempts.Apparently one egg a day is laid until the set is complete. In theone instance observed the egg was laid at noon. Judged from hatchingdates and from one observation, incubation starts with the depositionof the third egg, regardless of whether there are three eggs or four inthe nests.Young.?In the few instances that served as a reliable check theincubation period proved to be 13 to 14 days, but unfortunatelythree of the six nests for which egg-laying dates were known werebroken up before hatching, and in another only one egg hatched,which could have been the fourth (last) egg hatching on the thirteenthday or an earlier egg hatching on the fourteenth day. In one studynest three eggs hatched after 13 full days of incubation, and thefourth young emerged half a day later. The three eggs in anothernest hatched during the thirteenth day of incubation.Considerable variability in hatching procedures was noted. Atone nest the female apparently did practically all the work of liberat-ing a feeble and underdeveloped chick, while at another nest a chicknearly freed himself by kicking open a slightly cracked shell during theabsence of the female.The newly hatched chick is blind, relatively helpless, and entirely
BICKNELL'S THRUSH 205naked except for wisps of wet natal down on the cephalic and dorsalfeather tracts. Weighing less than 2 grams at birth, the birds showeda gain of 1 to 2 grams daily up to about 22 grams on their tenth day,after which taking weights and measurements proved impractical,causing the young to leave the nest prematurely. Weights taperedoff considerably after the eighth day, presumably owing to rapidfeather development. At nest-leaving age the tarsus, bill, and toesare practically full grown, but the wing is only half the adult size andthe tail about one-fifth grown. More complete details on dailygrowth and development have been given by Wallace (1939).Considerable variation occurs in feeding schedules at differentnests and at different times, but for the most part a more or lessstandard schedule of 10-15 minute feedings is maintained, usuallywith a notable concentration early in the morning and a definiteslackening early in the afternoon. The female usually proves moreefficient and punctual in feeding operations. The male is apt to beirregular, but he effectively concentrates his efforts on critical periods,such as during heavy or prolonged rains, or in the early morning, atwhich time the female usually remains at the nest to brood. At onenest watched during a 2-hour period of slow rain the male alonemaintained the standard schedule of 10-15 minute feedings, whilethe female stayed on the nest. During periods of mild weather,however, the male may disappear for hours at a time. Food broughtby the male while the female is brooding may be parceled out by himto the young, or it may be taken by the female to distribute among thenestlings. At one nest three adults were found feeding the young.At another nest the male deserted, leaving all family responsibilitiesto the female. She succeeded alone, probably owing to the fair weatherprevailing at that particular period, but it might have been a differentstory if inclement weather had intervened.The food brought to the young was not closely or technicallyanalyzed but was known to include many lepidopterous larvae (par-ticularly geometrids), ants, wasps, and other Hymenoptera, andyoung grasshoppers (especially at one nest near a grassy opening).Large blister beetles (Epicauta cinerea), available on Amelanchierblossoms near one nest, were not utilized, even when gathered byhand and placed on the nest. A severe outbreak of sawfly larvae(Pristiphora geniculate), which threatened complete defoliation tothe mountain ash, occurred that summer (1935), and many of thereadily available caterpillars were brought to one belated nest of young;but they obviously did not like the strongly flavored larvae and oftenspit them out, as did a captive nestling force-fed on thespicy caterpillars.The stomach contents of four dead nestlings consisted of the
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chitinous remains of beetles (one a cerambycid) , lepidopterous larvae,ants and other Hymenoptera, a grasshopper nymph (Melanoplus) ,and two balsam needles.Sanitation at the nest is scrupulously provided for by the adults.Excreta are picked out of the nest as soon as they appear and imme-diately swallowed. After a few days the young are strong enough toback up to the edge of the nest and deposit the fecal sac on the brim,where it is promptly picked up by one of the parents. Defecationtypically takes place right after each feeding, the parent often waitingfor the feces and picking them off the elevated cloaca as soon as theyappear. As the young grow older, and digestion is perfected, thusreducing the amount of nutritive material in the feces, there is anincreasing tendency for the parents to carry the excreta away insteadof eating them at the nest.Toward the close of the nestling period the young become veryactive?stretching, preening themselves, jostling, and clamberingover one another to attain the topmost position. For some time be-fore actual departure they appear interested in the outside world,peering over the edge of the nest, hopping and walking upon thebrim, and even snapping'?usually ineffectively?at passing insects.Naturally birds that are startled into a premature departure, as typ-ically happens at disturbed nests, are not so active as those that re-main the full nestling period. Nine- and ten-day-old birds wererelatively quiet prior to their precipitous flight from the nest, butthe more normal 11- to 13-day-old birds were very lively duringtheir last days at home.Dispersal after nest-leaving is relatively rapid, so that the youngusually cannot be located in the vicinity of the nest the following day.They apparently scatter in different directions but are followed andcared for by their parents for an undetermined length of time.Young birds in juvenal plumage are frequently encountered inmidsummer, usually only one in a place and attended only by oneparent. Later both young and adults become increasingly hard tofind, as they enter a quiet period of molting and seclusion that isseldom broken by a fitful outburst of song.Plumages.?At birth young thrushes of this form are naked exceptfor wisps of dark gray or blackish natal down along the cephalic,dorsal, and humeral tracts. The other feather tracts (alar, femoral,crural, ventral, and caudal) are not in evidence at birth, even as darkdots beneath the skin, but can plainly be seen by the second andthird day, when they contrast sharply with the reddish, blood-suffusedapteria. By the third day the quills of the primaries and secondariesare beginning to push through the skin, and on the sixth and seventhdays feather tips burst through the ends of the quills. Feather develop-
BICKNELL'S THRUSH 207ment then proceeds rapidly, and by the tenth day the young appearto be nearly fully feathered in the buffy-brown, much bespeckledplumage characteristic of young thrushes.This juvenal plumage is replaced by the first winter plumage duringthe postjuvenal molt in August. All the contour feathers except theremiges and rectrices are shed. Birds still in juvenal plumage wereoccasionally seen early in August, but before the end of the month,and particularly early in September, both young and adults beganto emerge from their late-summer seclusion in full fall and winterdress. The adults undergo a complete postnuptial molt (sheddingthe remiges and rectrices) in August; the molt of the young is partial.The postjuvenal molt was observed fairly closely in a confined sec-ond-brood bird, but the time of molt was not normal, since the birdwas taken from a much belated nest. The initial stages may haveescaped detection in spite of close watch, since in preening he fre-quently pulled out a feather and ate it; but by August 31 featherswere dropping uneaten to the floor of his cage. Raggedness was firstnoticed about the various head regions. The posterior nasal areawas soon practically featherless, dotted by the incoming quills of thenew plumage. Feathers next disappeared from the gular region, andthen over the entire head and cheeks, new feathers quickly replacingthose lost. The back and breast feathers had an unkempt appearanceand gradually dropped out, their disappearance and replacement bythe brownish-olive (unspotted) feathers of the first winter plumageindicating the progress of the molt. In another week feather re-placement was practically complete, with one buffy juvenal featherclinging to the head and another persisting on the shoulder.Normally there is not supposed to be a spring or prenuptial molt,and the slightly grayer breeding plumage is derived from the moreolive-colored winter plumage by wear. The confined bird referred toabove, however, grew a new tail in midwinter and in spring moltedsome wing and body feathers. This was interpreted as an abnormalmolt due to poor feather condition, but the abrupt change in plumagefrom winter to spring in some Alaskan graycheeks suggests thatspring molts in nature are not unknown.Food.?During the breeding season Bickn ell's thrush is stronglyaddicted to an insectivorous diet, for the amount of animal matterin the stomachs examined was practically 100 percent. W. L. Mc-Atee has furnished the following data from the records of the U. S.Fish and Wildlife Service: Prof. F. E. L. Beal examined the contentsof five stomachs, three from Mount Mansfield, Vt., and two fromSlide Mountain, N. Y., all taken on the breeding grounds from June22 to July 2. The total contents of the five stomachs included thefollowing percentages of the various items: Formicidae, 39.6 percent;
208 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMChrysomelidae, 18.6 percent; Lepidoptera larvae, 8.6 percent; Elater-idae, 7.6 percent; Cerambycidae, 7.0 percent; Tipulidae, 6.4 percent;Carabidae, 3.0 percent; Hymenoptera, except ants, 2.4 percent; Hom-orus undulatus, 2.0 percent; Staphylinidae, 1.4 percent; Ephemeridae,1.4 percent; miscellaneous Coleoptera, 1.0 percent; weevils, 0.6 per-cent; Lampyridae, 0.2 percent; and Diptera, 0.2 percent.Their proclivity for ants is clearly shown, for in four of the birds42 to 55 percent of the food consisted of these insects; the food of theother bird, however, consisted of only 5 percent Formicidae and 90percent Chrysomelidae, with the other 5 percent Elateridae.The list of food items found in two stomachs, taken on MountMansfield in June and examined by Dr. Clarence Cottam, is givenin too much detail to be included here (see Wallace, 1939). Theitems that occurred to the extent of 5 percent or more are as follows
:
Carabidae, 24 percent, in one stomach only; Rhyacophilidae andTrichoptera, 10 percent each; Calliphoridae and Anthomyiidae, 8 per-cent each; Neuroptera and Phalangidae, 7 percent each; Diptera andSyrphidae, 6 percent each; and Chrysomelidae and Empididae, 5percent each. Formicidae amounted to only 1 percent and that inonly one stomach.Late in summer and in fall these thrushes become partly frugivorous,taking considerable quantities of berries. Brewster (1906) writes thatin autumn they subsist largely on berries?cornels, deadly nightshade,barberry, spicebush, wild grape, woodbine, and poison-ivy. Burns(1919) reports collecting a specimen of bicknelli at Berwyn, Pa., onOctober 6, "while feeding on poke berries."Nevertheless their predilection for animal food is probably neverlost, even in autumn, and what fruit they take seems more or lessincidental to their habitual animal diet. Experience with two cagedbirds, though not an accurate criterion for determining what thrusheseat in nature, at least shows certain food preferences. These birds ateconsiderable quantities of the berries indigenous to Mount Mans-field?blueberries, bunchberries, snowberries, red-berried alder, andtwisted-stalk?but they never could be induced to subsist entirely, oreven largely, upon them, even for a short time. With their cage wellsupplied with berries they would clamor for insects and eat themgreedily when brought. During the fall and winter the surviving birdlived chiefly on animal food (fresh meat) varied now and then withfruit. This presumably indicates that berries and fruit, which reallymay be consumed in surprising quantities at times, play only asecondary role in the Bicknell's diet, serving merely to supplementitems of an animal nature.An unexpected taste, discovered as the result of caring for cagedbirds, is an apparently natural desire for something leafy, two young
BICKNELL'S THRUSH 209thrushes in captivity taking greedily to fresh lettuce. Stomachanalyses did not disclose this dietary feature, as leafy items, if presentat all, are quickly passed, thus escaping detection. Possibly leafymatter may play a more important part in a bird's natural diet thancommonly supposed. One caged bird was kept in good condition ona seemingly well-balanced diet of fresh meat (to replace insects),lettuce, and fresh fruit. The lettuce seemed to provide the bulkymatter necessary for proper elimination.The foregoing evidence relating to food habits of these thrushesclearly indicates their tendency to prey heavily upon injurious insects,and, as Beal (1915b) appropriately remarks, "the vegetable food,drawn entirely from nature's storehouse, contains no product ofhuman industry, either of grain or fruit. Whatever the sentimentalreason for protecting this bird, the economic ones are equally valid."Behavior.?So many of the specific or racial characteristics of thesethrushes have been mentioned in the preceding text that it is necessaryto add only a few summarizing remarks under this caption. Ordi-narily in their summer haunts only fleeting glimpses are caught of abrownish-olive form slipping quickly from view into concealment.Sometimes they are flushed when foraging on the ground among theferns or brush or briefly viewed darting across an opening among theevergreens; or, more often, seen perched at evening upon a balsamspire, calling and singing. Because of their reputed shyness andwariness, their habit of occupying the most inaccessible places, andtheir almost unbroken silence during much of the year, they havecome to be known, perhaps undeservedly, as one of the rarest, shiest,and least known of American passerine birds. Citations from earlyobservers for the most part only serve to heighten this impression ofobscurity, but Langille (1884) and Bent (MS.), in writing of theirSeal Island experiences, and Torrey (1892), referring to observationson Mount Mansfield, reported them relatively friendly and notparticularly shy.Much of the obscurity prevailing regarding this form may stemfrom the fact that observers are seldom on hand at the time when thebird can best be studied. Their period of greatest activity is in June,at the height of the black-fly season, when the mountains are relativelyunpopular. In addition the thrushes are so quiet during midday,owing to extensive morning and evening activities, that short daytimeexcursions into their haunts are seldom conducive of good results. Atthe height of the breeding season, however, the writer found thesebirds to be delightful study subjects. Though by nature somewhatshy and wary, nesting birds, particularly the female, seldom took veryserious alarm at intrusions, and blinds were erected in close vicinity?toseveral nests without the adults appearing unduly^ concerned. One
210 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMyoung bird kept in captivity for a year proved to be a delightful pet,cheerful, playful, full of curiosity, and, aside from his dislike of beinghandled, was relatively fearless and friendly.Voice.?The songs of our wood-inhabiting thrushes appear to bedivisible into two distinct types?the slower, leisurely outpourings ofseparated phrases of greatly variable pitch, such as are characteristicof the wood and hermit thrushes; and the more continuous, slurred,chiming notes of more or less unvarying pitch typified by the veeryand the gray-cheeked group. The Bicknell's song, by common con-sent, is of the veery type, distinguished from it chiefly by the charac-teristic break occurring a little past the middle of the song. Theoliveback's song is somewhat intermediate in character, with thecontinuous notes exceedingly variable in pitch.From the qualitative standpoint the Bicknell's song has been con-sidered somewhat inferior for a thrush, no doubt largely because theveery type of singing is less popular than the rich, carefully expressedmelody of the wood and hermit thrushes. It may, in fact, be anunperfected?or a degenerate?veery song : shorter, wilder, and higher-pitched, with less of the chiming quality that is so appealing in aveery's singing. There is, nevertheless, a special fascination in thesong of the Bicknell's thrush, a wild, ringing, ethereal quality that isin perfect keeping with the evergreen solitudes it inhabits.As a result of the numerous excursions in quest of Bicknell's thrush,considerable literature has been built up about its song. This hasproduced many fine descriptions, and a few erroneous accounts, suchas the one quoted in Forbush's monumental work on New Englandbirds, which likened the song to that of an olive-backed thrush. Theliterature on the singing of this bird, with many selected citations, hasbeen reviewed at some length by Wallace (1939) and need not bereiterated here. The following concise summary may serve the placeof the fuller description:The song is introduced by two or three, usually two, low cluckingnotes, chook-chook, audible only at close range. The preliminarygrace notes are hurriedly followed by two to four, usually three,high-pitched, vibrant, ringing phrases that slur downward, similar tobut less marked than in the so-called intertwining circles of the veerythat so suggest chiming. Usually on the third, but sometimes on thesecond or fourth, of these phrases there is an emphatic break, which isaccompanied by both rise in pitch and increased intensity. Thisbreak comes a little past the middle of the song and is the peculiarfeature that distinguishes the Bicknell's song from that of the veeryand the northern gray-cheeked thrush. This climax phrase, consistingof several merged notes, is held for an instant, then runs imperceptiblyinto the closing notes, which are unemphasized. The final phrase
BICKNELL'S THRUSH 211
seems to fade away as if in the ensuing silence there might be additionalwhispered notes which the human ear is not attuned to catch. Therefrain is often repeated over and over, the singer seeming to hurrythrough in order to begin again. Not infrequently the song is begunby uttering the opening measure, but dropped without completion,as a whitethroat breaks off whistling; and conversely, the final part isoften given without the prelude, though in many cases this omission isapparent rather than actual, the prelude simply not being audible.The complete song, then, may be (inadequately) represented aschook-chook, wee-o, wee-o, wee-o-ti-t-ter-ee. This can be approxi-mated by whistling through closed teeth, but the syllables are hardto distinguish, the many intertwining reverberations merging the notesinseparably. Little variation in the character of the song was notedin the Mansfield region, but judged by the accounts of other observ-ers there may be some regional differences in other habitats. And,needless to say, word descriptions are hopelessly inadequate for givinga faithful picture of the technical character of the song.Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the Bicknell's singing isits elaborate flight song, which, strangely, seems to have escaped thenotice of the many early observers. Every evening during the heightof the breeding season these thrushes indulge in flight performancesover their respective territories, singing fervently on the wing. Theflight songs start just after sunset (at about 8:20 p. m., E. S. T.,early in June), when the light is dim and the woods full of shadows,and last for only 10 to 15 minutes, when darkness puts an end to allsinging. In character the flight song is practically identical with theperching song, except that it is usually more hurriedly and breath-lessly delivered. There is often a concentration of singers in a smallarea, so that the notes of several singers may be mingled. Thoughthe birds probably have individual territories, the boundaries seemnot to be strictly observed during flight singing, and shadowy formsdrift from place to place, perching momentarily on trees, rocks, orstumps, and then take wing again. Flight singing is spread to someextent over the whole season of song but reaches its maximum develop-ment early in June before incubation is begun. This suggests aprimarily prenuptial function.Bicknell's thrushes exhibit a fairly definite daily and seasonal cycleof song, the latter correlated with nesting activities. Singing beginsin the early dawn (before 3 : 00 a. m. on Mount Mansfield in June)but is somewhat fitful at this time, presumably because the birds arepreoccupied with feeding as soon as it is light enough; and by thetime a good meal is secured it is too light for optimum song produc-tion. During the prenesting season early in June, songs continuethroughout the day, especially in misty weather, but by mid-June
212 BULLETIN" 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMthere is a decided falling off in daytime singing. The early afternoonin particular seems to be a rest period for the thrushes, but as thesun approaches the western horizon singing is gradually renewed,with flight ceremonies at twilight as the culminating feature of theday.Song is at its height before and during nest-building early in June.The obvious decrease in song past the middle of the month is coin-cident first with incubation and later into early July, with care ofthe young. Singing during late June is due at least in part to inter-rupted breeding schedules, with a renewal of singing by males of theunsuccessful nests. At none of the nests studied did the male singmuch during incubation or feeding, although before the nest wasbuilt, or if it was broken up, the nest site was the chosen location forsong. Singing is renewed early in July at the end of the nesting cycle,regardless of whether the young are safely fledged. Such a recurrenceof singing suggests renesting, but in only one case was a second nestfound. This short July revival of song then abruptly wanes intoalmost complete silence late in July and in August.Another feature of special interest in relation to song is the occur-rence of singing among the females. At most of the nests under closeobservation the sitting bird was known to sing on the nest occasionallyduring incubation, hatching, and brooding. In one case the incubat-ing bird stood up in the nest and sang repeatedly in broad daylightwhile an egg was hatching, but otherwise the singing was confinedlargely to the morning or evening hours. Nests were watched at allhours of the day and during every stage of the nesting cycle, and inall cases incubation and brooding seemed to be entirely the work ofone bird, the female, without any substitution on the part of the male.The male often visited the nest and occasionally inspected the eggs,if the female was away, but was never known to sit on the eggs orbrood the young. The female song does not differ materially fromthat of the male, except that it seemed to be of an inferior quality,and was usually, though not without exception, hoarse, thin, andweak.The most characteristic call note of Bicknell's thrush is a harsh,penetrating, slurred whistle, similar to but harsher and higher-pitched than the familiar when of the veery. At times it approachesthe sharply whistled call of the red-winged blackbird. Most othercall notes are modifications of the typical one, adapted to express avariety of moods: high and piercing when used as a scolding or alarmnote, lowered to an inquisitive pe-irt when used to express curiosity,or warbled more or less musically when the adults are at the nest.The female in particular often chirps and warbles to herself whilenest-building, incubating, and brooding. And the parents seem to
BICKNELL'S THRUSH 213have numerous exchange calls, especially when feeding young. Theyalso have a low chook-chook note, invariably used as a barely audibleprelude to their song, and also as a scolding note. A rolling, wren-like crr-rr-rr is also occasionally heard.A few concluding remarks on the vocal achievements of a youngbird kept in captivity for a year may possibly add pertinent data tothe moot question concerning the acquisition and inheritance of songand call notes. A caged bird, reared in nearly complete isolationfrom others of his kind since his fourteenth day, gradually acquiredall the call notes characteristic of his race, most of which he had neverheard before he gave them. The song, however, actually startedwhen the bird was only 15 days old was always more or less randomand experimental. It resembled the song of the adult in tonal qualitybut was not broken up into the proper sequence of phrases until hewas taken back to his native haunts the following summer and givenan opportunity to hear the wild birds sing. Even then he oftenreverted to his off-tune winter song, which had apparently beenacquired at least in part by attempted imitation of running water,steam rushing into a radiator, or radio tunes.This evidence is in general keeping with the belief that call notes ofbirds are largely hereditary but that the song is due to both inheritanceand learning by imitation.Field marks.?Little has been said in preceding paragraphs regard-ing the means of separating Bicknell's thrush from genetically orphenotypically similar forms, which has commonly been considereda problem of some magnitude in both field and laboratory. Overmost of its summer range, however, the problem of identification isreduced to a minimum by the absence of all similar forms except theoliveback, which in the New England mountains is the only formlikely to be confused with Bicknell's thrush. On Mount Mansfieldthe albitudinal range of these two birds overlaps slightly at the 3,000-foot level.In good view the buffier-toned appearance of the oliveback's headand breast regions is a good field mark, contrasting plainly with thegray cheek of the Bicknell's thrush, and the light eye ring of the olive-back, when visible, is diagnostic. The oliveback's most character-istic call note is a weak, high-pitched pip, quite different from the Bick-nell's sharp, harsh call; and the ascending spirals of the oliveback'ssong do not closely resemble the Bicknell's ringing, more or less even-pitched refrain. With a little experience, moreover, other minor dif-ferences, hard to describe, but quickly recognizable, are noticeable intheir habits and movements. All of these criteria, except song in thefall, can be applied to migrating birds as well as to those in theirsummer home.
214 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMBut the separation of the smaller BicknelPs thrush from the largergraycheek is a more serious problem and has rightly caused some New-England field ornithologists, concerned with the now much-empha-sized bird-listing practices, to question the reliability of sight recordswhere the two birds occur together. Aside from probable differencesin song (which could sometimes be used in spring), a slight disparityin measurements is the only criterion that can be used to separate thesesize races in either field or laboratory. Moreover, a female of thelarger (gray-cheeked) race may in some cases be smaller than males ofthe smaller (Bicknell's) race, and there are, of course, no visible sexualdifferences in the birds. (Wing measurements in the larger form rangefrom 95 to 108 millimeters, in the smaller form they range from 81 to97, though this slight overlapping is apparently ignored in determin-ation of skins where the sex is known.)Obviously, then, only the extremes of these size races can be recog-nized by this means in the field. It has been suggested that the inter-mediate-sized oliveback makes a good standard for comparison; thatis, in the rare situation where an oliveback chances to be present, abird of the gray-cheeked group larger than the oliveback would be thelarger northern form, and one smaller than the oliveback would be the
" bicknellian" form. These comparisons need to be made with dis-cretion, however, as a maximum-sized oliveback is larger than a mini-mum-sized northern graycheek, and, conversely, a minimum-sizedoliveback would be smaller than a maximum-sized Bicknell. Onlyin dealing with average specimens of all three forms, then, would thisinterspecific size comparison be useful.This leaves only vocal dissimilarities to supplement the usually in-conspicuous disparity in size. To my ear the call notes of the tworaces offer no detectable differences. According to the few observerswho are familiar with the songs of both races on their respective breed-ing grounds, however, there is a noticeable difference in song, the gray-cheek apparently lacking the break and rising inflection that is char-acteristic of the Bicknell's song. The limited singing that occurs inmigration, however (rarely in fall, more frequently in spring), is oftennot full and clear, but merely snatches or fragments of the real song,which my ear usually is not able to distinguish with certainty as torace.Most field observers are concerned only with separating the above-mentioned size races, but perhaps it should be added, since many havetried to use color in separating the two forms, that use of color is moreapt to confuse than clarify the matter. There are two color phases ofBicknell's thrush in New England?a brownish-backed and a grayer-backed form identical in size ; and two similar color phases of the largerforms, the browner phase in the latter case largely restricted to New-
BICKNELL'S THRUSH 215foundland and the gray-phase bird more typical of continental regions.Wallace (1939) has given a full description of these phases and theirdistribution.From this it would appear that an observer reasonably familiarwith the Hylocichlae can, in most cases, readily separate members ofthe gray-cheekedfspecies from olive-backed thrushes but that onlythe extremes of the two size races can be safely determined in thefield. Color differences are in some cases discernible in the field butare of no help in determining the size races, since both color typesoccur in both size groups.Enemies.?Though the restricted distribution and relative rarity ofBicknelFs thrush may be in large part due to their highly specializedhabitat requirements, it may also in some way be correlated with theirlow breeding rate and the associated mortality factors that preventfurther spreading. Tufts (Macoun, 1909) remarked that the SealIsland birds had several destructive enemies to overcome during thenesting season?the abundant crows and ravens, which constantlycircled over the island, and the feral cats, which had been liberatedand were breeding wild in considerable numbers. On Mount Mans-field there were no crows or ravens, and the thrushes encounteredonly natural predators, yet their nesting success during the summer of1935 was low. Nine nests out of the 13 that were carefully watchedcame to complete grief, and, of the surviving four, two were onlypartially successful. Nesting success on this basis was only 25percent; or, if calculated from the total number of eggs (45), reproduc-tive efficiency was 24.4 percent, and the total loss of eggs and young75.6 percent. In other words, 13 pairs of birds raised 11 young(0.85 per pair) to the nest-leaving age, a rate at which the adultswould not be replacing themselves in two seasons. Consideringpostnest juvenile mortalit}7- , adult losses, and unmated birds, it seemsdoubtful if these figures can represent more than a stable, if notindeed, a decreasing population, though of course the results of asingle summer cannot be considered typical of all years.The main loss in 1935 was the unexplained disappearance of theeggs and young of 6 nests out of 13 (19 eggs or young out of 45 eggs,or 42.2 percent) . This was believed to be largely if not entirely due tored squirrels, which were abundant and active arboreal hunters inthe nesting groves. Weasels were present in the area, but they aremainly terrestrial hunters, like the more numerous chipmunks.Bobcats were seen only once, though subsequent winter-trappingreturns, turned in to the State for bounties, indicated their presencehad been generally overlooked.Thus, more than half the known loss (42.2 percent out of 75.6
216 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMpercent) was attributable to red squirrels or unassigned predators(one loss?not included in the above percentages?was fairly definitelyassignable to a blue jay that chanced to pay one of its rare visits tothe mountain from lower elevations), and in addition two infertileeggs and two deserted eggs suffered the same fate. Moreover, of thefive empty nests of the year that were found in July, at least threegave evidence of having been plundered.One nest came to grief through some disease, which may possiblyhave been Protocalliphora parasitism. When half grown the youngbecame too weak and sickly to eat and slowly waned to the point ofdeath in spite of the assiduous attention of the female parent. Onthe basis of 45 eggs this gives a 7 percent loss due to this disease, butif based on the number of young raised to the susceptible age (14)the loss would be 21.4 percent. Moreover, a nest observed in 1933apparently suffered the same fate, the undeserted young dying in thenest when about half grown, and still another nest was found withthe dried skeletons of half-grown young, a tragedy that may possiblyhave stemmed from this undetermined disease. In several of thestudy nests in 1935 the young, *on about the sixth day, showedsymptoms of sickness].but recovered.Other losses were due to infertile eggs or defective embryos (about11 percent) and to deserted eggs (about 9 percent). Neither of thesepercentages is very accurate, however, as the former is based on thetotal egg count, 15 of which disappeared before hatching, and theadults of the deserted eggs renested, producing a second set of eggs,which was then lost to predators.These heavy nesting losses appear to be typical of other localbirds, in spite of which the blackpoll warblers, whitethroats, andjuncos managed to maintain dense population, and the BicknelPsand olive-backed thrushes are certainly as abundant in their respectivehabitats as are their generic relatives, the hermits and veeries, atlower levels. It is entirely possible that the Bicknell's thrushes onMount Mansfield are close to their optimum numbers and that thevarious limiting factors here noted merely tend to keep them at thisfavorable level. This introduces the age-old and probably unanswer-able problem of whether their rarity and limited distribution is dueto low productivity or whether slow reproduction is an adjustmentto their enforced occupation of a restricted ecological niche.Fall and winter.?The characteristic late-summer seclusion referredto above comes to a termination early in September with the manifesta-tion of premigratory movements. The birds again become activein the woods, feeding among the groves, calling loudly and frequently,and sometimes bursting into short snatches of song. On September10, my last day on Mount Mansfield in 1935, the thrushes were still
VEERY 217abundant and active, their numbers apparently suffering little ifany diminution due to migration. G. M. Allen (1902) reported themstill on their breeding ground in Carter Notch, N. H., on September15, 1900. Sweet (1906) heard them calling on Mount Abraham,Maine, on September 20. Migration records from southern New-England likewise indicate that the thrushes remain in their mountainhome until late in September. The earliest Massachusetts migrationrecord is September 18, and the vast majority of the records fall onthe final days of the month or early in October. From southern NewEngland the thrushes proceed leisurely along the Atlantic coast,seldom occurring far inland, frequenting tangled beaches, fence rows,and woodlands and supplementing their insectivorous diet withgenerous quantities of wild fruit. Before the close of October, how-ever, they leave the North American coast, probably anywhere be-tween the Carolinas and Florida, and seek their only known winterhome in the West Indies, where, high up in the mountains, they passtheir days?no one knows how.HYLOCICHLA FUSCESCENS FUSCESCENS (Stephens)VEERYHABITSContributed by Winsor Marrett TtlerThe veery makes its summer home in the half light of shady woodswhere a substratum of undergrowth deepens the shadows near theground. Years ago in Lexington, Mass., there was a wooded swampof perhaps 20 acres in which the veeries found ideal surroundings fornesting; many pairs came every spring and spent the summer there.Tall white pines, elms, and red maples grew thick in the moist soil,almost crowded together, and below them were smaller trees, greatbeds of cinnamon fern, patches of jewelweed, Canada lilies, and tanglesof raspberry vines, and lower still, here and there, clumps of Clin-tonia?a rare plant thereabout. The wood was back from the road,always silent and undisturbed; it had stood unchanged for half a cen-tury, and the veeries had made this quiet spot their home for years;all through the summer the air trembled with their music. But now,many of the trees have been felled, letting in the sunlight, and fewveeries nest there today.Spring.?In the spring the veery takes a long journey from itswinter quarters in South America?Colombia, Brazil, and BritishGuiana?by way of Central America to its breeding grounds in theUnited States and southeastern Canada. The species reaches NewEngland early in May, a season when many of our summer residentbirds have just arrived from the south. The Baltimore orioles are792825?19 15
218 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMtrumpeting in our orchards; the rose-breasted grosbeaks are whis-tling their sweet tune from our roadside trees ; all the vireos are here,the red-eyed, the yellow-throated, the warbling, singing on theirnesting grounds; the resident warblers are everywhere, squeaking outtheir tiny songs.In contrast to these noisy travelers, the veery comes silently backto his summer home. We do not know that he is here until we gointo his quiet, moist woodlands and hunt about for him. Here wefind him easily, on the ground sometimes, not yet hidden by densesummer foliage, sometimes up in the trees where the little leaves,still unexpanded, do not conceal him. He is reserved and silent thusearly in the season; we do not hear a note of his heavenly music,and we shall not for a week or two.Horace W. Wright (1909) points out that veeries do sing occa-sionally during their spring migration. Speaking of veeries on theBoston Public Garden, he says: "The song has been heard, especiallyupon a damp day, audible above the din of the city."William Brewster (1937) comments on the long interval of silencebetween the veery's arrival and its first song. Under date of May 19,1899, he says:Wilson's Thrushes began singing to-day. * * * At evening there wasgeneral and protracted singing all around the Hill and in the blueberry swampbehind it, at least five or six birds taking part. All of them seemed to be inexcellent form. Why is it that this species remains silent so long after its arrival?I saw the first this season on May 2, and by the 10th they were abundant. Liv-ing, as I do now, in the very midst of their favorite haunts, I should have knownit had there been any singing before to-day. They have called a little at morn-ing and evening and uttered the bleating notes but not once have I heard thesong before this morning. Seventeen days is a longer period of silence thanusual, however.Courtship.?I find in my notes only one slight reference to thecourtship of the veery, on May 18, 1914, and the two birds whoseactions are described may possibly have been rival males, for thesexes are indistinguishable. The species arrived in Lexington, Mass.,that year on May 7th, and I did not hear a bird sing until the 22d.The note reads: "Although the veeries in the swamp this morningwere not singing, two birds were going through evidently a sort ofcourtship maneuver. They were perched low in a shrub, less than ayard apart, holding themselves motionless with the head drawn some-what backward, the bill pointing upward at an angle of about 45?and turned slightly to one side. One of the birds slowly raised itstail to a marked angle with its body and moved it upward and down-ward very deliberately in the customary manner of the hermit thrush.The feathers of this bird's rump were elevated slightly and so sepa-rated that they appeared of a darker color than the back. The other
. VEERY 219bird stood perfectly quiet for a while. Then both birds sidled alongthe branch a little way, one moving toward the other, the otherdrawing away, both moving stiffly and very slowly."Nesting.?The veery's nest is usually on the ground or very near it.In the moist woods where veeries build, if the ground is wet as it oftenis, the bird lays a thick foundation of dead leaves to protect the cupfrom moisture and thus often constructs a nest large for the size ofthe bird. When building, the veery seems preoccupied and pays littleheed to the presence of observers. I found a veery early one Maymorning carrying nesting material?dead, very wet leaves?to a nest,a big loose heap of leaves, perhaps two-thirds completed. It wassupported by three shoots of a small cherry shrub, at the side of anarrow, unfrequented path in the woods. The top of the nest was 10inches, the base 5 inches, above the ground. The bird carried theleaves to the nest and arranged them in it while four of us stood a fewyards away, and did not leave until we had stepped to within 5 feetof her. Later she sat on the nest while we walked past, so near thenest that our coats brushed against the branches that supported it.Several observers have reported similar tameness.Elliott Coues (1874) gives an excellent description of a typicalveery's nest which he found in Dakota, "placed," he says
?
on a little heap of decaying leaves caught at the foot of a bush; resting on these,it was settled firmly in the crotch formed by several stems diverging at once fromthe root. The base of the nest was quite damp, but the floor was sufficientlythick to keep the interior dry. The nest was built of various slender weed-stems,grass-stalks, and fibrous strips of bark, compactly woven and mixed with diiedleaves; the latter formed the lining of the base inside. The cavity is rather small,considering the bulkiness of the whole nest, measuring only about two inches anda half across by less than two in depth. The whole is as large as an infant's head,and of irregular contour, fitting the crotch in which it was placed, and bearingdeep impress of the ascending stems of the bush.T. Gilbert Pearson (1916) also gives a good description of a normalnest. He says:The nest rested among the top limbs of a little brush-pile, and was just two feetabove the ground. Some young shoots had grown up through the brush and theirleaves partly covered the nest from view. It had an extreme breadth of ten inchesand was five inches high. In its construction two small weed-stalks and elevenslender twigs were used. The nest w as made mainly of sixty-eight large leaves,besides a mass of decayed leaf-fragments. Inside this bed was the inner nest,two and a half inches wide, composed of strips of soft bark. Assembling thislatter material I found that when compressed with the hands it was about thesize of a baseball.Henry Mousley (1916) points out a distinction between the nests ofthe veery and those of the hermit thrush as he found them in Provinceof Quebec, Canada, "in that the lining has always consisted of dry
220 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMleaves and rootlets, as against grasses and rootlets in those of thelatter [hermit], which are also placed in drier situations."The following records indicate the variation in the sites, composi-tion, and surroundings of veery's nests: A. C. Bent (MS.) reportsfrom Squam Lake, N. H., "three nests, all on or near the ground inheavy mixed woods. One was on a hummock, partially concealed bylow plants, one in a low mountain-laurel bush about a foot up in plainsight between small maple saplings, and one a few inches above groundin a shady but open space in the woods well concealed between twovery small laurels." F. W. Braund (MS.) sends Mr. Bent the follow-ing notes on veeries' nests: One, in Ontario, Canada, "in the fork offallen limbs 2^ feet from the ground in thick undergrowth of densewoodland, made mostly of dead, moist leaves and lined with a fewleaf skeletons"; another "on the ground in bushy, burnt-over wood-land"; and a third at Andover, Ohio, "on the ground in second growthwoodland of moist marshland, at the base of a small shrub near thewater's edge, made of leaves, rootlets and grape vine bark." A. DawesDuBois (MS.) sends these notes on the situations of veeries' nestsfound in New York State: "One foot above ground, supported by alarge grape vine, at base of tree, well hidden in clump of weeds, besidea foot path; on the ground, in rather exposed situation by a smallclump of blooming bluegrass, in a little opening in small woods, chieflysaplings; on ground, in weeds, in strip of low woods near a road;about 18 inches from the ground, in a small clump of briers, on steepbank of river, of usual materials, with some dried shreds of cattailsin its exterior; by a stump at top of slope, in very exposed situationat side of lake-shore road, whole brown leaves placed in front in sucha way that it became quite safe from observation of passers-by; onthe ground, in woods, near a summer cottage."Ora Willis Knight (1908), writing of his observations in Maine,states: "The nests are never situated on the ground as far as myexperience goes, though one which I have found in the thick branchesof a shrubby hemlock bush was nearly resting on the moss of a hummockin the thick woods. * * * The nests are often placed on top ofthe stub of a small tree around which the sprouts have started atheights of not over six feet from the ground. Other nests are placedin small evergreen bushes, in low alders and on dead stumps, in generaltwo or three feet from the ground."William Brewster (1906) shows that veeries sometimes departradically from their usual breeding habits. He says, speaking ofbirds in eastern Massachusetts: "I have known veeries to breed inperfectly dry oak and pine woods, on the sides and summits of hills,in Lincoln and Concord, and in an orchard on the crest of a ridge inCambridge, not far from the Pine Swamp. Mr. H. A. Purdie and I
VEERY 221
once found a nest built on the horizontal branch of an apple treefully ten feet above the ground."Dr. Thomas M. Brewer (1878) mentions a nest "built upon ahorizontal limb of a tree, fifteen feet from the ground," and cites acase in which "Mr. George O. Welch several years since found a nestof this Thrush in Lynn at a height of twenty-five feet above theground."Edward H. Forbush (1929) reports the experience of "Mrs. RichardB. Harding, who spent a large part of a summer watching thirtynests of this species in New Hampshire and who has kindly givenme her notes, is positive that the bird usually rears two broods there.The building of the nests required from six to ten days depending onthe weather. By using a blind she was able to watch a nest fromthe time the young were hatched until they left it. Mrs. Hardingsays that both parents joined in guarding and defending the young.The male was most aggressive in driving other birds away from thenesting area and attacked red squirrels and chipmunks which tres-passed upon his precincts, flying at them with great fury."Eggs.?[Author's note: The set of eggs of the veery usually con-sists of four, but sometimes only three and occasionally five. Theseclosely resemble small eggs of the wood thrush, or more closelythose of the hermit thrushes, in shape and color, though the moreelongated shapes seem to be less frequent in those that I have ex-amined. They are only slightly glossy. The color usually variesfrom "Nile blue" to "pale Nile blue," with the usual variationsseen in robins' eggs. They are almost always unmarked, but spottedeggs have been reported occasionally. Verdi Burtch tells me that outof 28 nests that he has seen, only two held spotted eggs. The spotsare in various shades of brown. Paul F. Eckstorm mentions in hisnotes an egg that was "heavily spotted with pale brown in ratherlarge spots." The measurements of 50 eggs in the United StatesNational Museum average 22.4 by 16.7 millimeters; the eggs showingthe four extremes measure 25.7 by 15.8, 23.4 by 18.0, and 20.6 by 15.8millimeters.]Young.?Edward H. Forbush (1929), on the authority of Mrs.Richard B. Harding, gives the incubation period of the veery as 10 to12 days, and, continuing the report of her observations, says: "Theyoung were not fed by regurgitation on the first day, but with smallhairless caterpillars together with soft white grubs and other smallinsects, all of which had been thoroughly bruised between the man-dibles of the parent bird. This diet was continued for about four days.On the fifth day dragon-flies and slugs were added and a day or twolater black swallow-tailed butterflies were added. The capture of
222 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMmany dragon-flies and butterflies indicates that this thrush is a skilfulflycatcher as such insects are swift, erratic fliers."Mrs. Harding (MS.) sends Mr. Bent the following pretty accountof a young veery issuing from an egg-shell: "A pair of veeries had builttheir nest in a patch of laurel near the lake. Knowing that the clutchof eggs was ready to hatch, I examined the nest and found two tinybirds and one egg just hatching. Lifting it carefully out of the nest,I held it in my hand and watched the tip of the young bird's billpierce the shell. Very methodically it drilled a series of holes aroundthe large end of the egg, resting between efforts, then expanding itsbody until the shell began to crack open. Slowly the crack wideneduntil the two halves separated, and the nestling freed itself from halfthe shell. The other piece remained on the top of its head like a bluehat for several seconds."Frank L. Burns (1921) gives the period of nestling life as 10 days.Plumages.?[Author's note: Dr. Dwight (1900) describes thejuvenal plumage of the Wilson's thrush, a much better name thanveery, as follows: "Above, including sides of head, deep raw umber-brown with dusky edgings and large guttate spots of tawny olive.Wings and tail tawny olive brown the greater coverts and tertiariesedged with tawny olive and darker tipped. Below, white, stronglytinged on jugulum, less strongly on the chin, breast, sides and crissumwith tawny olive, heavily spotted or barred on the jugulum, faintlyon the breast and anterior parts and sides of the abdomen with clove-brown, the feathers also barred with a subterminal tawny band.Submalar stripes dusky."A partial postjuvenal molt, involving the contour plumage and thelesser wing coverts, but not the rest of the wings or the tail, beginsabout the middle of July and is finished in August. This producesa first winter plumage, which is like that of the adult at that season,except that the young bird retains until the next summer molt thejuvenal greater wing coverts and tertiaries, which are edged withtawny-olive and are darker-tipped, thus distinguishing it from theadult all winter and spring. There is, apparently, no spring molt,the nuptial plumage being acquired by wear and a little fading of thebuff shades and the spots on the breast. A complete molt occurs dur-ing the following July and August, when old and young birds becomeindistinguishable. Adults have but the one postnuptial molt in Julyand August. The sexes are alike in all plumages.lFood.?Waldo L. McAtee (1926) gives the following summary ofthe veery's food:This bird scarcely enters the orchard and garden, hence the fruit which itconsumes (and that practically the whole of the vegetable food) is wild. It com-poses about four-tenths of the subsistence, the preferred kinds being juneberries,
VEERT 223
strawberries, blackberries, wild cherries, sumac and dogwood fruits, blueberries,wild grapes, and elderberries.Beetles, ants and other hymenoptera, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and spiders arethe principal constituents of the six-tenths of its food which the Veery derivesfrom the animal kingdom. A few sowbugs and snails also are eaten. Clickbeetles (the parents of wireworms), round-headed and flat-headed wood borers,leaf chafers, junebugs, leaf beetles, the strawberry crown girdler, the plum cur-culio, clover root borers, bark beetles, plant bugs, and sawfly larvae are especiallyinjurious insects devoured by the Veery.The bird seems to do little or no harm, and feeds on various destructive insects,so deserves protection for its usefulness, as well as it does in an eminent degree forbeing an adornment to the forest, both in appearance and in song.Edward H. Forbush (1907) speaks of the food thus:The Veery feeds very largely on insects. Those which frequent the ground andthe lower parts of trees are commonly sought. Ants, ground beetles, curculios,and grasshoppers are favorites. It goes to the fields sometimes at early morning,probably in search of beetles, cutworms, and earthworms. It has been seen,now and then, to eat the hairy caterpillars of the gipsy moth. It feeds consider-ably in the trees, and so takes many caterpillars; but is not usually seen much ingardens or orchards, except such as are situated near woods. In summer and fallit eats wild fruit, but seldom troubles cultivated varieties. Taken all in all, it isa harmless and most useful species.We see the veery most commonly when it is feeding, down on theforest floor, hopping along?the hop almost a spring, a characteristicof the Hylocichlae?turning over the dead leaves and decaying vege-tation, and snapping up the bits of food it finds there. It reminds us,as it feeds on the ground, somewhat of a fox sparrow, except that itdoes not jump up and throw the leaves backward with the strongscratching motion of the sparrow but thrusts about with its bill toexpose its food.Francis H. Allen (MS.), while watching a wood thrush and a veeryfeeding near at hand, noted that "while the wood thrush hopped alongin the manner of a robin, more or less, the veery was continuallyflitting from a perch in a bush or tree (2 to 4 feet from the ground)down to the ground, where he picked up an insect or something of thekind, and then again to another perch."Behavior.?The veery belongs to a group of small American thrushesmuch admired for the exceptional beauty of their song, their trimelegance of figure, and the quiet, reserved dignity of their manner,which has won for them the epithet of the aristocrats of NorthAmerican birds. They make up the genus Hylocichla, composed offive species and several geographical races, which inhabit a large areain the United States and Canada. Members of the genus are foundas breeding birds from the Austral to the Hudsonian Zones, inclusive,being arranged roughly in latitudinal belts that slightly overlap, andare made irregular by the effects of altitude. The^veery breeds
224 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
mainly in the Transition Zone but extends northward to lowlands inthe Canadian region; it has the most southern range except the woodthrush whose breeding range extends far into the Southern States.Frank W. Braund, in a letter to Mr. Bent, speaking of a spot inOntario, Canada, where both the veery and the hermit thrush werebreeding, brings out the fact that each species was restricted to itsown habitat, although the two species were so near each other thatthey could sometimes be heard singing at the same time. He says:"The terrain was composed of rocky ridges, dry and lichen-covered,with moist, fern- and bracken-carpeted basins between them. Thehabitats of the veery and hermit were well defined: on each ridge Icould hear a male hermit, singing, whereas in the moist bottoms,I heard the song of the veery. Standing on a ridge, I could hearalternately a hermit, a veery, a hermit, etc., until the notes faded intothe distance."Prof. Maurice Brooks (MS.) speaks of the veery's habitat thus:"The veery is a middle-of-the-mountain bird in the central Appala-chian region. It is never found as a breeding bird in the warmer valleys,nor found abundantly at the spruce-clad heights. Where extensivehemlock stands occur, at whatever elevations, veeries are apt to befound. Along Cheat Kiver, near Morgantown, W. Va., I have foundthem nesting at elevations around 900 feet. I had always thought ofveeries as creatures of the wild, but during several seasons a groupof nature students has camped near Lake Terra Alta, Preston County,W. Va., in a region where veeries are abundant. Every year ourexperience has been the same; during the first few days the buds aresilent and not easily observed during the day, but as they becomeused to our presence they come into camp more familiarly, feedingaround the tables even while we are eating. I have never seen anotherthrush of this genus so tame."When we meet the veery in the forest we seldom get a clear view ofit for very long a time; generally we have only a glimpse before itretires behind thick foliage or disappears among the crowded branchesof a tree. Sometimes, however, we catch sight of a veery as it movesalong a woodland path before us. Here, leaning forward with itshead stretched out, it progresses by a quick series of long, springingfroglike jumps?not scudding along like a robin?rising at each jumpwell above the ground?perhaps to leap over the dead leaves thatusually litter the veery's pathway. When the bird pauses, it straightensup, standing almost upright, so that if it is facing us the white breastgleams out of the shadows, and holds the head high and often turned alittle to one side, staring about with its large, soft eyes. It flips itswings as it goes on and sometimes leaps high in the air, giving a lightbeat with its wings, half flying as it leaps. All its motions are quick,
VEERT 225deft, admirably coordinated, and as it stands motionless again,
"in russet mantle clad," poised on its long, slender, wire-slim legs, itmakes a delicate picture against the dark of the forest, like a lovelywoodland nymph.Voice.?The song of the veery is one of the strangest sounds innature. The rendering "whree-u, whree-u, whree-u, whree-u," as writtenby J. H. Langille (1884), suggests the form of the song well, a seriesof four or five downward -inflected phrases with a smooth transition inpitch, the final note prolonged and rolling, and each phrase a littlelower than the one before it.Perhaps because of its strangeness, the song is regarded variouslyby different observers; some considering it inferior to the otherthrushes' songs; one, Ora Willis Knight (1908), passing it off as neg-ligible, "if you can call it singing," he says; others perceiving in itqualities that raise it high above the song of any other bird.We cannot think of it as a song in the sense of its being an expressionof joy ; it seems to express a calmer, deeper, holier emotion, like a hymnor a prayer. Bradford Torrey (1885) expands this thought in a de-lightful little essay on the veery 's song:To this same hemlock grove I was in the habit, in those days of going now andthen to listen to the evening hymn of the veery, or Wilson thrush. Here, if no-where else, might be heard music fit to be called sacred. Nor did it seem a dis-advantage, but rather the contrary, when, as sometimes happened, I was compelledto take my seat in the edge of the wood, and wait quietly, in the gathering darkness,for vespers to begin. The veery's mood is not so lofty as the hermit's, nor is hismusic to be compared for brilliancy and fullness with that of the wood thrush;but more than any other bird-song known to me, the veery's has, if I may say so,the accent of sanctity. Nothing is here of self-consciousness; nothing of earthlypride or passion. * * *And yet, for all the unstudied ease and simplicity of the veery's strain, he is agreat master of technique. In his own artless way he does what I have never heardany other bird attempt: he gives to his melody all the force of harmony. Howthis unique and curious effect, this vocal double-stopping, as a violinist might termit, is produced, is not certainly known; but it would seem that it must be by anarpeggio, struck with such consummate quickness and precision that the ear isunable to follow it, and is conscious of nothing but the resultant chord. At anyrate, the thing itself is indisputable, and has often been commented on.Moreover, this is only half the veery's technical proficiency. Once in a while,at least, he will favor you with a delightful feat of ventriloquism; beginning to singin single voice, as usual, and anon, without any noticeable increase in the loudnessof the tones, diffusing the music throughout the wood, as if there were a bird inevery tree, all singing together in the strictest time. I am not sure that all mem-bers of the species possess this power, and I have never seen the performance alludedto in print; but I have heard it when the illusion was complete, and the effect mostbeautiful.Music so devout and unostentatious as the veery's does not appeal to the hur-ried or the preoccupied. If you would enjoy it you must bring an ear to hear. Ihave sometimes pleased myself with imagining a resemblance between it and the
226 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMpoetry of George Herbert,?both uncared for by the world, but both, on that veryaccount, prized all the more dearly by the few in every generation whose spiritsare in tune with theirs.Frank Bolles (1891) also recognized the artistry of the veery'ssinging. He says : "The song of the veery has in it the tinkling of bells,the jangle of the tamborine. It recalls to me the gypsy chorus in the'Bohemian Girl,' and when I hear it as evening draws on, I canpicture light feet tripping over the damp grass, and in the shadowsmade by moving of branches and ferns I can see dark forms movingback and foith in the windings of the dance."Henry Oldys (1916), writing of "Rhythmical Singing of Vecries,"comments on the chordlike effect occurring in the bird's song, saying:
"In the notations of Veeries' songs made by other musicians the closingnotes have sometimes been represented as chords; but I believe thatwhat these listeners heard were not actual chords, but broken chords,the separate notes of which were uttered so rapidly as to cause themto seem to blend in complete harmony." Sydney E. Ingraham (1938)published a photographic graph of a veery's song which is in accordwith Oldvs's opinion and speaks of the song as "like five-finger exerciseson a harp." Thus Torrey's surmise, made over a half a century ago,is confirmed.Aretas A. Saunders's (MS.) records show more or less variation inthe song. "Some birds," he says, "sing the first slurs slowly and thenthe last two or three very rapidly; others have a simple, unslurrednote at the beginning, or interpolated somewhere in the middle ; someprolong the last note; some have slurs that rise and fall, like rayeeoh.The pitch of veery songs, according to my records, varies from D""to B 1?"', two tones more than an octave, which is much less than therange of other thrushes."The commonest call note of the veery is a smoothly whistled hee-ooor wheew. This note may be used as an alarm note, but when muchdistressed, over danger to its young, for instance, the bird gives a notelike whuck, low and guttural, very much like the quack of a catbird,or a long, loud, quavering ka-a-a-a-a, suggesting a red-eyed vireo'ssnarl. Dr. C. W. Townsend (1905) says that they "hiss like a Robin."William Brewster (1936) speaks of a habit of the veery whensinging: "I do not remember to have noted before that the Wilson'sThrush, like so many other birds, has favorite singing perches to whichit resorts day after day. This, at least, is true of a bird which isbreeding somewhere near the east end of Ball's Hill and which singsevery evening in the large red oak on the edge of Holden's Meadow,sitting invariably not only on the same branch but actually on thesame twig and always facing towards the northwest."L. Nelson Nichols (MS.) adds: "The wheeling, weaving song is
VEERY 227
certainly at its best on a warm spring evening. If the moon comes upafter sunset, the aroused veery is worth hearing."Francis H. Allen (MS.) wrote in his notes for July 4, 1924: "Oneof several veeries singing had at least four different harsh, raspingnotes, which it uttered between each two songs. Not all the noteswere always present, but at least one of them always, I think. Onewas a high-pitched, disyllabic note, somewhat sibilant, which seemedmore like a part of the song than the others. It generally immediatelypreceded the song proper. The bird sang constantly for some timetill all the veeries stopped singing about 7 :48, and the harsh notes wereas regular as the song proper. The bird mewed occasionally, too.The strange notes suggested a catbird. One note was short and ratherhigh-pitched, with a rising inflection. The other monosyllabic noteswere lower-pitched and somewhat more prolonged."Again he wrote, on May 21, 1935: "Early this morning I heard aveery singing over and over again, with hardly a second (I should say)between songs and keeping it up for some time?it may have been fiveminutes."Field marks.?As indicated by the veery's old name, the tawnythrush, its back is a yellowish brown. This color and the almostunmarked breast serve to distinguish the veery from the otherthrushes, which, although nearly alike in size and outline, have olivebacks and are more heavily streaked or spotted beneath. Also thehermit has a reddish-brown tail, and the wood thrush has a reddishcrown.Enemies.?Veeries, like most ground-nesting birds, are exposed toattack by predatory mammals, such as red squirrels and chipmunks,noted under "Nesting."William Brewster (1936) gives a long account of an attack of asnake on a veery's nest, and Harold S. Peters (1933) reports thefinding of two species of flies and later (1936) one louse and anotherspecies of fly in the plumage of the veery.Friedmann (1929), speaking of the veery vs. the cowbird, says:"A common victim; more so in some places than in others. AtIthaca, out of some thirty nests found, seven were parasitized. Abouttwenty other records have come to my notice, ranging from Montreal,Maine, Connecticut, and New York, west to Illinois and Michigan.* * * This bird makes no attempt to get rid of the parasiticeggs foisted upon it and usually incubates and rears the young inter-lopers."Fall.?The veery's song period comes to an end, here in easternMassachusetts, within a few days of the middle of July, and after thisdate we see little more of the birds. In August, even when we walkthrough the veeries' favorite woodlands where they have been in
228 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
evidence all summer, we rarely hear or catch sight of the birds,although some doubtless remain for a time, silent and inconspicuous,on their nesting grounds before starting on their migration. Tavernerand Swales (1908) report from Point Pelee that in 1907 they "sawthem almost daily from August 24 to September 2, after which nonewere noted, though we remained until the 6th."Many of us who have long been attentive to the call notes of noc-turnal migrating birds have heard year after year from the sky atnight, during the latter half of August and early September, a clear,softly modulated, mellow whistle. On nights favorable for migra-tion we might hear the notes every few seconds as the birds passedoverhead?from high in the sky on starlight evenings, from nearerthe ground, not far above the tree tops, on misty nights. Thesewhistles correspond with no bird notes we ever heard in the daytime,and for years they remained a puzzle to ornithologists. Finally, in1907, William Brewster, who had wondered since his boyhood whatmigrating bird might be the author of these notes, discovered that itwas the veery.Some years later (Winsor M. Tyler, 1916), when writing on thecall notes of nocturnal migrating birds, with Mr. Brewster's permis-sion, I told the bare facts of his discovery thus: "For a long time thiscall note remained a mystery to Mr. Faxon and Mr. Brewster, untilfinally Mr. Brewster, by a most fortunate chance, solved the problem.He was lying at dawn in his cabin on the shore of the Concord river,when he heard, far in the distance, the familiar whistle of the unknownmigrant. The bird, still calling, flew nearer and nearer until it alightedin the shrubbery close by the cabin. Here it continued to call, butgradually changed the character of the note until, little by little, itgrew to resemble, and finally became the familiar call of the Veery."Since Brewster's death much material from his journals has beenpublished (Brewster, 1938), including a long account of the veery'snocturnal whistle, to which account the reader is referred.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Southern Canada to southern Brazil.Breeding range.?The species breeds north to southern BritishColumbia (head of Crooked River; has been recorded north to DavidsLake, Crooked River; McBride, and Tete Jaune Cache); centralAlberta (Peace River Landing, Edmonton, and Camrose); southernSaskatchewan (Carlton House, Prince Albert, and Hudson BayJunction); southern Manitoba (Lake St. Martin and Shoal Lake);southern Ontario (Kenora, Port Arthur, Lake Nipissing, and Ottawa)
;
southern Quebec (Quebec, Baie St. Paul, Kamouraska, Anticosti
VEERY 229Island, and Little Mecatine) ; and Newfoundland (Lewis Hills, SouthBrook, and St. John's). East to Newfoundland (St. John's); NovaScotia (Jestico Island and Halifax); New Brunswick (Scotch Lake);Maine (Machias and Ellsworth), and the Atlantic Coast States southto northern New Jersey (Plainfield and Bernardsville) ; Pennsylvania(Scranton, Cresson, and rarely near Philadelphia); and south in themountains to northern Georgia (Brasstown Bald) ; there are at leasttwo records of breeding at Washington, D. C. South to extreme north-ern Georgia (Brasstown Bald) ; southeastern Kentucky (Black Moun-tain) ; northern Ohio (Youngstown, Oberlin, Sandusky, and Toledo)
;
northern Indiana (Sedan); northern Illinois (Lacon, casually, andChicago) ; northern Iowa at least formerly (McGregor and SpiritLake); North Dakota, uncommon (Fort Rice and Oakdale); south-eastern Wyoming (Torrington and Cheyenne) ; central southernColorado (Fort Garland) ; northern Utah (Provo River and Salt LakeCounty) ; extreme northern Nevada (Mountain City) ; and north-eastern Oregon (Enterprise, Fossil, and Prineville). West to cen-tral northern Oregon (Prineville and Rock Creek) ; central Washing-ton (Yakima, Naches, and Coulee Dam) ; and south-central BritishColumbia (Kamloops, Bonaparte, Lac la Hache, and the head ofCrooked River).Winter range.?Very little is known of the winter home of thisspecies, but it seems to be principally in southern Brazil. It hasbeen recorded in winter as far south and west as Chapada and SaoVicente in Matto Grosso and as far east as Santarem on the Amazon.Several specimens have been taken at Chapada, one of which hasbeen considered identical with specimens from Newfoundland. Thespecies is reported to be a "winter visitor" to British Guiana butwithout definite localities or dates. All records to date from Co-lombia are in October and therefore cannot be considered winter.The recording of this species at Fort Brown, Tex., on January 1,1877, by Dr. J. C. Merrill was evidently an error, as his publishedreport gives no indication that the record was based on a specimen.The ranges as traced are for the whole species of which three sub-species or geographic races are recognized. The typical race, theveery or Wilson's thrush (H. j. fuscescens) breeds from southernOntario and Quebec southward and west to Indiana; the Newfound-land veery (H. j. juliginosa) breeds in Newfoundland; the willowthrush (H. j. salicicola) breeds from Manitoba and Wisconsinwestward.Migration.?Some late dates of spring departure are: BritishGuiana?Camakusa, April 12. Cuba, Habana, May 4. Florida?Tortugas, May 22. Georgia?Athens, May 10. North Carolina
?
Chapel Hill, May 23. Louisiana?New Orleans, May 22. Mis-
230 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
sissippi?Biloxi, May 10. Arkansas?Helena, May 19. Kentucky
?
Lexington, May 24. Texas?San Antonio, May 18.Some early dates of spring arrival are: Florida?Pensacola, April 15.Georgia?Round Oak, April 7. North Carolina?Raleigh, April 27.Virginia?Blacksburg, April 30. District of Columbia?Washington,April 9. Pennsylvania?Waynesburg, April 17. New York?Collins,April 16. Massachusetts?Amherst, April 30. Vermont?St. Johns-bury, May 1. Quebec?Montreal, May 3. New Brunswick?Picton,May 18. Louisiana?Madisonville, April 8. Mississippi?Tisho-mingo, April 20. Arkansas?Helena, April 18. Tennessee?Mem-phis, April 16. Illinois?Olney, April 20. Ohio?Oberlin, April 25.Michigan?Detroit, April 22. Ontario?Toronto, April 30. IowaHillsboro, April 22. Wisconsin?Racine, April 28. MinnesotaMinneapolis, May 3. Manitoba?Winnipeg, May 2. TexasHouston, March 27. Kansas?Independence, April 29. South Da-kota?Yankton, May 2. North Dakota?Grand Forks, May 10.Saskatchewan?Indian Head, May 12. Wyoming?Torrington, May6. Montana?Corvallis, May 8. Alberta?Edmonton, May 11.Some late dates of fall departure are: Saskatchewan?Last Moun-tain Lake, September 1. Montana?Fortine, September 17. Wyo-ming?Green River, September 8. Manitoba?Aweme, September 12.South Dakota?Aberdeen, September 18. Minnesota?Minneapolis,September 21. Iowa?Davenport, September 23. Ontario?Ottawa,September 17. Michigan?Sault Ste. Marie, September 30. Indiana
?Lafayette, October 2. Ohio?Cleveland, October 6. KentuckyLexington, September 27. Mississippi?Bay St. Louis, October 11.Louisiana?New Orleans, October 24. Newfoundland?HumberRiver, September 14. Quebec?Montreal, September 28. NewBrunswick?Scotch Lake, September 22. Nova Scotia?Pictou,September 20. New Hampshire?Hanover, October 22. Massa-chusetts?Waltham, October 5. New York?Canandaigua, October13. Pennsylvania?Doylestowm October 11. District of ColumbiaWashington, October 1. North Carolina?Weaverville, October 10.Georgia?Augusta, October 1. Alabama?Autaugaville, October 22.Florida?Pensacola, October 18.Some early dates of fall arrival are: Kentucky?Lexington, Septem-ber 3. Mississippi?Bay St. Louis, September 7. Louisiana?NewOrleans, September 12. Texas?Mission, September 20. NorthCarolina?Raleigh, August 28. Georgia?Athens, August 30. Flor-ida?Tallahassee, September 11. Cuba?Habana, September 24.Colombia?Bonda, October 5.Casual records.?The species is a rare or accidental migrant in Cuba.In New Mexico one was noted in the Taos Mountains July 17, 1904,and a pair seen August 5, 1910, at El Rito de los Frijoles that was
WILLOW THRUSH 231
reported to have bred there that season. Two specimens have beentaken in Arizona; one at Tucson in May 1882, and the other at FortVerde, May 13, 1887. Two specimens have been reported fromEurope; one of unknown date in Pomerania, Germany, and oneon Helgoland about 1833.Egg dates.?Massachusetts: 32 records, May 22 to June 19; 26records, May 28 to June 6, indicating the height of the season.New York: 72 records, May 5 to June 30; 46 records, May 27 toJune 10.Ontario: 10 records, May 31 to June 26; 6 records, June 9 to June15.Washington: 9 records, June 6 to June 23.HYLOCICHLA FUSCESCENS SALICICOLA RidgwayWILLOW THRUSHHABITSThis western subspecies of our familiar veery is described byRidgway (1907) as similar to it, "but coloration duller, the brown ofthe upper parts less tawny (varying from deep isabella color to nearlybroccoli brown), and brown streaks on upper chest and sides of lowerthroat averaging slightly darker." In general appearance it moreclosely resembles the olive-backed thrush than the veery, but it canbe easily recognized by the absence of the buffy eye ring, which is soconspicuous in the oliveback.Its breeding range covers southern Canada from British Columbiato Manitoba, and extends south in the western United States tocentral Oregon, Nevada, Utah, northern New Mexico, and centralIowa. It apparently migrates southward mainly between the RockyMountain region and the Mississippi Valley, straggling farther east-ward, and spends the winter in South America.Both its scientific and its common names were given to it becauseof its evident preference for willow thickets along the streams duringthe breeding season. In southwestern Saskatchewan, in 1905 and1906, we often heard its veerylike song in the narrow timber beltsalong the creeks, where it was evidently common but seldom seen inthe dense, shady thickets; we succeeded in collecting only two andfound no nests. Laurence B. Potter, who lives in that region, saysin his notes: "The willow thrush is certainly, in my experience, theshiest and most elusive bird, woodland or elsewhere. Unlike thewell-behaved child, it is more often heard than seen, and to get agood look at this thrush by the ordinary methods is almost impossible.Certain observers have remarked a notable decrease in numbers ofthe willow thrush in recent years, and that is my own experience."
232 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMIn Minnesota, according to Dr. Thomas S. Roberts (1932), "it isan inhabitant of low, damp woodlands, preferring especially tamarackswamps and thickets of poplar, willow, and alder, bordering streamsand lakes. With the destruction of such conditions in southernMinnesota, the Willow Thrush, as a summer resident, has theregreatly decreased in numbers in recent years; but in the north it isstill one of the commonest of birds and its ringing song may be hearduntil mid-July, coming from all suitable places."Nesting.?Dr. Roberts (1932) says that, in Minnesota, the nests ofthe willow thrush are placed "on the ground, sunk in the top of amossy hummock; or near the ground, supported among alders orwillows; or on tangled vines or fallen branches; often on the top of astump among thick 'shoots.' Built of grasses, bark-fibers, smalltwigs, and moss, lined with fine grasses, rootlets, etc. No mud isused."In Colorado, Denis Gale took only one nest of this thrush; "it wasplaced about three feet above the ground, in a low evergreen bush in ashady and wooded canon" (Sclater, 1912). Dawson and Bowles(1909) report a nest taken near Spokane, Wash., that "was placed inthe crotch of an alder at a height of two feet."Eggs.?The willow thrush lays three to five eggs to a set, usuallyfour. These are practically indistinguishable from those of the easternveery. At least three sets of eggs have been reported in which someor all of them were spotted with fine dots or minute specks of dark orlight brown or olive, usually sparingly and more or less obscurely.The measurements of 38 eggs average 22.9 by 16.9 millimeters; theeggs showing the four extremes measure 25.0 by 16.8, 23.4 by 18.0,20.8 by 16.8, and 22.9 by 15.8 millimeters.Food.?The food of this thrush is doubtless quite similar to that ofthe closely related veery. Professor Beal (1915b) reported on thefood of the two subspecies together. Mr. Potter writes to me fromSaskatchewan: "In the spring of 1907, when range cattle lay deadin hundreds all over the western plains after a long hard winter, Iobtained my best close-up views of willow thrushes which used tofeed on maggots in a certain dead cow lying close to some willow bush.After a full meal, a thrush would be too glutted to do more than flopback to cover, if I got too close."The general behavior of the willow thrush does not differ muchfrom that of its eastern relative. Its voice is similar and it sings fromwithin the thickets in which it lives, rather than from some loftierperch.Dr. Friedmann (1929) mentions three cases in which this thrushwas imposed upon by the Nevada cowbird; and, again (1934), he tells
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 233
of two nests that contained five eggs each of the eastern cowbird! Inone of these last two nests there were two eggs of the thrush and inthe other only one.HYLOCICHLA FUSCESCENS FULIGINOSA HoweNEWFOUNDLAND VEERYHABITSForty-five years elapsed after Reginald Heber Howe, Jr. (1900),described and named the Newfoundland veery before the A. O. U.committee added this subspecies to our Check-list in their twentiethsupplement. Comparing it with the other two recognized races,Mr. Howe gives it the following subspecific characters: "Size slightlylarger. Upper parts, especially on the head, distinctly brownish,much darker and not of the tawny shade of typical Juscescens, andlacking the greenish tinge of salicicola. Throat, lores, and upper breastsuffused with buff, though perhaps less so than in juscescens (in salici-cola buff is practically absent), the upper breast and usually also thethroat spotted heavily with broad arrow-shaped brown markingssuggesting very strongly the throat and breast of H. u. swainsonii.The breast markings of both Juscescens and salicicola are narrow andmore penciled and lighter in shade. Bill darker and heavier."He gives its range as "Newfoundland (also possibly Anticosti andLabrador)."Although we have no information on the habits of the Newfound-land veery, it seems fair to assume that they are not especially differentfrom those of its western relative, for I found it fairly common alongthe Fox Island River and along other willow-bordered streams inwestern Newfoundland.SIALIA SIALIS SIALIS (Linnaeus)EASTERN BLUEBIRDHABITSThe bluebird is well named, for he wears a coat of the purest,richest, and most gorgeous blue on back, wings, and tail; no NorthAmerican bird better deserves the name, for no other flashes beforeour admiring eyes so much brilliant blue. It has been said that hecarries on his back the blue of heaven and the rich brown of thefreshly turned earth on his breast; but who has ever seen the bluestsky as blue as the bluebird's back? The early settlers in PlymouthColony welcomed this friendly, cheerful songster, which remindedthem of their beloved English robin redbreast, and they named itthe "blue robin," an appropriate name still used among some children.792825?49 16
234 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMAnd, as our Pilgrim fathers welcomed it over 300 years ago, so do wetoday greet with joy the coming of this lovely, gentle bird each spring.Dull indeed would be the man that did not feel the thrill awakened bythe first glimpse of brilliant color in the orchard and the cheerywarbling notes borne to our ears on the first gentle breath of spring!Before the English sparrows came, to crowd the bluebirds out, thelatter came freely to nest in the boxes that we put up for them, or tooccupy the natural cavities in the apple trees near our houses, evenin the towns and villages. And the coming of the starling has driventhem still farther away from our homes. So, now we must look forthem in the open country, in the rural apple orchards, along thecountry roadsides, in open groves, and in burned-over or cut- overwoodlands where there are plenty of dead trees and stumps withsuitable hollows for nesting. They can be encouraged to remain,however, in any open region by putting up plenty of nesting boxes.Spring.?The bluebird is a hardy bird; it does not go so far southin winter as most birds do, and it seeks the first favorable opportunityto return to its summer haunts. A few individuals may spend amild winter in southern New England, but, as a rule, we may notexpect to see the first arrivals here earlier than the first warm daysin February; these are probably birds that have wintered not muchfarther south; and they may not stay long, as winter lingers in thelap of spring, late snowstorms and cold snaps may return and theventuresome birds are forced to retreat. But when the bluebirdscome to stay, then we know that spring is really here. They areclose rivals with the early robins and red-winged blfckbirds, as har-bingers of spring. W. E. Clyde Todd (1940) has expressed it verywell, as follows:Of all our birds, this soft-voiced harbinger of spring is one of the most eagerlyawaited. When winter begins to yield at last to the warming touch of the return-ing sun; when several days of clearing skies and southerly breezes have loosenedthe ice-fettered streams, drawn the frost from the ground, and given a balmytang to the air; and wrhen all nature seems in an expectant mood, vibrant witha new hope and a new promise?the Bluebird returns. * * * Its soft, pleas-ing warble, like the gentle murmur of a flowing brook in soothing cadence,awakens a sense of well-being and content in each responsive listener.Bluebirds are seen more or less in winter over so much of theirbreeding range that the spring migration is not easily traced. Proba-bly there is a gradual northward trend throughout all the winterrange, with periodical retreats and advances influenced by weatherchanges. On Mount Mitchell, in western North Carolina, ThomasD. Burleigh (1941) seems to have noted a definite period of transition,for he found it "fairly plentiful" there "during the early spring monthsin the cut-over area (6,000 feet), occurring then in small scatteredflocks. Extreme dates of occurrence are February 20 (1931) and
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 235March 21 (1930). It may possibly breed sparingly at this altitude,although there are no actual records."John Burroughs (1880) says:In New York and New England the sap starts up in the sugar maple the veryday the bluebird arrives, and sugar-making begins forthwith. The bird is gener-ally a mere disembodied voice; a rumor in the air for two or three days before ittakes visible shape before you. The males are the pioneers, and come severaldays in advance of the females. * * *The bluebird enjoys the preeminence of being the first bit of color that cheersour northern landscape. The other birds that arrive about the same time?thesparrow, the robin, the phoebe-bird?are clad in neutral tints, gray, brown, orrusset; but the bluebird brings one of the primary hues and the divinest of them all.Many a disaster may overtake these hardy pioneers on their north-ward journey from the genial southland; perhaps they are more bravethan hardy, for they suffer much, and many perish from the effectsof sleet and snowstorms, and from freezing temperatures. Baggand Eliot (1937) quote the following story from a Springfield, Mass.,paper: "On March 28 a pair of Bluebirds came to the feeding stationof Charles J. Anderson, 24 Eddywood Ave., Springfield, and aftereating began to flutter and peck at the window. It was cold outside,so after talking to them through the glass, Mrs. Anderson let them in.The male was hardy, but the female manifestly required warmth.She was given warm milk to drink, and warbled her thanks. Forthree days, while the cold spell lasted, she returned periodically toget warm inside the room." They say that "Mr. Cross of Huntingtonhas a photograph of twenty-two Bluebirds together which, caught ina heavy spring snowstorm, lived upon sumac berries and betweenfeedings snuggled together, all fluffed up, on a small dead branch inthe shelter of a building."And Edward H. Forbush (1929) says that "in western Massachusettsand in Vermont during late spring storms many bluebirds havedied huddled together in hollow trees, where they sought refuge fromfury of the gale. During a storm a lady in Stowe, Vermont, heard aBluebird calling in her living room and found two in the stove. Theyhad sought shelter in the chimney and had come down the stovepipe."Courtship.?The love-making of the bluebird is as beautiful asthe bird itself, and normally as gentle, unless interrupted by somejealous rival who would steal his bride; then gentleness gives placeto active combat. The male usually arrives a few days ahead of thefemale, selects what he considers to be a suitable summer home, andcarols his sweetest, most seductive notes day after day until she appearsin answer to his call. Then he flutters before her, displaying thecharms of his widespread tail and half-opened wings, warbling indelicious, soft undertones, to win her favor. At first she seems in-different to the gorgeous blue of his overcoat or the warm reddish brown
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of his ardent breast. He perches beside her, caresses her in the tender-est and most loving fashion, and sings to her in most endearing terms.Perhaps he may bring to her some delicious morsel and place it gentlyin her mouth, as an offering. Probably he has already chosen thecavity or box that he thinks will suit her; he leads her to it, looks in,and tries to persuade her to accept it, but much persistent wooing isneeded before the nuptial pact is sealed. In the meantime a rivalmale may appear upon the scene and a rough and tumble fight ensue,the males clinching in the air and falling to the ground together, aconfusing mass of blue and brown feathers struggling in the grass;but no very serious harm seems to have been done, as they separateand use their most persuasive charms to attract the object of theirrivalry. At times, a second female may join in the contest and starta lively fight with her rival for the mate she wants. John Burroughs(1894) gives an interesting account of such a four-cornered contest,too long to be quoted here, in which the female of an apparently matedpair seemed to waver in her affections between her supposed mateand the new rival; and the latter seemed to have left the female ofhis first choice to win the bride of the other. However, after a muchprolonged contest, the matter seemed to be satisfactorily settled, fortwo pairs of bluebirds finally flew off in different directions and startedup housekeeping without further trouble.But bluebirds are not always constant in their nuptial ties, evenwhen they have raised a brood together successfully. Mrs. Nice(1930a) cites a case in which a male had a different mate for the secondbrood but returned to the first mate for the third brood, all in thesame year. Seth H. Low (1934) has indicated, by banding at a stationon Cape Cod, Mass., that bluebirds select different mates in successiveseasons; he says: "In 1932 eight pairs of adults were banded at theStation. From two pairs neither bird returned. One adult fromeach of five pairs was captured nesting with a new mate. As it can-not be proved that each of the former mates were alive, it cannot beconcluded that these birds were inconstant. Both adults did returnfrom the eighth pair, but each took a new mate. No conclusions onmating constancy can be drawn from this one case."T. E. Musselman (1935) writes: "During the first nesting period in1935, I banded eighteen mothers. During the second nesting I foundthat none of these birds were in my nests, which leads me to believethat the mother bluebirds probably travel a number of miles betweenthe first and second nesting and probably fly in small irregular bandswith the broods of young birds. The second nesting is carried onby stray mothers which have formerly nested elsewhere."If a male bluebird loses his mate, he quickly secures another. Dr.T. Gilbert Pearson (1917) tells of one that had three mates in a
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 237
single season. The first two females were killed by a cat, but the thirdraised a brood, for "on a sunny hillside in the garden the cat wasburied."Nesting.?In the early days of my egg collecting, from 1880 to 1900,we always looked for bluebirds' nests in natural cavities in apple treesin old orchards, and fully 80 percent of our nests were found in suchsituations, though we found some in natural cavities in other treesand in old woodpecker holes. Nesting boxes were not so plentiful inthose days as they are today. Two changes have taken place duringthe present century that have greatly modified the nesting habitsof these birds. The old, decrepit apple trees have been pruned oftheir dead branches, the cavities have been filled, or the old trees havebeen removed entirely, thus destroying many favorite nesting sitesfor bluebirds, tree swallows, and some other birds. The old orchardshave been replaced by new, young orchards, in which the trees areregularly pruned and sprayed, which is better for the apple crop butnot so good for the birds. Furthermore, there has been an immenseincrease in the number of bird boxes put up by appreciative bird-lovers and by agriculturists who are now well aware of the economicvalue of the birds. The result has been that the bluebirds were notslow in adapting themselves to these two changes and in adoptingthese better types of nesting sites. So that, at least in settled com-munities, a great majority of the bluebirds now nest in the boxes.To get the best results the boxes should be set on poles at no greatheight above ground, preferably between 8 and 12 feet, and in the open;to keep out starlings, the entrance hole should not be over 1% inches indiameter; even then, there will be competition from tree swallows orhouse wrens, but the bluebirds are usually more than a match for thesetwo.Several large nesting projects have been reported where numerousboxes have been erected to encourage the birds to breed. One of these,part of which I have seen, centers around the great bird-bandingstation of Dr. Oliver L. Austin, at North Eastham, Mass. There areover 500 boxes in this project, chiefly around the main station, butalso scattered at various distances away, from 2 to 9 miles north andsouth along the outer arm of Cape Cod. Most of the boxes that Ihave seen are erected on slender poles, within reach of a man standingon the ground, along lines of fences and around the edges of fields,bogs, marshes, and ponds. Most of them have been occupied by treeswallows, but many by bluebirds. It was here that Mr. Low made thestudies of these two birds referred to under the two species.For seven or eight years Dr. T. E. Musselman (1939) has been build-ing bluebird boxes in quantity and erecting them on fence posts alongthe hard roads leading into Quincy, 111. "The idea appealed to thepopular fancy immediately," and he has received much help from
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school students of conservation and others. It took about 50 boxes tocover 38 miles of one road, and he placed 150 boxes along another 68miles of road. He says: "All of these boxes are standardized, haveremovable tops, and by the time the entire project is complete willinclude nearly one thousand Bluebird boxes. Magazines and news-papers have printed copies of my plans and because of such publicity Ifeel that in many sections of the country, similar projects will becarried on." In a previous paper (1935) he says: "In no case did twobirds nest closer than a quarter of a mile." His nests were placedfrom 3 feet to 10 feet above the ground, apparently mostly nearer 3feet than 10, "and on posts away from human habitation. If the boxis placed on the pasture side of a post away from the wires, cows usethe box to scratch their backs, so I try to attach them to the wire-sideof the post. This protects them from cattle and likewise makes it im-possible for cats to molest them." He gives further useful instructionsfor making the boxes, to which the reader is referred.Mrs. Amelia R. Laskey has sent me some elaborate notes on anotherinteresting and successful project, of which she says: "Nest boxes foreastern bluebirds have been placed in Percy Warner Park and the ad-joining Edwin Warner Park to increase the numbers of this speciesarouDd Nashville, Tennessee. Staiting in 1936 with 26 boxes, othershave been gradually added so that 63 have been available the pastthree years." In one of her published papers (1939), she says thatPercy Warner Park "consists of 2141 acres * * * much of itwooded hills, with many miles of winding automobile roads, bridlepaths, and hiking trails, interspersed with picnic grounds, shelterhouses, and homes of park employees. On the outer boundaries arenumerous meadows, bordered on one or two sides with narrow thicketsof trees and undergrowth. These meadows provide excellent sites forthe Bluebird nest-boxes that have been placed there. * * * Ofthe 37 nest-boxes available in 1938, 36 were used, at least once byBluebirds, with a total of 104 sets or 460 eggs laid, an average of 4.42per nest."A. Dawes DuBois has sent me his data for 15 nests, observed inIllinois, Minnesota, and New York. Five of these were in bird boxes,three in holes in fence posts, two in hollows in apple trees, two in othertree cavities, two in old woodpecker holes, and one was in a telephonepole.M. G. Vaiden writes to me from Mississippi: "This bird is a fairlycommon nesting bird in the hill section of our State, especially from thecentral hills to the northward until reaching the Tennessee line.They select any suitable site where they think it possible to hide a nest,as a gate post and natural cavities in trees, and I found a nest in a
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 239drain pipe, where they were stacked for use and some 6 feet high.The bluebirds selected a pipe near the top of the pile."Bluebirds have been known to nest in a number of other unusualplaces, such as empty tin cans or jars, in open hollows in the rottentops of posts or stumps, and more than once in cliff swallows' nests,even in active colonies. Dr. Charles W. Richmond sent me, longago, a clipping (Putnam and Wheatland, 1866) which reads as fol-lows: "At the depot, the signal master called the attention of a num-ber of the members to a pair of Blue Birds which had built a nest inone of the signal balls, from which a piece of the canvas had beentorn. These birds, after raising one brood of young, bad made an-other nest, by the side of the first, in which they had laid the eggsfor a second brood. The signal ball, in which the nests were made,was lowered and hoisted about fifty times a day. The birds flyingout as soon as the ball commenced its descent, and, alighting uponthe fence nearby, would wait patiently for it to be hoisted again,when they would at once return to their nest. ,;Another railroad nesting site is mentioned by Charles R. Stockard(1905); it "was the hollow iron coupling of a flat car which stood formany weeks on a side track. The old style link and pin couplehad a long hollow neck and back; in this neck a Bluebird had builtits nest and deposited a set of five eggs."A. L. Pickens writes to me that he "once found a bluebird's nestin a cavity in a steep earthen bank, some such a place as is usuallyfrequented by the rough-winged swallow." Dr. Thomas S. Roberts(1932) tells the following interesting story of some very persistentbluebirds:Many years ago there stood on the campus of the State University at Minne-apolis two cannons, which were used every morning in artillery drill, and fromwhich blank charges were frequently fired. A pair of Bluebirds selected one ofthese guns as a nesting-site. The nest was accordingly built but of course wasremoved next morning. This went on for several successive days, the nest builtone day being destroyed the following morning. At length one morning thecadet whose duty it was to charge the gun failed to observe whether or not thenest was there and rammed down the cartridge with a will. When he tried tofire the gun, of course it would not go off; so the load was drawn and an examina-tion disclosed the nest and the female bird jammed into a scarcely recognizablemass against the breech. Promptly the male secured another mate and thefollowing morning the usual nest was in the gun. This continued for a day ortwo, when the cannon was stored for the season in a shed near by and a cavityin an adjoining tree was chosen for the nest, where peace reigned.At least two combination nests have been reported. B. S. Bowdish(1890) mentions a bluebird's nest in the top of an old stump that heldfour eggs; under this in the same cavity was a nest of eight youngmice. "The mice had access to their nest through a small hole inthe bottom of the stump, and nothing separated them from the eggs
240 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMbut the material of the two nests." And Mr. Todd (1940) quotesan anecdote by J. Warren Jacobs concerning a bluebird appropriatingthe finished nest of a Carolina chickadee: "The nest was in two parts;one constructed by the Chickadee, and the other, which was the topstory, was made by the Bluebird. The first story contained two[eggs] of the Chickadee, and in the next were five eggs of each species."I once found a flicker's egg in a bluebird's nest, together with fiveeggs of the bluebird; and in the same orchard there was a flicker'segg in a tree swallow's nest, with five deserted eggs of the swallow.The nests of the bluebird are poorly and loosely built structures;this is probably all that is necessary in the snug cavities in whichthe nests are usually made, where a firmly built nest is not required.The nests are often made entirely of dried grass and weed stems,carelessly arranged; sometimes a few fine twigs are added; the liningmay consist merely of finer grasses, or sometimes a little hair or afew feathers are added. The possible nesting sites are often pointedout by the male after he has attracted the female to his breedingterritory, but she evidently makes the final choice. Both sexes helpin building the nest, though most of the actual work on it is done bythe female.Wendell P. Smith (1937) made the following observations at hisbanding station at Wells River, Vt.:Nest-building did not proceed with uniform speed, especially in the case ofan early beginning. There seemed to be some correlation with temperature, ascessation of activity coincided with lower temperature and resumption of con-struction began with the coming of warmer weather. The time required for anest's completion differed in consequence. The shortest period recorded wasfour days, and the longest twelve days.Material was secured within a radius of seventy-five feet of the nest, and muchof it within less than half that distance. In one case dried grass was used, whilein the other, dead pine needles were obtained from the ground near by. Observa-tions showed that the female performed nearly all the work of collecting. Be-tween the completion of the nest and the laying of the first egg some time inter-vened, usually two or three days.Dr. W. T. Harper (1926) has published some detailed observationson the building of a second nest by a pair of bluebirds. He concludeswith the following summary:The most interesting points disclosed by these observations seem to be thefollowing: First, the site for a second nest seems to have been selected whilethe first brood was still in the nest, and the male took the initiative in the selection.Second, the male laid the first foundation of the second nest, but the female didpractically all the work while the male acted as watchman or boss. Third, workwas faster at the beginning of the building operations and, as finishing toucheshad to be added, the work became constantly slower. Fourth, parts of fourdays were required to build the nest, most of the work being done between 6.30and 10 A. M. Fifth, at least two hundred and eighty-nine trips with nesting
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 241
material were made by the female, the last fifteen of which were from a distancewith material of fine texture, while the others were from less than 50 yards, withone or more pieces of dead grass. Sixth, the old birds, with young of both broods,returned to the vicinity of the two nests after an absence of about a month, andthe old birds evidenced great interest in the second nesting-site and showed somejealousy when the young approached it too closely.Ora W. Knight (1908) says: "Nest building is participated in byboth parents, and I have known of a nest containing the full comple-ment of eggs just seven days after the birds began building, indicatingthat the nest was completed in three days and an egg laid dailythereafter."Henry Mousley (1916) "once witnessed a pair of these birds driveout a Hairy Woodpecker from a half completed nesting hole it hadmade, and after gaining possession of it they immediately set to workbuilding a nest which was completed and four eggs laid in the re-markably short space of six days."Alexander Sprunt, Jr., has sent me the following account of anunusual nesting site, as observed by Prof. Franklin Sherman, ofClemson College, S. C. Professor Sherman writes: "The nest issaddled on a horizontal limb of an oak, at about 12 to 15 feet abovethe ground, and about 15 feet out from the trunk of the tree, whichis in the front lawn of the college hotel building, almost overhanginga much-frequented street or road. One or two small twigs give sup-port to the nest, but it is not in any fork of the main limb?it issaddled on the limb itself, which is about l){ inches in diameter atthe nest. During my stay of about 20 minutes the adult femalemade two visits to the nest and fed the clamoring young."Eggs.?The bluebird may lay anywhere from three to seven eggsto a set; as small a set as three is unusual, five is a much commonernumber than four, six eggs are often found, but sets of seven are rare.The eggs are ovate or short-ovate and are somewhat glossy. Theyare normally very pale blue or bluish white and always, as far as Iknow, are unmarked. Numerous sets of pure-white eggs have beenreported; Dr. Musselman (1935) says: "In 1935 I was able to reachdefinite knowledge of the percentage of white eggs laid by BlueDirds.Of the 730 eggs recorded, 40 were albinistic in nature, or a total of5.48 per cent. Fifty per cent of these white eggs hatched and theyoung were banded, and I am hoping that some of the young birdsmay return to this vicinity next year which will allow me to deter-mine whether the trait of laying albinistic eggs is inherited." Hishope was realized, for in his later paper (1939), he states: "This year[apparently 1938] I had the return of the first young female birdwhich had developed from a white egg laid in one of my boxes. * * *Imagine my delight in recording six albinistic eggs laid by this second
242 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMgeneration bird. Of course, this one case is not sufficient to justifythe conclusion that all female Bluebirds which hatch from albinisticeggs will in turn lay white eggs."Mrs. Laskey, at Nashville, Tenn., has thrown considerably morelight on this question of inheritance; I quote from her manuscriptnotes, as follows: "A number of individuals have laid white eggs, butthere has been no evidence as yet to show this to be an inherited traitin this group. No. 36-146599, hatched April 1937 from an albino egg,was found in 1939 laying blue eggs. No. 38-121000, banded as anadult on April 6, 1939, was then incubating six white eggs. In 1940,one of those hatched from this set, N 6, laid five blue eggs in the ad-joining meadow. The following year N 6 had moved on to the nextmeadow, laying six blue eggs in the second nesting period. From thishatch, N 22 was found in 1942 as she incubated six blue eggs. Thus,daughter and granddaughter of the white-egg-laying female were layingnormally colored eggs.
"Five birds, known to have been hatched from blue eggs, laid whiteeggs (N 1, N 11, N 13, N 18, N 21). Only one, N 11, was found intwo seasons. In April 1940, at 253 days of age, she began her first setof five in the box where she had been hatched from a set of four blueeggs. For the season she laid 5-5-5-4 white eggs, with only the thirdsuccessful. She deserted her first two sets soon after completion andthe young of the fourth set when they were five days old. She reap-peared in the box in March 1941, laying five albino eggs, one blue-tinged. Four young were raised; one egg was sterile. On May 6 shebegan her second set of five white eggs but disappeared at the timethis set was hatching.
"In 1942 there were more white eggs laid than in any previousseason. They consisted of three sets of four, eight sets of five, twosets of six, and one set of seven. This total of 71 white eggs was 9.1percent of the 774 laid this season. Incidentally, sets of seven blue-bird eggs are rare; the 1938 and the 1942 sets are the only records inthe Nashville area."The bluebird is a persistent layer; if a set of eggs is taken, anotherwill be laid within a very short time, as the two following accounts willshow. Guy H. Briggs (1902) reports taking five sets of white eggsfrom one pair of birds during one season in a Maine orchard; the setswere all of five eggs, which he described as smooth and glossy, likewoodpeckers' eggs. The sets were taken on May 1, May 27, June 13,June 24, and July 6, the nests being taken with the sets. Two of thesets were in the same cavity in an apple tree, and two others were inthe same nest box. Between the last two dates only 1 1 days were re-
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 243quired to build the bulky nest and lay five eggs. The bird had abouthalf incubated the first three sets, but the last two sets were perfectlyfresh. Thus, in about 76 days the birds had built five bulky nests andlaid 25 eggs.Arthur T. Wayne (1910) had an experience that almost equaled theabove record. At Mount Pleasant, S. C, he took three sets of whiteeggs from a single pair of birds in one season, on March 30, April 12,and May 6; this bird laid another set late in May, and these wereallowed to hatch. The interval between March 30 and April 12 wasa short time in which to build a nest and lay four eggs.The measurements of 50 eggs in the United States National Mus3umaverage 20.7 by 16.3 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremesmeasure 22.9 by 15.8, 20.3 by 17.8, 17.8 by 16.0, and 22.4 by 15.2millimeters.Incubation.?The period of incubation is generally conceded to beabout 12 days, though in some cases it may be a few days longer.The young birds remain in the nest 15 to 18 days, according to variousobservers, but probably the former figure is near the average. Bothof these periods are evidently more or less varipble according tocircumstances. Mr. Smith (1937) noted that incubation "usuallybegan with the completion of the clutch, but one instance was recordedwhere it began with the laying of the fourth egg in a complement ofsix. Of nine successful incubations of the two broods, the periodconsumed 14 days in four instances, 15 days in three, and 13 and 16days respectively, in two instances."Incubation is performed mainly by the female, but the male assistsin this duty to some extent. Mr. Smith (1937) says:In one instance the male was seen to take his mate's place upon the eggs threetimes in the course of three hours. The male of No. 2 pair fed his mate at intervalsand maintained the semblance of a watch during her absence for food. Oftenthe male would fly to the box, or a near-by limb, uttering rapid call-notes, where-upon the female would fly out and away for feeding. The male did not alwaysremain near until his mate's return, but not infrequently he left shortly after thedeparture of the female. Absences, from meager observation, varied both infrequency and in regard to length of time. One nest was under observation from3.15 to 5.30 p. m., and schedule is as follows: Female left at 3.27, returned at 3.35;remaining on the nest until 3.52. At 3.57 the male entered the nest and incubateduntil 4.17, when he left. At 4.18 the female returned to stay until 4.25. The malereturned to the nest at 4.26, staying until 4.33 and returning again three minuteslater for another period on the nest, which lasted until 4.48. The female enteredthe box at 4.59, and remained until 5.16. After four minutes absence, she cameback and was still on the nest at the close of the observation period, ten minuteslater. The male of No. 1 pair was not seen to take any part in the duties of incu-bation, although considerable time was spent in observation, three and a halfhours being spent at one sitting.
244 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMYoung.?Young bluebirds are fed and cared for by both parentsmore or less equally, but with considera ble variation between differentmales. For instance, Mr. Smith (1937) says:The male of No. 1 pair was not seen to feed the young. * * * The male ofNo. 2 pair, on the other hand, was particularly active and during some of theobservation periods fed the young more often than the female did. The broodingof this pair was carried on exclusively by the female so far as we could learn.[During one hour, from 2.09 to 3.09 P. m.] the male brought food at 2.34:30, 2.37,2.45, and 2.58:30. Total feedings for the interval were nine, five by female andfour by male, and brooding lasted twenty-seven and a half minutes divided intofive separate periods. This may be compared with an hour's observation fivedays later, the period extending from 2.54 to 3.54 p. m. Nine feedings occurredwithin this interval also, but six were by male and three by female and the brood-ing occupied twenty-nine and a half minutes divided into two separate inter-vals. * * *In general the period passed by the young in the nest was eighteen days, oneexception occurred in the case of No. 2 pair in 1933, when the first brood of fourleft the nest after seventeen days.A brood watched by Mr. Du Bois (MS.) were in the nest just 15days. And Ora W. Knight (1908) says: "The parents take turns inincubating and the eggs hatch in twelve days, the young leaving infifteen days after they are hatched. Both parents feed them andcarefully take away in their bills all the excrement voided by theyoung." Mrs. Laskey (1939) states that "the only Nashville recordof a brooding male Bluebird is that of Simpson in April and May of1937 when one individual was captured twice in a mail box on a nestcontaining eggs."Mr. Smith's (1937) studies of the development of young bluebirdsshow that on the first day they varied in length from 31 to 41 milli-meters; and that at the time of leaving, the 17th or 18th day, theymeasured 125 to 130 millimeters in length. "The eyes usually beganto open on the 4th day, but in one instance this was delayed untilthe seventh day. Completion of the process required from three tofive days. Tail-feathers appeared on the 8th day. Primaries becamenoticeable on the 4th day."Mrs. Laskey (MS.) gives the following information on the success ofhatching and rearing of the young, based on her study for sevenyears: "A careful analysis of the Desting data, accumulated throughregular visits to the boxes, indicates that only 1,569 eggs of the 3,512laid have been successful to the point of survival of the young to theage of 16-17 days when they normally fly from the nest. This is44.67 percent of the total number laid and corresponds to percentagesfor birds building open nests. It is markedly lower than for hole-nesting species." Mr. Low's (1934) record for efficiency was decidedlybetter, varying from 62.7 to 87.5 percent.Mr. Du Bois (MS.) gives the following account of young bluebirds
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 245leaving their nest in a fence post: "On June 19 the young were leavingtheir nest; only two remained within. I spent most of the afternoontrying for more photographs. After a long wait the male flew to atrolley bracket some 60 or 70 feet from the nest and sat there, and onthe trolley wire, singing to the nestlings to come out. He kept thisup for a long time. Occasionally a youngster would look out of thehole. They were hungry; they called to their parents in the musicalyoung bluebird voice. But all afternoon the parents refrained fromgoing to the nest to feed them. They merely came occasionally totry to coax the young ones out, by flying past, or by singing to themfrom some little distance. Finally, one of the youngsters?the onethat had sat, two or three times, in the entrance way to look around
?
scrambled out on to the side of the leaning post, climbed partwayaround it, and flew across the car track to find a landing place on ahorizontal guy cable, against a tree. Both parents fed it immediately
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soon they returned and fed it again." He caught the young bird andreturned it to the nest, but it came out again within a few seconds,flew over the pasture, and alighted on the ground. During the after-noon the parents had been busy feeding the other young that hadleft the nest earlier and were in the trees. The last youngster was stillin the nest when he departed.Bluebirds almost always raise at least two broods in a season, or atleast attempt to do so; in many cases three broods are raised. As soonas the birds of the first brood are on the wing, the male takes charge ofthem, feeds them and teaches them to feed themselves. And the femaleimmediately gets busy with her second nesting, either with the samemate or with another; as mentioned above, only a few days are neededto build the second nest, or lay the eggs in the same old nest, whichhas been renovated, if necessary. By the time the second brood ishatched the young of the first brood are well grown, are still in thegeneral vicinity of the nest, and are able to assist in the feeding of thesecond brood of young, as has been frequently observed. After allthe broods are fully grown, the family group keeps more or less to-gether in the general vicinity of the nesting site until the time comesto wander about in fall, preparatory to migration.Many yearling birds return the following spring to nest in the generalvicinity of their birthplace. Mrs. Lasky (MS.) says: "Forty-twofemales, banded as nestlings, have returned to nest in the parks; alsoone banded elsewhere nested in the park, five miles from her birth-place. Numerous mated males, banded in the nest, are seen at thenests. The first eggs of 23 birds were laid at ages of 243 to 370 days,average 312. Egg-laying started on the average date of March 27(1938 to 1942), nine days later than a group of 27 birds, two or moreyears old. Size of sets did not differ with age, five being the average.
246 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMLate and early hatched birds laid at approximately the same time thefollowing spring."Plumages.?Mr. Smith (1937) describes the natal down as "darkmouse gray." The young bird is in practically full juvenal plumagewhen it leaves the nest, except for the short tail. The two sexes aredistinguishable in this plumage by minor differences. Dr. Dwight(1900) describes the juvenal plumage of the yoimg male bluebird, asfollows: "Above, slaty mouse-gray, the back lesser, median and afew inner greater coverts with white guttate spots bordered with sepia,the crown and rump much grayer and unspotted but sometimes withobscure transverse barring. Wings and tail dull azure-blue, the shaftsand tips of remiges and rectrices dusky with faint whitish edgings;tertiaries and greater coverts edged with pale chestnut. Below, dullwhite, mottled on throat, breast and sides with sepia, the featherscentrally white bordered by the sepia and a rusty suffusion. Auricu-lars dusky mouse-gray mixed with white; lores grayish; conspicuousorbital ring pure white."The young female is similar to the juvenal male, except that "theouter primary and outer rectrix have white outer webs, the blue iseverywhere very much duller, and replaced with brown on the terti-aries and wing coverts, the edgings duller and the quills with duskiertips."The first winter plumage is acquired by a partial postjuvenal molt,in August and September, the date depending somewhat on the dateof hatching. This molt "involves the body plumage, wing coverts,tertiaries and tail, but not the rest of the remiges." This plumage isalmost indistinguishable from the winter plumage of the adult male,though the colors are somewhat duller; Ridgway (1907) describes itvery well, as follows: "Similar to the spring and summer plumage,but blue of upper parts slightly duller, more or less obscured on hind-neck, back, and scapulars, by brownish tips to the feathers, andcinnamon-rufous of chest, etc., more purplish or vinaceous in hue."Dr. Dwight (1900) says of the first winter female: "In first winterplumage the blue is obscure and confined to the wings, tail and rump,the back is dull grayish chestnut, grayer on the crown. The sides ofthe head are gray and white mixed, the orbital ring white. Below,the throat, breast and sides are reddish cinnamon, tingeing also thegrayish white chin; abdomen and crissum dull white."The adult and first nuptial plumages of both sexes are acquired bywear, which removes the edgings and brightens the whole plumage.The following postnuptial molt, beginning about the middle ofAugust, is complete.Food.?In its food habits, the bluebird is one of our most usefulbirds. It does practically no harm to human interests and it destroys
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 247large quantities of harmful insects. In his analysis of 855 stomachs,taken in every month in the year, Professor Beal (1915a) found thatthe food consisted of 68 percent animal and 32 percent vegetablematter. He says: "Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids)furnish the largest item of animal food, amounting to a good percent-age in every month, and in August and September aggregating 52.68and 53.47 percent, respectively. The month of least consumption isJanuary, when they amount to 5.98 percent, and the average for thewhole year is 22.01 percent. * * * Beetles constitute the secondlargest item of animal food, and for the year average 20.92 percentof the diet. Of these, 9.61 percent are useful species, mostly preda-ceous ground beetles (Carabidae). Few birds exceed this record ofdestruction of useful beetles. * * * This destruction of usefulbeetles has been considered by some writers a blot upon the fair nameof the bluebird." Various other beetles of a more or less harmfulnature, such as May-beetles, dung beetles, weevils and others, areeaten in lesser amounts.Ants amount to 3.48 percent, and other Hymenoptera (wasps andbees) to only 1.62 percent of the bluebird's food. Only one workerhoney bee was found in one stomach. Hemiptera (bugs) average 2.75percent for the year; stink bugs predominated, and remains of chinchbugs were found in one stomach. Lepidoptera, in the form of cater-pillars and a few moths, form an important and regular article of food,averaging 10.48 percent for the year, the third largest item of animalfood. Other insects, spiders, myriapods, sowbugs, snails, and angle-worms, with a few bones of lizards and tree frogs, made up the re-mainder of the animal food.Beal's analysis showed that "the vegetable portion of the easternbluebird's food is largely fruit and mostly of wild species. Practicallyall of the domestic fruit taken was in June and July. Cherries andraspberries or blackberries were the only fruits really identified, thoughsome pulp may have been of cultivated fruit. The most importantvegetable food of the bluebird is wild fruit. The maximum quantityis eaten in December, when it amounts to 57.64 percent. Januarycomes next, but after that month the amount decreases ratherabruptly to zero in May. * * * The average for the year is21.85 percent. At least 38 species of wild fruits were identified andprobably more were present but not recognizable." Seeds are eatensparingly, and grain was found in only two stomachs. Miscellaneousmatter includes seeds of sumac, both the harmless and the poisonouskinds, poison-ivy and bayberry, amounting to 7.84 percent for theyear. Beal includes long lists of insects and vegetable matter eaten.Bluebirds obtain their food in the air, in the trees, and on the
248 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMground. In the air they are not so expert as the flycatchers andcannot catch the swifter insects, but they are often seen flutteringalong near the ground after low-flying insects or darting out from aperch on some high tree to snap up passing insects, sometimes dartingabout with a hovering flight for a considerable distance from theirperch. Francis H. Allen writes to me: "One September day I sawabout a dozen of them feed thus for an hour or two, the air being fullof dancing gnats." Once, he saw "a male feeding for a long time onthe ground on a lawn, progressing in straight lines for considerable dis-tances. He fed much as a robin does, but hopped instead of runningand did not pull out worms."In the trees bluebirds dart about among the foliage for flying insects,or pick caterpillars, katydids, and other insects from the leaves andtwigs. Fruits and berries must be picked mainly from the trees andbushes.But by far the greater part of their insect food, such as grasshoppers,crickets, beetles, etc., is found on or near the ground, and one oftensees a bluebird sitting on some low perch, a fence post or wire, orsome low tree, watching for its prey. Then it suddenly darts down,seizes something from the ground, and returns to its perch or anotherlookout point. Perhaps it may flutter down and, hovering just abovethe grass tops, seize a grasshopper and alight on the ground to eat itor return with it to its perch. Sometimes it stands on the groundand looks around, or actively searches for beetles or crickets; if itsprey takes wing, the bird may flutter along after it and catch it in theair.Behavior.?Bluebirds are generally regarded as gentle and lovablebirds and rightly so, for such is their ordinary demeanor. If undis-turbed they are friendly with their avian neighbors. But they canbe aggressive, and even fierce in standing up for their rights againstaggressors. In the competition for nesting sites they have oftenbeen known to compete successfully with English sparrows and treeswallows, attacking and driving them away when they attemptsd tousurp their nesting box. Other larger birds are often driven awayfrom the vicinity of the bluebirds' nest; the male stands guard whilethe female is incubating, feeds her occasionally, and drives awayunwelcome intruders, even human beings. Once, while I was intro-ducing a young boy to the mysteries of bird study, we were vigor-ously attacked; one of our party had removed the female and washolding her in his hand; and while the boy was examining the nestthe male flew at him so savagely that he lost his balance and fellflat on his back. Mr. DuBois (MS.) had a bluebird fly at his headin a very determined manner several times while he was examining anest with young; it did not actually strike him but came very near it.
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 249And Francis H. Allen tells in his notes of a similar experience; hewrites: "The parents were very solicitous and very bold; whenever Iapproached the nest they swooped at me, making a 'clopping' noisewith their bills and uttering a harsh chattering note. The malewas the more active of the two in the demonstrations. I couldhardly help dodging when he launched himself at my head."William A. Taylor sends me the following account of a swallow-bluebird feud at the Moose Hill Sanctuary in Sharon, Mass.: "Eachspring for years past these two species have fought for the possessionof a particular nesting box just back of the house. As a rule, thebluebirds won out, but this year they were outnumbered, and the swal-lows held possession and the bluebirds were forced to take anotherbox some 35 feet away. For a time peace seemed to prevail; butone morning, when the swallows had eggs and the young bluebirdswere about to leave the nest, I became aware of a commotion aboutthe swallows' box. As I watched, both male and female bluebirdsemerged with swallow eggs, which they dropped to the ground.The swallows left the neighborhood but, much to my surprise, returnedafter four days and, finding the bluebird box vacant, laid a secondclutch and brought forth their young on July 3. The bluebirdsraised their second brood in the swallows' first box, thus resulting ina complete exchange of boxes."Edward A. Preble (MS.) refers to a swallow-bluebird experienceat his boyhood home in Wilmington, Mass. A nesting box was madewith two apartments, side by side. Each spring its occupancywas a matter of sharp contention. But one spring the battle soonended by a compromise. The two pairs proceeded to build in adjoin-ing rooms, and both brought out their broods in relative peace.The bluebird, like many other birds, has been seen shadow boxingor fighting his own image in a windowpane or other reflecting surface.John Burroughs (1894) gives an amusing account of such behavior.He tells a story related to him by a correspondent ; a pair of bluebirdshad a nest on the observer's porch and a pair of vireos had a nest withyoung in some lilac bushes but a few feet away; for several days themale bluebird was seen to feed the young vireos repeatedly, greatlydisturbing the old vireos; his correspondent writes: "Sometimes thebluebird would visit his own nest several times before lending a handto the vireos. Sometimes he resented the vireos' plaintive fault-finding and drove them away. I never saw the female bluebirdnear the vireos' nest."With kind treatment and a little encouragement, bluebirds maybecome very tame, confiding, and friendly. C. F. Hodge (1904)tells an interesting story about how he trained a whole family ofbluebirds, old and young, to become friendly with all the members of792825?49 17
250 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMhis family; he began coaxing them to his windowsill with mealworms,of which they seemed to be very fond, and finally had them feedingout of his hand.The reader is referred to an interesting study of the territorial,nesting, and other behavior of the eastern bluebird by Ruth HarrisThomas (1946), which is published in too much detail to be includedhere.Voice.?The bluebird is no great singer; he cannot begin to competewith the greater songsters of the famous thrush family; but his shortcontralto notes of greeting, as we hear them early in spring, are mostwelcome and pleasing to the ear, full of richness and sweetness, andeven expressing affection. He really does not need to sing; hissimplest notes are full of music and fully satisfy the hungry earsof the listener.Aretas A. Saunders (MS.) has sent me the following full descriptionof the song: "The song of the bluebird is soft, sweet, rather short,and warble-like. It consists of three to eight notes grouped inphrases of one to three notes each, with very short pauses betweenthem. It is repeated every few seconds, and frequently two differentsongs are alternated. In the latter case it often happens that onesong ends with a rising slur and the other with a descending one, sothat it gives the effect of a question and an answer: Ayo ala loeelalee ay lalo leeo!"The song is never so loud as those of other thrushes. It variesless in pitch and between individual birds. The range of pitch, from24 records, is only 4% tones, from F ' ' ' to A ' '. Many individualsvary only 2}4 tones or 3 tones in the entire song. Though the songis comparatively simple, it is always pleasing, perhaps largely becausethe soft tone and lack of very high-pitched notes prevent any shrillness.
"Bluebirds sing from March to July or August. The song does notalways begin when the first migrants arrive. In 8 out of 29 years ofobservation in Connecticut, bluebirds were singing when first notedin arrival. In other years several days elapsed before song began.The average arrival is March 10, but the average first song is March18. The earliest date of beginning of song is March 3, 1923, and thelatest April 2, 1940. Since the bluebird is never very common inthe North and has periodical periods of scarcity, I often hear verylittle song in summer. In only eight years have I heard the song inJulv or August. In these years the average date of the last song isJuly 26, the earliest July 11, 1926, and the latest August 11, 1932.
"According to my observations, the male bluebird sings abundantlyduring courtship and nest-building, following the female about as shemakes trips to and from the nest for nesting material. But as soonas incubation begins, the song ceases abruptly and is not renewed
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 251
until the young of that brood have left the care of the parents andit is time to start a new nesting."The call notes of the bluebird are fully as musical as the song.These notes may be 2- or 3-syllabled, oola, aloo, oolaloo, or aloola.They may be heard frequently in the fall migration, as flocks of thebirds fly over in October and November. The alarm note, givenwhen the young are just out of the nest, is the only harsh soundI have heard from this bird; it sounds like chat or is often doubledto chatat."Mr. DuBois (MS.) writes the fall note as juiiit or Juliet, whichseems to be a good rendering of it. I have heard this plaintive fallnote early in spring, before the real song season begins. To JohnBurroughs (1871) the bluebird seems to say "Bermuda! Bermuda!Bermuda!" The song has often been expressed in other syllables,such as turwy, cherwee, cherey-lew, or tura-lee, in soft, liquid, musicaltones. W. E. Saunders (1887) once heard, and saw clearly, a blue-bird imitating the kay-kay note of the blue jay; he "found that afterthe bluebird had warbled from four to seven times, the next warblewould be prefaced with the Jay note."The bluebird has about the lowest-pitched voice of any of thepasserine birds; the crow's voice is decidedly lower, and that of theBaltimore oriole is slightly lower on the average but has a higherrange. According to Albert R. Brand (1938) the bluebird's voicehas an average mean frequency of 2,550, a maximum of 3,100, anda minimum for the lowest note of 2,200 vibrations per second.Enemies.?Bluebirds seem to have no human enemies; everybodyloves the gentle birds and appreciates that they are very useful andharmless tenants in our orchards and about our farms and gardens.But they have plenty of natural enemies to contend with. Catsreadily climb to many of their most accessible nests and can reach inand pull out the young or the incubating parent; snakes climb intosome cavities and destroy the eggs; red squirrels and blue jays invadethe nests and eat the eggs or young; and house wrens often puncturethe eggs, so as to appropriate the nest. Mrs. Laskey (1942) reportsfor that season: "A total of 174 sets, 774 eggs, were laid. From thislarge number only 261 young, 33.7 percent, left the nest box safely.Predation was heavy, 81 nests being entirely unsuccessful. Amongthese, 18 mother birds and 46 nestlings are known to have beendestroyed by cats and 55 eggs failed to hatch through the loss of theincubating females. A boy robbed 11 nests of eggs; 42 were rifled oftheir contents by snakes. A 54 inch specimen collected in one of theboxes last year after eating the young was identified by Dr. Jesse M.Shaver, Peabody College, as a Southern Pilot snake (Elaphe obsolete,obsoleta."
252 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMDr. Herbert Friedmann (1929) says that the bluebird is "a veryuncommon victim" of the cowbird, and cites about 15 records.Later (1934) he reports seven additional records and states: "Althoughthe bluebird is still to be considered a rather infrequent victim of thecowbird, it is by far the most often parasitized of hole-nesting birds."Mr. DuBois writes to me that he found five bluebirds' eggs and twocowbirds' eggs in a box in his yard ; all the eggs hatched, except onebluebird's egg, which was found on the ground, punctured; the othersix eggs hatched, but the sun was very hot and most of the youngperished from the heat; one cowbird and possibly one bluebird sur-vived, though he could not find the latter.Dr. Musselman (1942) once found in one of his boxes a filthy nestwith four half-grown bluebirds cuddled in the bottom ; and above themwas a two-thirds-grown starling sitting complacently on the smallerbirds; "the droppings of the larger bird had soiled and in one casealmost covered the head of one of the tiny birds below; one eye wasentirely covered and there was a stench which is unusual about sucha nest." He destroyed the young starling, washed the young blue-birds, rebuilt a clean nest and returned the young bluebirds to it;the mother bluebird accepted the change and raised her youngsuccessfully. "In the many years that I have carried on my Blue-bird experiment, I have never before found a Starling roosting in oremploying one of my boxes for a nest site. In fact, only upon threeor four occasions have I found Cowbird eggs in the normal nest.Only when somebody has removed the top of a box thus allowing anapproach of the female Cowbird through the aperture above hasthere been molestation on the part of the Cowbirds."Competition for nesting sites is one of the bluebird's greatesttroubles. House wrens have always been aggressive competitors,but the bluebirds have generally been able to resist them and some-times to evict them. Edward R. Ford has sent me the following note:"When young bluebirds left the 6 by 7 by 7 inch nesting box, June 20,I cleaned it out at once. By noon of the same day, house wrens tookpossession and began filling it with twigs. A few days later I noticedthat bluebirds were still about the box, and when I looked into it onJune 29 it held three bluebird's eggs. When the second brood hadflown, August 2, an investigation showed that the bluebirds hadassumed ownership before the wrens had completed the usual truenest in the twig mass and had made a scanty one of their own with afew dry grass stems."When the English sparrows came the bluebirds had to face a de-termined competition ; often the bluebirds were more than a match forthe sparrows; but when the sparrows came injgroups or droves they
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 253
were too much for the bluebirds to resist; fortunately, the sparrow-population is not so formidable as it once was, since its numbers havedeclined some. But the introduction of the starling gave the bluebirdsanother setback; these large, powerful birds can easily drive out thebluebirds and occupy any of the larger cavities; many old appleorchards that formerly housed bluebirds are now preempted bystarlings. Bluebirds are safe from these intruders, however, in manyof the properly constructed bird boxes; if the entrance hole is not over1% inches in diameter the starling cannot enter; but a 1%-inch holemight allow the starling to use the box.Bluebirds are generally able to contend with tree swallows, to drivethem out or to defend their homes against them. A housing feudbetween these two species is mentioned above, under "Behavior."Flying squirrels, deer mice, and even bumble bees have been knownto appropriate suitable cavities for bluebirds.Harold S. Peters (1936) lists two species of lice, one fly, and twospecies of mites as external parasites of the eastern bluebird. Doubt-less there are other forms of vermin that infest the nests.I have left until the last the bluebirds' most formidable enemy,Jack Frost, the agency that has destroyed more of them than allother enemies put together; countless thousands have succumbed toextreme cold, snowstorms, and cold, ice-forming rainstorms. Blue-birds seem to be very vulnerable to these elements in winter and evenin spring. The most notable of these catastrophes occurred duringthe winter of 1894-95, the season of the "big freeze" in the SouthernStates. Amos W. Butler (1898) describes the event as follows:The weather was warm until after Christmas. December 27 and 28 it becamequite cold in this latitude [Indiana]. The Bluebirds were forced farther southwardbeyond the limits of the severe weather. There it remained warm until late inJanuary. On the 24th of that month the temperature as far south as SouthCarolina remained near the zero mark. It turned warmer that night and thenext day, January 25, the weather was bright and clear. The day following wasFriday. It rained, then snowed; the wind came down from the northwestwith great velocity and the temperature fell rapidly. Everything was ice-boundor snow-bound to the Gulf of Mexico. Then followed weeks of unusual severity.By the end of the severe weather in April, it is said, but few Robins or Bluebirdscould be found. The destruction of bird life must have been enormous. TheBluebirds seem to have been almost exterminated. Few, indeed, returned totheir breeding grounds in the north and from many localities none were reportedin the spring of 1895.Bluebirds began to increase slowly during the next few years, but itwas five or ten years later before they seemed to have reached normalnumbers. A lesser reduction in their numbers in the East occurredas a result of the very cold winter of 1911-12 in the Southeastern
254 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMStates, but this was more local in its effect, and the birds soon re-covered from it. Dr. Musselman (1939) writes:In the seven years that I have been banding and studying Bluebirds throughthe use of bird-boxes, we have had three severe freezes in April after the majorityof the Bluebirds had laid their full quota of eggs. Nearly always I found comple-ments of frozen eggs deserted by the mother. Later, a second grass nest was builtdirectly over the old eggs, then the new mother would begin her nesting activities.Seldom did the original mother return to her old nest. The unfortunate featureabout such a catastrophe is not alone the destruction of fifteen hundred to twothousand eggs, but it is the fact that the nesting period is advanced about twoweeks. This means that these Bluebird boxes which are very much in demandby several types of birds have eggs in them at the time the House Wren (Tro-glodytes aedon) returns. The number of pierced eggs has been correspondinglylarge on the years of such freeze. During normal years the baby Bluebirds arein the nest at the time of the wrens' return. Generally they are not molested.On normal years the nesting is so timed that when the first batch of young Blue-birds desert the nest, the House Wrens have already established themselves else-where. When the Bluebirds return later for the second nesting, there is littledanger that piercing of the second complement of eggs will take place.In addition to the frozen and punctured eggs, he found on severaloccasions the frozen bodies of the incubating birds where they haddied on their nests ; and once two birds were found frozen to death in asingle box.Field marks.?Bluebirds are so well known and so conspicuouslycolored that they are easily identified. Even the spotted young havebluish wings and tails.Fall.?Dr. Winsor M. Tyler has sent me the following sketch:
"Bluebirds are all along the roadsides this morning?a windless,warm, October day. They are gathered sociably in companies ofhalf a dozen or more and keep near together like a big family, onebird following another when it flies. They are quietly musical as theyflit about, giving the gentle whit call, the soft chatter, the velvetyturwy, and sometimes a phrase of song. It is easy to imagine thatthe bluebird's song was evolved from a repetition of the whit note,perhaps by way of the turwy; a slight change in the tone of voice,making it mellower, louder, and sweeter, lengthening the notes a little,and there is the song."The birds perch on dead branches, wires, or fence rails, scanningthe ground as from observation posts, sitting upright with the tailstraight down ; they explore holes in the apple trees, peering in, some-times entering the cavities, calling to one another; they drop to thegrass or to the hard, surfaced roadway where they catch up some-thing with a deft peck. The bluebird's shadow at this season, themyrtle warblers, come down to the road, too, and act in the same way.
"In flight the bluebirds are very charming at this time of year;a leisurely flip of the wing carries them along silently with just enough
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 255momentum to keep them afloat in the air, and they often sail for a longway, drifting along with open wings. In contrast to the goldfinchesand purple finches they fly only a short distance before alightingagain. We shall see few more bluebirds before winter comes. Thislittle company is already on its way south, yet they seem in no hurryto leave New England. How leisurely the bluebirds are as they flitabout in fall!"Only in the northern part of its summer range can the fall migrationbe satisfactorily traced, but there it is sometimes quite conspicuous.Robie W. Tufts writes to me that bluebirds are uncommon in NovaScotia, but during October 1937 a flock containing "some hundreds"was observed in Annapolis County. "These were seen at the peakof their abundance for only a short time, but bluebirds were seen moreor less constantly for a few days after the main flight had passed.Considering the relative scarcity of these birds in Nova Scotia, theorigin of same is a mystery to me."In Massachusetts we usually see them passing through in Octoberand November. Out in the open country on clear days with a north-west wind, we often hear their sad farewell notes drifting down aroundus from all directions; and, looking up into the blue sky, we see largenumbers flying over, high in the air, widely scattered or in small de-tached flocks, and all floating along in a generally southward direction;we know that they are leaving us, and we are sorry to see them go.They sometimes turn up in unexpected places; on November 1, 1915,a flock of eight appeared at our shooting club among the sand dunesof Monomoy Island; the next day they were joined by 10 more; thesewere two clear, warm days, but the following day it blew a gale fromthe northwest, with heavy clouds and some rain; the bluebirdshad departed.Edwin A. Mason writes to me from Groton, Mass., that on Novem-ber 3, 1942, at 8:00 a. m., "it was raining, with a fairly strong windblowing from the NNW. Birds from the tops of tall bare willowscaught my ear. There, throughout the tips of the tree's branches,was a flock of bluebirds. They were moving occasionally from twigto twig, constantly talking back and forth. Very soon the majorpart of the flock took to the air. This made it possible to count them.The surprisingly large number of 28 were winging their way throughthe rain in a SSW. direction, with the wind quartering them somewhat,but still substantially on their tail. Evidently the flock had pausedto rest and despite the rain considered it a good time to continue onits migration. Three birds hesitated to join the flock, one of themstarting out after it only to return. These three probably tired birdsremained, calling back and forth, as the main body of their erstwhiletraveling companions went winging away southward through the dull
256 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMleaden sky, their voices and shapes gradually diminishing as the vast-ness of the murky sky enveloped them."The flock observed by Mr. Mason was not "surprisingly large," forthe birds are often seen in larger flocks, sometimes as many as a hun-dred, though usually more or less scattered. Late in summer andearly in fall mixed flocks of old and young desert their breeding resortsand wander about the open country and woodland, often associatedwith similar flocks of roving robins, all of which are much wilder andmore restless than they are about our grounds in nesting time. Baggand Eliot (1937) state that, in the Connecticut Valley in Massachu-setts, "in October, transient Bluebirds are abundant, and nativescome back as if to say good-bye to their homes, and sometimes carrynesting-material into their boxes, in that Indian Summer of the pro-creative instinct that many birds evince on warm October days."Referring to the Buckeye Lake region in Ohio, Milton B. Trautman(1940) writes: "The first southbound migrants were noted duringthe first half of September, and until the end of the month a rathergradual, daily increase in numbers was observed. The migrationreached its peak in October, when the bird was as numerous as inspring. In autumn its lisping note, uttered from overhead or from afence post or tree, was one of the most pleasing and familiar of allfall bird calls. The Eastern Bluebird was very conspicuous duringthe calm, warm 'Indian summer' days. of late October?such weatherwas called 'bluebird weather' by local sportsmen."At Point Pelee, Ontario, the migration is often conspicuous; onOctober 29, 1905, according to Taverner and Swales (1908), blue-birds were there in numbers. "Here numbers were feeding on thebare sand with the Prairie Horned Larks. It was in the waste clear-ings beyond Gardner's place, however, that the greatest numberswere found. Here they were in flocks almost as dense as blackbirds.When flushed from the ground they generally flew to some of thenumerous clumps of bushes growing here and there in the open and,when they lit and were viewed from a little distance, they were insufficient numbers to give the whole bush a decidedly blueish cast."Winter.?A few bluebirds spend the winter in southern NewEngland, especially in mild seasons and more commonly near theseacoast, feeding on bayberries with the few wintering myrtle war-blers or on the seeds of sumacs. They take shelter in the densegrowths of red cedars, which protect them from the cold winds andfurnish some berries for food. They roost in hollow trees or in birdboxes, sometimes several together. Mr. Forbush (1929) cites Wil-liam C. Wheeler, of Waltham, Mass., as having twice seen one go toroost in an old robin's nest. Dr. Harold B. Wood writes to me that
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 257bluebirds were common all through the winter of 1913-14 at Slocum,R. I., which is five miles west of Narragansett Bay in the central partof the State.Bluebirds sometimes winter in the more northern parts of the Mid-western States and even in southern Ontario. There are winterrecords for Point Pelee. And E. M. S. Dale says in his notes fromLondon. Ontario: "Although the bluebird is one of our earliest springmigrants, it was not until December 27, 1937, that we found any herein winter. On that date we found four birds about a bit of marshyground, where some springs had kept the snow melted and gavethem a chance to obtain food. The ground was covered with snow;in fact, we were taking a hike on skis and snowshoes when we foundthem. The temperature had been down to 8? below zero a few nightsbefore. They were still there on January 1 when we went out tobegin our New Year's list."From the Carolinas southward bluebirds are present all throughthe year, but they are probably not the same individuals, the localbreeding birds having moved southward to be replaced by othersdriven down from the north. M. P. Skinner (1928) says: "Thisseems all the more probable because during cold spells I found Blue-birds gathered in large flocks of as many as seventy birds in mostunusual places. They did not seem to be familiar with the countryand its supplies of food and water. But with warmer weather theselarge flocks of strangers disappeared and the familiar birds were foundagain in the usual small groups."In their winter resorts they are found in the more open woods, suchas the flat pinewoods of Florida, seeking the denser growths only forshelter and spending most of their time for food in the more openplaces, such as cotton, corn, and sugarcane fields. In such placesthey are often associated with myrtle, pine, and the palm warblers.A. L. Pickens tells me that "the sheltered nooks selected by individ-uals are interesting. A flock, I once observed, selected the cracksbetween the logs of a cabin in which cotton that had not been ginnedwas stored. Packed thus against the logs the cotton afforded a heatretainer, while the upper log gave shelter and the lower footing. Onebird I saw took possession of an old summer-tanager nest for a winterdormitory."M. G. Vaiden tells in his notes of a winter disaster not mentionedabove: "For some reason, probably the terrific winter of 1906 whensleet was 4 to 6 inches deep over a great part of central Mississippiwith a complete freeze-up of the ground for some 4 to 6 inches deep,when some trees were frozen and the trunks burst open, the blue-birds of this area, the normal breeding population, were frozen to
258 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMdeath or died of hunger and thirst, and the nesting of the bluebird inthe hill section certainly fell away considerably." He believes thatthe breeding birds of that area remain and mingle with the migrantsfrom the north, rather than migrating farther south.When all the vicissitudes with which bluebirds have to contendare considered, it is not strange that there seem to be no records ofgreat longevity. Mrs. Laskey says in her notes: "So far none of mybanded nestlings have been found after three years. The high rateof mortality through predation is doubtless the main factor in thisprevailing short life span. The oldest bluebird of record in the Parksgroup is an adult female, banded in May 1938 and nesting there eachyear. Her latest capture was in April 1942, when she was at leastfour years old. Another female, banded at my home as an adult inApril 1936, was retrapped each year until November 4, 1939, whenshe was at least in her fifth year of age."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?North America east of the Rocky Mountains from southernCanada to El Salvador and Honduras.Breeding range.?The eastern bluebird breeds north to southernSaskatchewan (Eastend, Lake Johnston, Indian Head, and HudsonBay Junction); southern Manitoba (Aweme, Lake St. Martin, andWinnipeg); southern Ontario (Emo, Port Arthur, Rossport, LakeAbitibi, and Ottawa; casually to Moose Factory); and southernQuebec (Blue Sea Lake, Quebec, Kamouraska, Point de Monts, andHavre St. Pierre). East to eastern Quebec (Havre St. Pierre andAnticosti Island); Prince Edward Island (Alberton); Nova Scotia(Halifax) , and the Atlantic Coast States to southern Florida (Jackson-ville, Miami, and Royal Palm Park). South to southern Florida(Royal Palm Park and Deep Lake); the Gulf coast of the UnitedStates; Veracruz (Jalapa); Guatemala (Panajachel) ; Honduras (SanJuancita) , and El Salvador (Mount Cacaguatique) . West to El Salva-dor (Mount Cacaguatique and La Reina), Guatemala (Antigua andDuenas) ; Oaxaca (Cerro San Felipe) ; Jalisco (La Laguna) ; Sinaloa(Plomosas) ; extreme southeastern Arizona (Sierra del Parajarita andSanta Rita Mountains); central Texas (Kerrville, San Angelo, andWichita Falls) ; central Oklahoma (Wichita Mountains and Fort Reno)
;
western Kansas (Garden); extreme eastern Colorado (Holly; occa-sionally Denver; has occurred at Pueblo and in Estes Park); south-eastern Wyoming (Cheyenne and Laramie, possibly Newcastle) ; rarelyto central Montana (Billings and Great Falls); and southwesternSaskatchewan (Eastend) . The eastern bluebird is also resident in theBermudas but is more numerous in winter.
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 259Winter range.?In winter the bluebird withdraws from the northernpart of its breeding range. The northern limit of wintering varies fromyear to year according to the severity of the weather. The winterrange extends north to extreme southeastern Arizona (Fort Huachuca)
;
northern Sonora (Bavispee River) ; northern Coahuila (Sabinas) ; cen-tral Texas (Fort Clark, San Angelo, and Wichita Falls); centralOklahoma (Wichita Mountains and Tulsa) ; eastern Kansas (Wichitaand Topeka) ; eastern Nebraska (Fairbury and Omaha) ; western Iowa(Sioux City) ; casually at Yankton, S. Dak.; Minneapolis and Duluth,Minn. ; Madison, Wis. ; central Illinois (Knoxville and Rantoul, casuallyto Rockford); southern Michigan, casually (Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor,and Detroit) ; northern Ohio (Oberlin and Akron) ; southern WestVirginia (Charleston and Bluefield) ; southern Virginia (Lynchburg) ;Maryland (Washington, D. C, and Cambridge); southeastern Penn-sylvania (Philadelphia); southern New York (Shelter Island, LongIsland, and Rhinebeck, casually); and casually to southern Massa-chusetts (Northampton, Taunton, and Cape Cod).The eastern bluebird has extended its range westward within ageneration or two. At Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, in 1884 it wasreferred to as a "recent arrival." In 1909 Macoun did not mentionany occurrence of this species in Saskatchewan; in 1922 it was foundbreeding in the Cypress Hills of southwestern Saskatchewan.The bluebird apparently is casual in winter in Cuba; a specimen wascollected in April 1860 and a flock of seven seen near Habana onFebruary 24, 1917.The foregoing range applies to the whole species, which has beendivided into several subspecies or geographic races. The easternbluebird (Sialia s. sialis) occupies the range east of the Rocky Moun-tains except southern Florida and southern Texas; the Florida bluebird(S. $. grata) is found in the southern half of Florida, the Tamaulipasbluebird (S. s. episcopus) is found in northeastern Mexico and thelower Rio Grande Valley in Texas; the azure bluebird (S. s. julva)occurs from southeastern Arizona south in the tableland of Mexico atleast as far as Jalisco. Other races occur south of the United States.Migration.?Some early dates of spring arrival are: New York
?
Syracuse, February 27. Vermont?Rutland, March 6. MaineWaterville, March 12. Massachusetts?Wilmington, February 22.Quebec?Montreal, March 12. New Brunswick?Scotch Lake,March 19. Prince Edward Island?Alberton, March 25. OntarioToronto, March 18. Illinois?Chicago, February 28. MichiganGrand Rapids, February 18. Minnesota?Minneapolis, March 6.South Dakota?Dell Rapids, March 21. North Dakota?Fargo,
260 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMMarch 22. Manitoba?Margaret, April 3. Wyoming?Laramie,April 24. Saskatchewan?McLean, April 4.Some late dates of fall departure are: Saskatchewan?Eastend,October 12. Wyoming? Laramie, November 7. Manitoba?Aweme,October 26. North Dakota?Fargo, October 24. South Dakota
?
Yankton, November 27. Minnesota?Lanesboro, November 19.Wisconsin?New London, November 3. Michigan?Ann Arbor,November 27. Quebec?Montreal, November 17. New HampshireDurham, October 30. Maine?Livermore Falls, November 6.Prince Edward Island?Alberton, November 2. New BrunswickSt. John, November 4. Nova Scotia?Halifax, October 2. NewYork?Rhinebeck, November 12.Banding records.?A few recoveries of banded bluebirds indicatetheir migration or wanderings. One banded on Cape Cod, as a youngbird, on June 23, was found the following December at Merry Hill,N. C. Another young bird banded at the same place on May 17 wascaught on December 1 at Soperton, Ga., and one banded May 28was caught November 7 at Durham, N. C. A young bird bandedon July 26, 1932, at Manchester, N. H., was killed on February 14,1933, at Sharpsburg, N. C. One banded at East Durham, N. Y., onJuly 15, 1931, was found dead in April 1932 at Neuse, N. C. A nestlingbanded at Ottawa, Ontario, on June 24, 1936, was killed on March 3,1937, at Lake City, Fla. An adult banded at Ravenscliff, Ontario,on May 24, 1938, was found in March 1939 at Blairsville, Ga. Animmature banded at Quincy, 111., on May 8 was caught the followingDecember at New Waverly, Tex.; another banded at the same placeon June 7 was found the following January at Frost, La. An immaturebanded at Dallas City, 111., on May 24, was found dead on December26 at Sugarland, Tex. One banded at Knox City, Mo., on May 18,1935, was shot on November 17, 1935, at Morrows, La. A nestlingbanded at Lisle, 111., May 20, 1938, was caught on January 23, 1940,at Stockton, Ga. An immature banded at Gates Mills, Ohio, July 18,1927, came down a chimney on June 2, 1928, at Milwaukee, Wis.An immature banded at Pomfret, Conn., July 29, 1931, was founddead on April 20, 1932, at Lunenburg, Mass.Egg dates.?Florida: 18 records, March 17 to June 19; 10 records,April 10 to May 10, indicating the height of the season.Illinois: 34 records, March 26 to June 20; 17 records, April 2 toApril 29.Massachusetts: 45 records, April 16 to July 17; 16 records, April23 to May 8; 17 records, May 13 to June 10.West Virginia: 38 records, April 3 to May 25; 24 records, April 3to April 15.
AZURE BLUEBIRD 261SIALIA SIALIS FULVA BrewsterAZURE BLUEBIRDHABITSThe history of this bluebird is ve^ brief, for very little seems tobe known about it, as it has rarely been seen north of the Mexicanboundary.Under the name of Sialia sialis azurea Baird, William Brewster(1885) writes:Three Bluebirds obtained in the Santa Rita Mountains [Arizona] in June aredoubtfully referable to this subspecies. One of the two males (No. 1855, F. S.,June 18) has the blue above of that greenish shade said to be characteristic ofazurea, but the other (No. 1856, F. S.), taken the same day, does not differ in thisrespect from sialis, the tint of the blue being precisely the same. Both are peculiarin having the under parts (excepting the usual dingy white space on the abdomen,crissum, and tail-coverts) nearly uniform pale brownish-orange, paler and yellower,in fact-, than in the female of sialis, and with scarcely a tinge of the usual deepreddish-brown. This characteristic is not mentioned in descriptions of azurea,nor do I find it in any of the dozen or more Mexican and Guatemalan examplesbefore me. The Santa Rita female (No. 1897, F. S., June 20), is still paler beneath,as well as browner above than the female of sialis. All these specimens differfurther from S. sialis in having rather longer wings and tails, in this respectagreeing with azurea. In the event of their proving distinct from the latter,which seems probable, I propose for them the name fulva. Whether distinct or not,the bird is new to Arizona, no form of Sialia sialis having been previously reportedfrom that Territory.It would seem from the above description that these Arizonaspecimens are merely intermediates or hybrids (if we may use thatterm with subspecies) between these two races of S. sialis, as theyshow a mixture of the characters of both forms. Mr. Ridgway(1907) used the name Julva in the main text of his Bulletin 50, but. heapparently changed his mind on it, for, in a footnote on page ixof the table of contents, he says: "This should be Sialia sialis azurea(Baird). (See Addenda, p. 887.)"The 1931 Check-list says that the azure bluebird "breeds mainlyin the Transition Zone from the mountains of southern Arizona southto Jalisco, Oaxaca, and Vera Cruz. Winters south to northernGuatemala."Harry S. Swarth (1914) calls it "rare in summer in the high moun-tains of extreme southern Arizona." He cites the record of theBrewster specimens, mentions a specimen taken by Dr. A. K. Fisherat Fort Huaohuea on April 30, 1892, and says: "The species is not ofregular or of common occurrence in either of these mountain ranges,where Sialia mexicana bairdi is the common breeding bluebird; infact the above records are the only ones known to me, though theregion has been visited frequently by collectors."
262 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMEggs.?There are not enough eggs of this subspecies available tomake comparisons, but there seems to be no reason to expect them tovary to any extent from those of the eastern race. The measurementsof seven eggs average 20.0 by 16.7 millimeters; the eggs showing thefour extremes measure 20.4 by 16.6, 20.0 by 17.2, 19.7 by 16.8, and20.0 by 15.9 millimeters.SIALIA SIALIS EPISCOPUS OberholserTAMAULIPAS BLUEBIRDBased on four specimens, sent to him by Dr. Louis B. Bishop, fromnortheastern Mexico, Dr. Harry C. Oberholser (1917) named theabove subspecies in honor of Dr. Bishop and described it as "similarto Sialia sialis fulva, but blue of upper parts rather darker, andanterior lower parts very much darker." He gives a full descriptionof the adult male, and says of its range: "State of Tamaulipas, Mexico,north to the Rio Grande Valley in central southern Texas."We seem to have no information on its habits.SIALIA SIALIS GRATA BangsFLORIDA BLUEBIRDHABITSOutram Bangs (1898) named this bird and gave it the followingsubspecific characters: "Size of S. sialis sialis; bill larger and stouter;tarsus and foot larger; color of upper parts clearer blue, less purple.In Sialia sialis sialis about smalt blue, and in S. sialis grata aboutFrench blue."Arthur H. Howell (1932) says that this bluebird is resident "nearlythroughout peninsular Florida, from about Lake County south toRoyal Palm Hammock." He remarks further: "The Florida Blue-bird lives chiefly in the open pine forests where there is an abundanceof rotting stubs suitable for nesting sites. The birds are not at allshy, and their sweet, mellow whistles add charm to the desolatewastes that compose so much of central and southern Florida. Thenests are in hollow stubs or fence posts, usually from 4 to 25 feetabove the ground." SIALIA MEXICANA BAIRDI RidfiwayCHESTNUT-BACKED BLUEBIRDHABITSThis handsome race of the Mexican bluebird breeds farther eastthan but not so far north as the western bluebird, according to the1931 Check-list, "mainly in the Transition Zone from Utah, Colorado,and central western Texas south to Durango and Zacatecas. Winters
CHESTNUT-BACKED BLUEBIRD 263from southern Utah and southern Colorado south to Sonora andZacatecas."For a clear understanding of the characters separating the races ofSialia mexicana, as well as the individual variation within each of thesubspecies, the reader is referred to an extensive paper on the subjectby Robert Ridgway (1894). Later Ridgway (1907) described thechestnut-backed bluebird more concisely as
?
similar to S. m. occidentalis, but adult male with whole back and scapulars uniformchestnut, producing a large and conspicuous dorsal patch; cinnamon-rufous ofunder parts more extended, always extending broadly across chest, sometimescovering whole breast; adult female with upper parts browner than in S. m.occidentalis, the back and scapulars hair brown to between sepia aDd proutsbrown, usually in strong and abrupt contrast with the mouse gray or hair brownof pileum and hindneck; young much darker and browner than those of S. m.occidentalis or S. m. anabelse, with under parts more heavily streaked or squamatedand the streaked areas more or less strongly suffused with pale fulvous or rustybrownish. Decidedly larger than S. m. occidentalis, with smaller bill.There is, of course, intergradation vith the adjacent races and con-siderable individual variation in the distribution of the blue andchestnut areas.Aiken and Warren (1914) write of its haunts and habits in El PasoCounty, Colo.:While this species is common almost everywhere on migration, though probablynever ranging quite as high as the next species, it breeds mainly in the yellowpine region between 7,000 and 8,000 feet, where it outnumbers the MountainBluebird. July 17, 1899, on the Divide north of Peyton, Aiken saw 20 Chestnut-backed to 5 of the Mountain Bluebirds, and it is probably more numerous on theDivide than anywhere else in the County. The two species are sometimes foundin mixed flocks in the spring, especially when the weather is stormy. The ap-pearance on the plains of this Bluebird during the spring migration is but for ashort time, as it goes into the mountains and onto the Divide by the first ofApril, but the storms which usually come early in May drive the birds down insmall flocks which remain until the weather clears and the snow melts. At thesetimes the birds often become much emaciated and some die from starvation,being unable to obtain food while the snow is on the ground.Harry S. Swarth (1904) says of its haunts in the Huachuca Moun-tains, Ariz.:During February and the early part of March I found the Chestnut-backedBluebirds quite numerous in the lower foothills, and on the plains immediatelynear the mountains, being entirely absent from the higher parts of the range,where the snow still lay deep on the ground; but about the middle of March theybegan to move upward, and by the first of April there were none to be seen exceptin the higher pine regions, their breeding grounds. Here they remained throughthe summer in the greatest abundance, none being seen below 8,000 feet, andbeing most numerous along the divide of the mountain. About the middle ofAugust they began, to some extent, to move down to a lower altitude once more,
264 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMfor the evening of August 12th a small flock was seen flying overhead near thebase of the mountains.Russell K. Grater has sent me the following interesting note fromZion National Park, Utah: "This bird is a summer resident above7,500 feet and is commonly seen in the open forest glades near meadows.Usually they range in groups of six or more before and after the nestingseason. In winter they drift down from the highlands into the canyonbottoms but always prefer wide canyons with some open areas.Frequently they are found drifting through the pifion-pine-jiiniperforest, where they eat extensively of the fruit of the mistletoe. Somebirds, when collected, had no other undigested food except the mistle-toe. Nests have been found in hollow trees, usually about 7 to 15 feetfrom the ground. Eggs are laid in May and June and two broods arenot infrequent. A nesting record of more than passing interest wasrecorded while I was living at Grand Canyon National Park. InMay 1935 a hollow in an old pifion pine was utilized as a nesting siteby both a chestnut-backed bluebird and a black-eared nuthatch.Both birds would occupy the hollow at the same time, sitting side byside. Each bird apparently fed only her own brood, and two familieswere raised by each set of parents during the summer. These birdswere quite tame and were not at all disturbed when the hole into thehollow was enlarged sufficiently for a study of this unusual event.Careful records of the event were kept by more than one interestedbird student at the park. This is the most unusual bird relationshipthus far observed at Grand Canyon."The chestnut-backed bluebird nests also in old woodpecker holesand in bird boxes, lays from four to six eggs, and in all other respectsdoes not differ materiall}7 from the western bluebird, which is treatedmore fully on the foMowing pages. Dr. rriedmann (1929) Lists thisbluebird as a very rare victim of the dwarf cowbird.The measurements of 30 eggs average 21.5 by 15.9 millimeters; theeggs showing the four extremes measure 23.6 by 16.5, 23.4 by 16.8,19.7 by 15.1, and 20.0 by 15.0 millimeters.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?"Western North America from southwestern Canada tocentral Mexico.Breeding range.?The bluebird of the mexicana group breeds northto southern British Columbia (Beaver Creek. Vancouver Island, AltaLake, 150 Mile House,Edgewood, and Newgate). East to southeasternBritish Columbia (Newgate); western Montana (Fortine, ColumbiaFalls, Lolo, and Laurel); western Wyoming (Yellowstone Park andPinedale); central Colorado (Estes Park, Golden, Colorado Springs,
"Wet Mountains, and Fort Garland); central New Mexico (Truchas
CHESTXTJT-BACKED BLUEBIRD 265Peak, Ribera, Capitan Mountains, and Cloudcroft) ; western Texas(Guadalupe Mountains and Davis Mountains); southern Coahuila(Carneros); western Tamaulipas (Miquihuana) ; western Veracruz(Las Vigas and Cofre de Perote); and eastern Puebla (Tochimilco).South to Puebla (Tochimiho); Morelos (Huitzilac) ; and Michoacan(Mount Tancitaro). West to western Michoac&n (Mount Tancitaroand Mount Patamban); southern Durango (El Salto); westernChihuahua (Colonia Garcia) ; northern Sonora (San Luis Mountains) ;central northern Lower California (Sierra San Pedro Martir, El Rayo,and 20 miles east of Ensenada) ; the Coast Range and sometimes thecoast of California (San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Monterey,Nicasio, and Humboldt Bay) ; Oregon (Gold Beach, Elkton, Newport,and Olney) ; Washington (Aberdeen, the Olympic Mountains, andMount Vernon) ; and southwestern British Columbia (VancouverIsland; Alberni and Beaver Creek).Winter range.?Through much of its range the species is resident oronly retires to lower altitudes in winter. It winters north to southernBritish Columbia (Comox, Chilliwack, and the Okanagan Valley) ; tothe valleys of the Cascades in Washington (Bellingham and DungenessSpit, occasional at Spokane) ; Oregon (Portland, Salem, and Corvallis)
;
eastern California (Lassen Peak region); western and southernNevada (Carson City and Searchlight) ; Arizona (south rim of GrandCanyon, Salt River, and Tucson) ; central New Mexico (Socorro,Albuquerque, and Las Vegas); and southwestern Texas (Frijoles,Marathon, and Fort Clark). In migration, possibly occasionally inwinter, it has been found as far east as Kerrville, Tex. There is onerecord of occurrence in winter near Poison, Mont., near the south,end of Flathead Lake.The ranges as outlined are for the species as a whole, which has beendivided into several subspecies or geographic races. The chestnut-backed bluebird (S. m. bairdi) breeds from Utah and Colorado southto Durango and Zacatecas; the western bluebird (S. m. occidenialis)breeds from southern British Columbia and western Montana south tosouthern California; the San Pedro bluebird (S. m. anabelae) breeds inthe Sierra San Pedro M&rtir and the Sierra Juarez of northern LowerCalifornia.Migration.?Some early dates of spring arrival are: Colorado
?
Colorado Springs, March 4. Wyoming?Yellowstone Park, March 13.Montana?Fortine, March 9. Utah?Salt Lake City, March 6.Idaho?Rathdrum, March 3.Some late dates of fall departure are: Idaho?Meridian, October 27.Utah?Kanab, October 21. Montana?Fortine, October 28. Wyo-ming?Yellowstone Park, September 8. Colorado?Beulah, October24. 792825?49 18
266 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMEgg dates.?California: 104 records, April 4 to June 29; 58 records,May 2 to May 31, indicating the height of the season.Colorado: 9 records, May 6 to June 16.Oregon: 29 records, April 18 to June 29; 15 records, April 18 toMay 21.Lower California: 6 records, May 15 to June 12.SIALIA MEXICANA OCCIDENTALIS TownsendWESTERN BLUEBIRDHABITSThe 1931 Check-list states that the western bluebird breeds fromsouthern British Columbia to southern California, but it may breedfarther north. Theed Pearse, of Courtenay, tells me that the largenumbers that pass through that portion of Vancouver Island indicatethat the breeding range extends considerably north of that point.The range extends eastward to northern Idaho and western Montana.Samuel F. Rathbun records it in his notes as a common speciesabout Seattle, Wash., from early in spring to late in fall, and offrequent occurrence during the winter. It is found in logged-offsections, along highways, and about isolated farms and clearings,where there are a few tall dead trees.In the Lassen Peak region of California, according to Grinnell,Dixon, and Linsdale (1930), "in summer western bluebirds were to beobserved about clearings and in those places where the cover of treeswas sparse. Individuals and pairs when not in flight were most oftenseen perched in the tops of dead or dead-topped trees."Grinnell and Storer (1924) state that, in the Yosemite region, "inthe spring and summer months the local Western Bluebird populationis confined almost entirely to the blue oak belt of the western foothillsand hence within the Upper Sonoran Zone. * * * In the fallmonths, however, Western Bluebirds appear at many up-mountainlocalities not previously tenanted by the species."Howard L. Cogswell writes to me: "On May 6, 1936, 1 saw one pairaccompanied by an immature on the oak-bordered Flintridge GolfCourse, near Devil's Gate Dam, Pasadena; and on June 28, 1940, Isaw a pair feeding half-grown young in the San Gabriel River Sanc-tuary, south of El Monte, in a typical Lower Sonoran riparian associa-tion, at an altitude of only 300 feet above sea level."Courtship.?The only information I can find on the courtship of thewestern bluebird is contained in a short note from Theed Pearse.He watched a pair mating; the male, that had been sitting beside thefemale, mounted her; and then the female mounted the male, which
WESTERN BLUEBIRD 267then flew away. A similar performance was seen a few days later;the male seemed to flatten himself out for the female to mount.Nesting.?The nesting habits of the western bluebird do not differmaterially from those of its eastern cousin. The only two nests thatI have seen were in nowise out of the ordinary; one, found on May 14,1911, near Tacoma, Wash., was in a cavity 10 feet from the groundin a dead oak stub; it contained four eggs; the other, in VenturaCounty, Calif., on April 7, 1929, was in an old hole of a Californiawoodpecker on the under side of a limb of a sycamore tree. Thenests were very simply and carelessly built structures of dry grassand a few feathers.Referring to the Yosemite region, Grinnell and Storer (1924)write:Old woodpecker holes are occupied when available, but failing to find one ofthese the birds will use some naturally formed opening in a tree. The decay ofstubs of medium-sized branches often results in the formation of cavities in theheart wood of an oak which are appropriate in form and size for use by the blue-birds. * * * The nest found near Lagrange was in a blue oak on a hill top.It was in a naturally rotted-out cavity at a height of 9 feet from the ground.Distant but 17 inches in the same stub was the nest of a Plain Titmouse. Thebluebird's nest was 6^ inches below the rim of the opening and the sparse finingupon which the 4 eggs lay consisted chiefly of dry foxtail grass. Another nest seenat Smith Creek, east of Coulterville, was 14 feet above the ground in a black oak.A natural cavity about 11 inches deep by 5 inches in diameter had been filled fora depth of 4 to 5 inches with soft materials. Entrance was afforded to the nest ontwo sides; on the one side was a hole about 2J4 inches in diameter, while therewas a much larger opening on the other side, so that the nest was easily visiblefrom without.In the Point Lobos Reserve, Monterey County, according toGrinnell and Linsdale (1936), "all the nests were in cavities in pinesor pine stumps at heights ranging from five to forty feet, averagingtwenty-two feet. On the few occasions when material was seen beingcarried to the nest, the female was doing the work. Usually, however,the male was present and showed an interest in the procedure. Oncea male at a nest spent more time there than did the female, going inand out and moving the materials. Several times a male was seento feed his mate."Western bluebirds are as easily encouraged to nest near our homesin bird boxes as are their eastern relatives ; here they often meet seriouscompetition with violet-green swallows or western house wrens, butthe bluebirds are generally the masters of the situation; they candefend their homes against such intruders and have been known todrive out the swallows from their occupied nest. Where naturalcavities, woodpecker holes, or bird boxes are not available the blue-birds will build their nests in any suitable cavity in a building, or
268 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
even in a cliff swallow's nest. They are very persistent in their at-tempts to raise a family; if a set of eggs is taken the birds will lay asecond set of eggs within a very short time and, if necessary, a third set.Eggs.?The western bluebird has been known to lay three to eighteggs to a set; probably sets of three are incomplete; sets of four, five,and six seem to be almost equally common; I have heard of only oneset of eight, in the collection of Sidney B. Peyton. The eggs are paleblue and practically indistinguishable from those of the eastern blue-bird in every way. The measurements of 50 eggs in the United StatesNational Museum average 20.8 by 16.3 millimeters; the eggs showingthe four extremes measure 23.3 by 16.3, 20.1 by 17.5, 19.1 by 16.8,and 20.3?by 15.2 millimeters.Young.'?The period of incubation does not seem to have beendefinitely determined, nor does it seem to be known how long theyoung remain in the nest; probably both of these periods are similarto those of the eastern bluebird. Incubation of the eggs and broodingof the young seems to be done entirely by the female. HarrietWilliams Myers (1912) watched a nest near Los Angeles for 1 hourand 35 minutes. "During this time the female left four times, stayingaway five minutes once and eight the other times. Her times forbrooding were respectively twenty-two, eighteen, ten, and twenty-four minutes. Almost invariably during this and subsequent watch-ings the female did not leave the nest until the male came to it."Four days later, during an hour and a half, "the female left the nestfour times as before. The longest interval of staying away wastwenty-seven minutes ; the shortest two minutes. The longest intervalof brooding was sixteen minutes; the shortest thirteen." Eight dayslater when there were young in the nest, she watched it for an hour."During the hour fifteen trips were made to the nest, the feedingbeing very equally divided. In fact, with two or three exceptions,the birds were both at the nest at once each of the fifteen times."James Murdock has sent me a photograph of a western bluebirdat its nest in a hole in a yellow-pine log. While he was photographinghe noticed that two males and one female were feeding the young;he and his companions saw the two males enter the nest. He writesto me: "One at a time they flew directly in front of us and enteredthe nest, one coming out while the other went in. Both had food intheir bills."Kenneth Racey (1939) writes: "The bluebirds are most amusingin the way they keep house and care for the young and they go throughthe same performance each year. The first brood is brought off andthen within a few days the old birds are busy laying and brooding again.When the second brood fledges, both families, usually eight young andthe two adults, join in one flock and remain in the neigh bom-hood,
WESTERN BLUEBIRD 269
visiting the garden every few days until it is time to leave for a warmerclimate. The young of the first family are fed aDd cared for whilethe second clutch of eggs is being incubated."Plumages.?The sequence of plumages and molts evidently parallelsthat of the eastern bluebird. The adults of the two species are moreunlike than are the juvenals. In the western bluebird the sexes aredistinguishable in the juvenal plumage. In the young male the headand neck are plain sooty gray, the interscapular region is from "Veronabrown" to "olive-brown," conspicuously streaked with white, and therump, upper tail coverts, and the lesser and median wing coverts aredull slate color; the breast and sides are "warm sepia," heavily streakedor spotted with white; the wings and tail are much like those of theadult female, but the blue is brighter and the tertials are marginedwith pale grayish brown. The young female is similar to the youngmale, but all the colors are paler and duller, and the breast is moreheavily streaked with white. Ridgway 's (1907) account indicatesthat only the young female has the interscapular region streaked withwhite, but all the young birds in the considerable series of both sexesthat I have examined are so streaked, and Dawson's (1923) accountagrees with my findings.The postjuvenal molt begins early in July in some birds and notuntil the middle of August in others, this probably depending on thedate of hatching. This produces the first winter plumage, in whichyoung birds become very much like the winter adults of the respectivesexes. Ridgway (1907) says of the young male at this season:
"Similar to the adult male in winter plumage, but the blue lighter andless violaceous and (except on rump, upper tail-coverts, rectrices, andremiges) duller, the feathers of pileum and dorsal region more broadlytipped with grayish brown; chestnut of under parts rather lighter, thefeathers with paler tips." The first winter female differs from theadult winter female in about the same way.There is apparently no spring molt, but the grayish-brown edgingshave worn away, giving a brighter appearance; first-year birds canthen be distinguished from adults by the juvenal wings and tails,which have been retained through the winter.One-year-old young birds and adults have a complete postnuptialmolt in August and September, at which old and young become in-distinguishable. Ridgway (1907) says that, after this molt, the blueof the upper parts of the male is "slightly obscured by narrow brownishtips to the feathers, and that of the chest and breast by pale grayishbrown tips." These tips wear away during winter, producing the fullspring brilliancy. Of the adult winter female, he says: "Similar to thespring and summer plumage, but brighter in color, the pileum and
270 BULLETIN" 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMdorsal region decidedly bluish, and ruddy brown of under parts morechestnut."Food.?Professor Beal (1915a), in his food studies, treats the westernbluebird, the chestnut-backed bluebird, and the San Pedro bluebirdall together, as subspecies of the Mexican bluebird. In the 217stomachs examined, the food was found to consist of 81.94 percentanimal and 18.06 percent vegetable matter. Among the animal food,grasshoppers formed the largest item, with an annual average of 21.29percent. Caterpillars were a close second, averaging 20.25 percent.Useful beetles, mostly Carabidae with a few ladybirds, amounted to8.56 percent; and other beetles, all more or less harmful, accounted for15.44 percent of the food. Ants constituted 5.38 percent, and otherHymenoptera only 1.26 percent; no honey bees were found. Fliesand a few other insects, spiders, myriapods, angleworms, snails, andsowbugs were eaten in very small quantities.The vegetable food was made up mainly of fruit, mostly all wildspecies or waste cultivated fruits picked up late in the season. "Rubusfruits (blackberries or raspberries) were found in 4 stomachs, prunesin 1, cherries in 1, and figs in 3." Elderberries and mistletoe berriesproved to be favorite foods ; weed seeds were eaten sparingly, no grainof any kind was found, and a few other items, such as seeds of poison-oak and other Rhus seeds, made up the balance. Of the food of thenestlings, he says: "The real food consists of grasshoppers and crickets,90 per cent, and beetles, 3 per cent, the remainder being made up ofbugs, caterpillars, and spiders. * * * The remains of 11 grass-hoppers were found in one stomach and 10 grasshoppers, a cricket,and a beetle in another."Theed Pearse tells me that he has seen western bluebirds feedingon the berries of the Virginia-creeper, taking them from the viues;he has also seen them "hawking" insects in the air with a very prettybutterfly flight. They often dart out into the air from some highperch and catch the insects in flight, but more often they watch fromsome low perch and flutter down to catch their prey on the ground,or hover along over the tops of the herbage to catch the flying insectsthat they have disturbed. Frank A. Pitelka (1941) saw some of thesebirds soaring in a strong wind while feeding; he writes:The bluebirds would fly to a position in the up-draft some 6 or 8 feet abovethe ground, there hover for a second or two, and then soar for a few seconds.On a number of occasions, one or two of them remained in a soaring positionwithout movement of wings for 6 to 8 seconds. The birds were foraging forinsects, which they caught by dropping quickly from their position in the air.It appeared that the wind was blowing insects upward over the hill slightlyabove the grass. The bluebirds, hovering or soaring and looking down, watchedfor them; when prey was sighted, the bird turned about face and flew back tocatch up with it. Such a behavior was observed on both the open slopes and
WESTERN BLUEBIRD 271in the draws. As many as four birds were noted hovering and soaring at onetime in a few yards of area.Dr. Grinnell (1904) describes an interesting method of feeding, asfollows: "In Palm Canyon great numbers were in evidence amongthe giant palms. A dozen or more would be seen clinging to eachpendant cluster of dates obviously attracted by the fruity outsidepulp. While thus feeding upon the fruit of the palms, the noise madeby the seeds dropping into the dry brush at the bases of the loftytrees was so great as to give the impression, before the true causewas discovered, that some large animal was trampling through theundergrowth."Grinnell and Storer (1924) give an account of how these bluebirdshelp to spread the seeds of the mistletoe. Only the soft pulp of theberry is digested, and the seed, which is coated with a film of mucilag-inous material, passes through the bird's alimentary canal in condi-tion to stick where it falls. Should the seed happen to fall on theright kind of host tree, it would, under proper conditions, germinateand start a new plant of this objectionable parasite. The birds swallowso many of these seeds that probably some new plants are startedeach year. They write of the feeding process: ''The birds individu-ally will seek perches about clumps of mistletoe, either on adjacentparts of the tree or on the twigs of the parasite itself. Berries will bepicked off and swallowed in rapid succession. Each bird, as it getsits fill of berries, flies to some nearby perch and sits there quietly.The process of digestion is a rapid one, and before many minuteshave elapsed enough of the berries will have gone from the bluebird'sgullet into its stomach to permit of further feeding. Thus the dayis spent, alternately in feeding and digesting."Behavior.?The same authors have this to say on this subject:In general demeanor the Western Bluebird is much like other members of thethrush family, being of deliberate or even phlegmatic temperament. Whenperched it sits quietly, not hopping about as do many small birds such as sparrowsand warblers. It ordinarily seeks a perch which will command a wide field ofview, as on some upper or outer branch of a deciduous tree. * * * Upontaking to flight bluebirds make off in the open, high in the air, uttering their softcall notes now and then as they fly. The high course of flight and the repeatedflight calls are suggestive of the behavior of linnets under similar circumstances.Sometimes the flight is so far above the earth that the birds are quite beyond therange of vision of an observer stationed on the ground, only the mellow call notesgiving indication of the passage of the birds overhead. When bluebirds are inflocks the formation is never compact or coherent; individuals move here andthere among their companions and single birds or groups join and depart atintervals.Voice.?Several observers have condemned the song of the westernbluebird with faint praise. Dawson (1923) says: "The EasternBluebird warbles delightfully; therefore, the Western Bluebird ought
272 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMto?but it doesn't. In an experience of some thirty-nine years, theauthor has never heard from the Western Bluebird's beak an utter-ance which deserves the name of song, or anything more musical thanthe threefold miu." Ralph Hoffmann (1927) writes: "In the breed-ing season the male utters a low chu, chu, chu, apparently his onlysong, but before dawn a camper among the pines hears a chorus ofthe rich call notes repeated from all sides as if from birds flying aboutin the darkness." And Grinnell and Storer (1924) say that the
"song is a very simple affair, just the common call notes uttered overand over again with monotonous persistence."Winton Weydemeyer (1934), however, gives this bluebird creditfor more musical ability, and contributes the following account of thesinging of a bird near his house at Fortine, Mont.:The first attempt at singing was noted at 4:40 a. m. (in full darkness) on April19. For several minutes without pause one of the birds from a perch rendered anendless song consisting of the common call note, few, repeated over and over,regularly but with varying inflection. On succeeding mornings the notes grad-ually became more varied. The following description was jotted down on themorning of April 26: "Bluebird from perch began singing at 4:35 (quite dark),sang for about 40 minutes. Sang without pause for about fifteen minutes first;later snatches of song successively shorter, intervening pauses longer. Song asuccession of call notes (3 different phrases); notes same as given separately indaytime, but connected in a series to form a typical 'song.' Song louder and moreenergetic than that of the Mountain Bluebird, just as the call notes are louderand more vigorous. Tempo much like that of Robin's song. F-flw, f-fiw, f-fSwf-f?w, eh-eh, f?w, f-fkw, eh-eh, f?w, eh-eh, fSw, f-f6w . . . The eh-eh is a commonphrase given with the call note few (or tew) during the day. It resembles theshort catch notes of Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Cassin Vireo."Three days later, on April 29, I awoke in the darkness at 4:20 a. m. to find abluebird already singing. I wrote down his song thus: "Ic-ic U, Uw, ic-ic, Uw,ic-ic towie, lowie (often two-Ue, two-lie?more musical), ic-ic, Uw, ic-ic twoie,towie . . ." These songs, with minor variations, were given throughout theseason. * * *The singing of these birds resembled the usual song of the Western Robin evenmore closely than does the song of the Mountain Bluebird as observed in thislocality. In the darkness I often found it difficult to tell whether a song wasgiven by a Western Bluebird a few hundred feet away or by a Western Robin at agreater distance. To me the Western Bluebird's singing, from a musical stand-point, is less enjoyable than that of its quieter relative, the song of the MountainBluebird being softer, more subdued, and more pleasingly modulated.During the early part of the season, in April, while the Western Bluebirds werepairing and selecting houses, the males during the day frequently gave a doublenote that was not heard later in the season. This was a musical -pa-wie, muchresembling a goldfinch's call. This was also coupled with the common call noteto form a series of phrases which perhaps constituted a "mating song"; Pa-wie,few few. Few few fa-wke. Fa-wte. Few few fa-wie. Pa-ne'e. Pa-wie, few,few . . . Another phrase sometimes given at this season I noted as elherick t6e,the first double note resembling a common phrase of the Western Robin's song.
WESTERN BLUEBIRD 273Field marks.?There are several partially or largely blue birds onthe Pacific slope, but not one is so intensely blue as the male westernbluebird; the rich blue of his head, wings, and tail and the deep chest-nut on his breast are distinctive marks. The jays are all much larger,the blue grosbeak does not have the solidly chestnut breast and itsstout bill is quite noticeable, and the lazuli bunting is a much lighterblue and has white wing bars. The colors of the female are similar tobut much paler and duller than those of the male. The mountainbluebird, in its pale soft colors, is not likely to be confused with thewestern, as there is no chestnut in the plumage of either sex.Fall.?Theed Pearse writes to me that, on Vancouver Island, somebirds, possibly local breeding individuals, move southward very early,during the last of June or the first two weeks in July. Other migratingparties pass through in August and as late as October 20, consistingof bluebirds, Audubon's warblers, robins, and cedar waxwings. Mr.Rathbun tells me that the western bluebird is a very common migrantduring the latter part of October in western Washington. Grinnelland Storer (1924) write:The manner of association during the season of molt has not been observed, butby September flocks have been formed which include both adult and immaturebirds, and in this fashion they spend the winter. The flocks, in observed instances,included from 6 to 25 members. Sometimes other birds are associated. InYosemite Valley we saw Western Bluebirds in company with Audubon Warblerson one or more occasions, and Mr. C. W. Michael (MS) reports Western and Moun-tain Bluebirds together there during November of 1920. Western Bluebirds andRobins are frequently seen together during the winter months though the twodo not flock with each other in the usual sense of the word."They say that there is an up-mountain movement of the bluebirdsin fall in the Yosemite region and that they are seen at high altitudesall through the late fall and early winter. "The attraction for thesebirds at these higher altitudes is the abundant supply of food in theform of mistletoe berries. This food supply, rather than weather,short of extremely severe storms, seems to be the factor regulating thestay of the bluebirds in the mountains. That snow alone is no particu-lar deterrent to the birds' stay is shown by our observations made onthe stormy morning of December 10, 1914, at Mirror Lake, whenbluebirds were flying about actively, now and again alighting on thesnow-weighted mistletoe clumps. Masses of the snow would be dis-lodged and shower the observer beneath, but the birds themselvesseemed in nowise discommoded."Mr. Cogswell writes to me: "This species is varyingly numerous inlowland areas from late in summer to early in spring but is usuallyabundant in the foothill areas around Pasadena and in the more openmountain canyons below snow level. Several were seen in Bear
274 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMValley, San Bernardino Mountains, on December 28, 1941, with afoot of snow on the ground. Together with their frequent companions,Audubon's warblers and house finches, they rove over the foothillmesas and into the outlying edges of town in small flocks (5 to 15),feeding on insects chiefly, but also at least occasionally on grapes andother berries."Mr. Rathbun tells me that in mild winters some of these bluebirdsremain about his grounds off and on all winter, investigating his birdboxes, and begin their nest building early in spring.SIALIA MEXICANA ANABELAE AnthonySAN PEDRO BLUEBIRDHABITSIt seems to be generally accepted now that this subspecies is con-fined in the breeding season to the Sierra San Pedro Martir and theSierra Juarez in northern Lower California, though Ridgway (1907)mentions a number of bluebirds from upper California, as far northas Mount Lassen, that show more or less the characters of this form.For a critical study of the races of the Mexican bluebird, the readeris referred to an extensive paper on the subject by Ridgway (1894),in which some doubt was cast at first on the validity of this subspecies.A. W. Anthony (1889) described this bird and named it for his wife,Anabel Anthony. He gave its subspecific characters as "differingfrom S. mexicana in slightly larger form, in the bay of the breast, whichis divided by the blue of the throat, restricting it to patches on thesides of the breast, and in the almost entire absence of bay on thescapulae." The female "differs from the females of S. mexicana in mycollection in the more pronounced blue of the head and larger size."He includes in its range Mount Lassen, Calif., Puget Sound, Utah,and Nevada; this extension of range is probably based on certainspecimens from these localities that show some intermediate charac-ters, such as those mentioned below by Ridgway.Mr. Ridgway (1907) described the San Pedro bluebirds as "similarto S. m. mexicana, but with bill larger and stouter; blue of upperparts averaging less violaceous (more ultramarine), back more oftenmixed with chestnut laterally; adult female with back and scapularsgrayish brown, forming a definite dorsal patch, distinctly definedagainst the brownish gray or dull grayish blue of pileum and hind-neck, and, with the grayish brown or brownish gray of throat, breast,etc., paler than in S. m. mexicana." In a footnote he shows the
SAN PEDRO BLUEBIRD 275
variation in the color pattern in 43 adult males from the San PedroMartir Mountains; 21 have no chestnut whatever on back or scap-ulars; 18 have the back chiefly blue; 4 have the back about equallyblue and chestnut; 30 have the chestnut of the breast divided by theblue of the throat, a character of S. m. mexicana; 11 have the chestnutof the breast continuous anteriorly; and 2 do not belong to eithercategory. This analysis shows that the characters of anabelae arenot absolutely constant, even in its restricted range. In anotherfootnote he says: "California specimens are not typical of this form,but are much nearer to it than to &. m. occidentalism from which theydiffer in larger size, more restricted areas of chestnut (though thischaracter varies greatly in both forms), and, on the average, decidedlyricher or more violaceous hue of the blue."Since the Sierra San Pedro Martir has become the birthplace of somany local subspecies, it seems worth while to include here Mr.Anthony's (1889) description of the region.About one hundred and fifty miles south of the United States boundary, andmidway between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California, lies a high range ofmountains, which is marked upon the later maps of the peninsula as "San PedroMartir." The region embraces a series of small ranges which rise from an elevatedmesa, having a mean elevation of about 8,000 feet, and an extent of sixty bytwenty miles. In these mountains are born the only streams that this part ofthe peninsula affords, and an abundance of pine timber is found throughout theregion. Many of the ranges on the eastern side of the San Pedro Martir rise toan elevation of 11,000 feet, or even, in one or two places, to 12,500 (?) feet.Arising as the region does from the dry, barren hills of the lower country to anelevation higher than any other on the peninsula or in Southern California, andpresenting in its alpine vegetation and clear mountain streams features so differentfrom the dry manzanita and sage-covered hills of the surrounding country, it isnot unnatural to suppose that its animal life would be found to differ in somerespects from that of the surrounding hills.J. Stuart Rowley writes to me: "Near La Grulla in the Sierra SanPedro Martir, of northern Lower California, I took a set of five slightlyincubated eggs of this race of bluebird on June 12, 1933. So far asI can determine, the habits of this bluebird are no different from thoseof the western bluebird of the north." Charles E. Doe, who now hasthis set in his collection at the University of Florida, in Gainesville,tells me that the nest was in a pine stub 8 feet from the ground.Eggs.?The eggs of the San Pedro bluebird are probably indis-tinguishable from those of the species elsewhere. The measurementsof 26 eggs average 20.9 by 16.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the fourextremes measure 23.1 by 16.5, 20.2 by 16.9, 19.4 by 16.2, and 19.6by 15.2 millimeters.
276 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMSIALIA CURRUCOIDES (Bechslein)MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDHABITSThe mountain bluebird is not so gaudily or so richly colored asthe western bluebird, but it is no less pleasing in its coat of exquisiteturquoise-blue. As it flies from some low perch to hover like a bigblue butterfly over an open field, it seems to carry on its wings theheavenly blue of the clearest sky, and one stands entranced withthe purity of its beauty. As Mrs. Wheelock (1904) says: "No wordscan describe his brilliancy in the breeding season, as he flies throughthe sunny clearings of the higher Sierra Nevada, or sits like a brightblue flower against the dark green of the pines." The male certainlyis a lovely bird, and the female is hardly less charming in her coatof soft, blended colors.It occupies a wide breeding range throughout the western half ofCanada and the United States, west of the Great Plains. It wasformerly called the Arctic bluebird, a decided misnomer, for it is inno sense an Arctic bird, being found in the northern part of its rangeonly in summer. Another old name, Rocky Mountain bluebird, wasmore appropriate, for it is one of the characteristic birds of thewestern mountains. Using the latter designation, H. W. Henshaw(1875), who recorded it as very common in Utah and Colorado, andin northern New Mexico and Arizona, says: "I have usually foundit during the breeding season in the wild, elevated districts, from7,000 feet upward, where it frequents the more open spaces, whereaspen groves alternate with the remains of pine woods, the brokenstubs of which, charred by fires which have swept through againand again, are seen on every side. * * * In the neighborhoodof Santa Fe, they breed commonly, and here were noticed in thevicinity of houses, seeming in fact to be as familiar and as much athome as does our own bluebird in the East."Robert Ridgway (1877) writes of it in the same general region:
"Its favorite haunts are the higher portions of the desert ranges ofthe Great Basin, where there is little water, and no timber otherthan the usual scant groves of stunted cedars, pinon, or mountainmahogany."Mrs. Bailey (1928) says that, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountainsin New Mexico, "we found a nest in a grove of aspens on the edgeof the open grassy mesa at 10,300 feet, we found families of old andyoung going about together at 11,000 feet. * * * On August 11,we were much pleased to find a flock of the Bluebirds, together withRed-shafted Flickers and Chipping Sparrows, at 12,300 feet, on a
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD 277protected slope in the dwarf timberline trees on the south side ofTruchas."In the Yosemite region, according to Grinnell and Storer (1924),it is chiefly a bird of the Hudsonian Zone, the greater part of thepopulation being found at altitudes above 8,000 feet, "and from thereit ranges up to the highest meadows found in our maintains shortof timber line." The highest points at which these bluebirds wereseen were at about 10,500 feet, and the lowest were seen at 7,400feet at Mono Meadow in June.Russell K. Grater writes to me from Zion National Park, Utah,that "this species is resident during the summer months above 7,500feet. During the winter months, these birds wander to lower eleva-tions, but seldom enter the deep canyons, apparently preferring moreopen valley country."Aretas A. Saunders (1921b) calls it a common summer residentthroughout Montana and says that it "breeds in the Transition zoneand less commonly in the Canadian. In the eastern part of the statebreeds in the pine hills, farther west, in cottonwood groves, aboutranch buildings, and in the more open types of coniferous forests inthe foothills of the mountains. In the Canadian zone, it is sometimesfound about the edges of mountain parks, but it is never as commonat such elevations in Montana as it is in the Transition."Spring.?At Chelan, Wash., during what they called a typical season,Dawson and Bowles (1909) noted that "the migrations opened withthe appearance, on the 24th day of February, of seven males of mostperfect beauty." These observers continue:They deployed upon the townsile in search of insects, and uttered plaintive notesof Sialian quality, varied by dainty, thrush-like tsooks of alarm when too closelypressed. * * * On the 15th of March a flock of fifty Bluebirds, all males,were sighted flying in close order over the mountain-side, a vision of lovelinesswhich was enhanced by the presence of a dozen or more Westerns. Several flockswere observed at this season in which the two species mingled freely. On the 27thof the same month the last great wave of migration was noted, and some twohundred birds, all 'Arctics' now, and at least a third of them females, quarteredthemselves upon us for a day,?with what delighted appreciation upon our partmay best be imagined. The males are practically all azure; but the females havea much more modest garb of reddish gray, or stone-olive, which flashes into blueon wings and tail, only as the bird flits from post to post.Norman Criddle (1927), of Treesbank, Manitoba, writes:The male bluebirds always arrive a few days in advance of the females, but it isnot long before the latter appear upon the scene and in an astonishingly short timepairs have taken possesoion of |a nesting site and the females are taking nestingmaterial into boxes. This haste in constructing a nest is difficult to appreciatebecause the birds do not, as a rule, actually start domestic duties for some timeafterwards. * * *
278 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMThe male bird is an extreme optimist and nearly any hole meets with his ap-proval, but his mate is not so easily satisfied and many of his selections are dis-carded as worthless. It is interesting to watch this home seeking, to see the maleput his head into a hole followed by the female; should she enter it, he flutters hiswings in the height of enthusiasm, but should she turn away unsatisfied, as shedoes nine times out of ten, then he appears dejected for a few moments, butspeedily recovering, endeavors to entice her into other holes the whereabouts ofwhich he appears to have discovered beforehand.* * * Old pairs probably remain united providing the male is able toovercome his rivals in battle but not, I suspect, otherwise. The males have beenobserved to fight vigorously and these combats have continued intermittentlyfor weeks before one bird finally admitted defeat. The female is always a witnessto these encounters, in fact she often follows the fighters from place to place, butI have not been able to discover that she takes any part in them and she apparentlyaccepts the victor as a matter of course.Nesting.?All the bluebirds appear to have very similar nestinghabits, and the mountain bluebird is no exception to the rule; almostany cavity and almost any location seem to suit them. A. D.Henderson tells me that as far north as Belvedere, Alberta, the moun-tain bluebird is a common breeder, nesting in flicker holes in the woods,as well as in bird boxes around the buildings. A. Dawes DuBois(MS.) reports two Montana nests; one was in a hole in a burnt stub, 20feet from the ground; apparently the other was in a hole in a bank ofthe Teton River, in the prairie region; he saw a pair investigating sev-eral holes in the bank and they were "especially interested in one hole,which looked like a kingfisher's nest tunnel; both of them went into it."Mr. Grater tells me that in Zion National Park, Utah, "nests havebeen located in old trees or in old woodpecker holes. These nests areusually only a few feet from the ground." Dr. Jean M. Linsdale(1938) reports two very low Nevada nests; one was "in a hole close tothe top of a pifion stump 3 feet high," and the other was "4 feet abovethe ground on the east side of an aspen trunk." Another was found
"beneath the roof at the corner of a house. * * * The nest wascomposed of grasses and lined with a few chicken feathers; it held 6eggs. Both adults were present, and they flew about excitedly orperched on a telephone pole 25 feet away." Still another "nest wasin a cavity made by flickers in the side of a house."Referring to the Yosemite region, Grinnell and Storer (1924) write:At Mono Lake Post Office a pair of Mountain Bluebirds had appropriated totheir uses a ledge in a woodshed, entrance to which was gained through a hole inthe wall. Here at the height of 10 feet from the ground a loosely woven nest hadbeen constructed. This nest was made of shreds of bark many of which showedevidence of having been freshly pulled from the trees for the purpose. There wereincluded also numerous chicken feathers from the nearby farmyard. The dimen-sions outside were roughly 6 or 7 inches in diameter and 2)4 inches in height.The depression for receiving the eggs was 3% inches wide and 1 yA inches deep. Afterone brood had been reared this nest was re-lined to receive a second set of eggs.
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD 279In addition to the more normal nesting sites in all kinds of cavitiesin various kinds of trees, in holes in banks, in old woodpecker holes,and in the more recently adopted bird boxes, mountain bluebirds'nests have been found in crevices in clifl's and among rocks, in oldnests, and in almost any available cavity about human habitationsand ranches. Miss Catherine A. Hurlbutt says in her notes: "I onceobserved these birds carrying nesting material into a cliff swallow'snest under the eaves of a barn, evidently appropriated from the right-ful owners, as there were swallows in all the surrounding nests; alsoanother in a chipmunk hole in the bank of a road cut about a coupleof feet above the surface of the road. I am not sure that the youngwere successfully raised in either nest."According to Mrs. Wheelock (1904) both male and female cooperatein building the nest. The materials used are quite varied ; almost anyavailable material seems to satisfy them. K,. C. Tate (1926) lists thefollowing material in Oklahoma nests: "Stems of wild oats, rosinweeds, goldenrod, sticktights and milkweeds, and rootlets of pricklypears, stinking sumac, scrub oak and ticke-grass." And the Macouns(1909) say that a nest found in a clay butte at Medicine Lodge, Sas-katchewan, "was wholly composed of the outer bark of the old stemsof Bigelovia graveolens, a composite plant that grew in profusion nearthe site of the nest. It contained seven light blue eggs. Another nesttaken under the same conditions along Frenchman river, Sask., onJune 21st, was built of the outer bark of sage brush (Artemisia cana)."Eggs.?The mountain bluebird lays four to eight eggs to a set.Five and six are the commonest numbers, and sets of seven are notextremely rare. They are usually ovate and are somewhat glossy.The color is pale blue or bluish white, averaging paler than those ofother bluebirds; very rarely they are pure white, much less often thanthose of the eastern bluebird. They are apparently always unmarked.The measurements of 50 eggs in the United States]National Museumaverage 21.9 by 16.6 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremesmeasure 24.9 by 16.8, 21.8 by 17.8, and 19.8 by 15.2 millimeters.Young.?Mrs. Wheelock (1904) writes:Fourteen days are required for incubation, and in this the male often, but notalways, shares. When not on the nest himself he brings food to his mate, callingto her in sweetest tones from the outside before entering the doorway. The newlyhatched young are of the usual naked pinkish gray type, looking as like tiny new-born mice as birds. On the second day down begins to appear in thin hairs onhead and back; on the fourth or fifth day the eyes show signs of opening; on thesixth day they open, and the down is well spread over the bodies.Up to this time they have been fed by regurgitation, the adult swallowing eachbit first to moisten or crush it; but from the fourth day on fresh food is givenoccasionally, and from the sixth or seventh day all the food given is in the fresh
280 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
state, not regurgitated. Crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, butterflies, and wormsare their menu, with a few berries. The young Bluebirds double in weight everytwenty-four hours for the first week, and in twelve days are growing a respectablecrop of feathers, though the bare skins is still distressingly visible. Their breastsgradually take on the soft, mottled light and dark, and the upper parts have ahint of blue among the grayish brown on the wings and tail. One would supposethat this blue on the upper parts would be too conspicuous, but when the young-sters leave the nest and perch on the soft gray of the dead trees, they becomealmost invisible in the strong sunlight.On Mount Rainier, on July 18, Taylor and Shaw (1927) discovereda nest of the mountain bluebird 30 feet up in a dead stub, and watchedthe parents feed the young for over half an hour and summarized theirobservations as follows:The young were fed 14 times in 34 minutes, the feedings averaging 2.4 minutesapart. The male fed twice in this time, the female 12 times. The rate of feed-ing established by this set of observations is approximately 22 times an hour.If this is maintained for five hours in the morning and another five hours in theafternoon, 220 feedings a day would be indicated. But on Mount Rainier at thistime of year there were nearly 17 hours of daylight. If the birds averaged 22feedings an hour for 17 hours, a total of 374 would be indicated. This figuremay be closer to the truth than the former one. The male was a shy bird andusually paused on a short branch one to three or four minutes, afraid to go tothe nest while the observer was about. The mother was far less cautious. Sheusually perched for a moment on a branch near the nest and then went directlyto it, often entering the cavity and apparently covering the young for a moment.Probably throughout most of its range the mountain bluebird rearstwo broods in a season, or tries to do so, perhaps sometimes three; butin the northern portion of its range and on the higher mountains,where the nesting dates seem to be later, it may have time for only one.Plumages.?Ridgway (1907) describes the young male in juvenalplumage, as follows:Pileum, hindneck, back, and scapulars light brownish gray or drab-gray theinterscapular area usually more or less streaked with white; rump and uppertail-coverts light ash gray; remiges and rectrices as in adults, but with distinctterminal margins of white (duller on remiges), the tertials dusky gray with palegray or dull whitish margins; middle wing-coverts brownish gray marginedterminally with dull white or brownish white; greater-coverts dull blue, marginedterminally and edged with pale gray or whitish; a conspicuous orbital ring ofwhite; lores grayish white, suffused with dusky in front of eye, and margined aboveby dusky; auricular region brownish gray or pale brownish gray, indistinctlystreaked with paler; throat and upper chest pale gray (passing into dull white onchin), indistinctly streaked with whitish; chest, sides, and flanks squamatelystreaked (broadly) with grayish brown or drab, the center of the feathers beingwhite; rest of under parts white.He says of the young female: "Similar to the young male, but blueof wings and tail much duller and (especially that of wings) greener;color of back, etc., browner."The postjuvenal molt begins early in August, or earlier, the date
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varying somewhat according to the date of hatching; I have seen ayoung bird that had nearly completed the molt on August 20, butusually the first winter plumage is not complete until some time inSeptember. This molt involves all the contour plumage and thelesser and median wing coverts but not the rest of the wings or thetail. In the first winter plumage young birds are practically indis-tinguishable from adults.One-year-old birds and adults have a complete postnuptial moltin summer, beginning sometimes before the middle of July, and insome cases it is not completed until well into September. Ridgway(1907) describes the winter plumage of the adult male as "similar tothe summer plumage, but blue of upper parts duller, that of pileum,hindneck, back, and scapulars more or less obscured by pale brownishgray margins or tips, the greater wing-coverts and tertials edged withwhitish or pale grayish; blue of under parts washed, more or lessstrongly, with pale brownish gray or grayish brown, especially onchest and sides of breast."Of the adult female in winter, he says: "Similar to the summerplumage but, coloration slightly deeper, especially the buffy grayishof under parts."There is apparently no spring molt, the colors becoming brighter bythe wearing away of the brownish gray edgings. The whole plumagebecomes very much worn before the postnuptial molt.Food.?Professor Beal (1915a) examined only 66 stomachs of themountain bluebird and says: "The contents consisted of 91.62 per-cent animal matter to 8.38 percent vegetable. This is the highestpercentage of animal matter of any member of the thrush familyherein discussed and is equal to some of the flycatchers." Thelargest item in the animal food consists of beetles; taken collectivelythey amount to 30.13 percent, but, of these, 10.05 percent belong tothree useful families, predaceous ground beetles, tiger beetles, andladybirds. Weevils amount to 8.11 percent, "the highest record forany American thrush." Ants were eaten to the extent of 12.51 per-cent, a record "not exceeded by any other bluebirds or robins."Other Hymenoptera, bees and wasps, amount to 3.80 percent; Hemip-tera, bugs, to 3.89 percent, consisting of small cicadas, stink bugs,negro bugs, assassin bugs, and jassids; and flies to only 0.92 percent.Lepidoptera, mostly caterpillars, are a regular article of food, amount-ing to 14.45 percent for the year. Orthoptera (grasshoppers, locusts,and crickets) are the largest item of food, averaging 23 percent forthe year. "Very curiously January shows the greatest consumption,70.33 percent; August, the normal grasshopper month, stands nextwith 53.86 percent.".Of the vegetable food, he says: "As with most of the other thrushes,792825?49 19
282 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMthe vegetable portion of the food of the mountain bluebird consistsprincipally of small fruit. The currants and grapes found were in allprobability domestic varieties, but as the grapes were from stomachstaken in December and January, and the currants from one taken inApril, they can have but little economic significance." Other itemslisted are elderberries, sumac seeds, and unknown seeds. In theirwinter haunts these bluebirds feed largely on mistletoe and hackberryseeds, on the drupes of the Virginia-creeper and on cedar berries, aswell as other wild fruits.Dr. George F. Knowlton tells me that out of 172 stomachs of thisbird collected in Utah 47 contained adults and 4 held nymphs of thebeet leafhopper, Eutettix tenellus, a destructive pest.Grinnell and Storer (1924) describe its feeding habits very well, asfollows:In the nesting season and indeed through most of the 37ear the MountainBluebird subsists upon insects. These are captured in two totally different ways,according to the habits of the insects sought. For beetles and others which flythrough the air a bluebird will take position on a boulder in a meadow or on thelow outswaying branch of some tree and dart after the insects which pass by.For insects which live on the ground, such as grasshoppers, the bird mounts 10to 20 feet into the air over the grassland and then by fluttering its wings rapidly,hovers in one place for several seconds and intently scans the surface below,like a Sparrow Hawk when similarly engaged. If something is sighted the birddrops quickly to the ground and seizes it; otherwise the bluebird moves a shortdistance to a new location which is given similar scrutiny. It thus examines theground in a manner recalling that employed by the robin though from an aeriallocation where its scope of view is much greater though less thorough.This hovering habit has been noted by numerous observers andseems to be characteristic of the species; it seems to prefer this methodof foraging to using posts and wires as lookout points, from which todart down onto its prey, as the other bluebirds generally do.Behavior.?The mountain bluebird is not a swift flier, probably notmaking more than 17 or 18 miles per hour on its ordinary short flights.John G. Tyler (1913) says that "a company of these bluebirds inflight may be identified at a distance by their peculiar manner ofpoising for a few seconds on rapidly beating wings, then flying aheadin undulating swoops. They are often seen in company with Lin-nets, the two species frequently perching for many minutes in neigh-borly manner on telephone wires. The bluebirds take wing one ata time and fly ahead at the approach of an intruder, the different unitsof a flock sometimes becoming quite widely scattered."Claude T. Barnes writes to me: "It is interesting to see them alightupon snow-covered telephone wires. The snow bothers them, andthe flock will not alight until one of their number has ventured uponthe wire and shaken himself, thus jarring off the snow."
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD 283These, like other bluebirds, are ordinarily gentle birds, but theyare able to defend their nests against aggressors and can becomeaggressive themselves in the competition for nesting sites, or evendrive out the rightful occupants. Dr. Alden H. Miller (1935) tellshow he saw them drive a pair of hairy woodpeckers from their partlyfinished hole and appropriate it for themselves:During the first day, June 5, commotions were frequently noticed at theWoodpecker's tree. The trouble was instigated by a pair of Mountain Bluebirds(Sialia currucoides) . Whenever the Woodpeckers alighted near the holes, bothBluebirds attacked by diving at them, uttering harsh notes and apparentlysnapping their bills. Such attacks often lasted five minutes. Evidently theWoodpeckers were too much disturbed by them, possibly also by us, and deserted.During the last two days at camp, no more fights were seen and the Bluebirdswere carrying nest material to the tree. The Woodpeckers stayed in the grove,often close to camp, but did not go to the trees near the nest. Since theBluebirds were just beginning to build, the Woodpeckers were clearly the firstoccupants and had been dispossessed. Irrespective of other factors which mayhave contributed to their departure, there was no doubt of the intention of theBluebirds to displace them.On June 6 the female Bluebird went to an unfinished Robin's nest just overthe tent and settled in it, much to my surprise. She plucked material from themargin and flew to her own nest hole. The Robins added to their nest laterthat day. The Bluebird, symbol of happiness and gentleness, became to us adifferent character, whose actions, viewed anthropomorphically, were aggressiveand piratical. Interspecific competition for nest material and nest site wereenacted before us.Voice.?The song of the mountain bluebird seems to have appealedquite differently to various observers. Dawson (1923) evidently didnot hear it at its best, or did not appreciate it, for, after describingits call and alarm notes, he says: "Other songs the birds have none.* * * The entire song tradition, including the 'delightful warble'attributed to the bird by Townsend, appears to be quite withoutfoundation." And that close observer of bird songs, Aretas A.Saunders, writes to me: "In all my experience with this species inMontana, I never heard it sing. On a number of occasious I campednear nesting bluebirds and heard morning awakening songs of variousother birds, but nothing from the bluebird. It may be, as Weyde-meyer suggests, that some individuals do not sing, or perhaps Inever happened to be awake at the right place and time to hear it."Kalph Hoffmann (1927) says: "The Mountain Bluebird at alltimes is singularly silent. An occasional low terr is its commonestnote, uttered by a flock in flight. The only song which the writerhas heard is the repetition of a few short notes, like the syllables ke kuor ku, ku, kit. When concerned about their young, the parents uttera vigorous tschuk, tschuk."On the other hand, some observers have been more favorably im-pressed. Francis H. AJlen says in his notes: "On several occasions
284 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMlate in September and early in October of 1929, in Colorado, I heardthe song of this species. It was a beautiful, clear, short warble,higher-pitched than that of S. sialis and hardly suggesting it. Thecall notes were sweet and soft, very much like those of the easternbluebird, but not so clear or so loud."Claude T. Barnes writes to me from Utah: "Sitting on a clothes-line, a female bluebird resented my approach by a click, several timesrepeated; then at last it sang its very soft, charming song: Trill, trill,trill, a mellow roll uttered without opening its bill. The number oftrlls varied from one to half a dozen, but I am positive the birdnever once opened its bill during the ten minutes that I watched itwithout taking the glasses from my eyes. This habit is, no doubt,somewhat responsible for the subdued nature of the lovely bird'ssong."Mrs. Wheelock (1904) refers to the song as "a sweet clear 'trually,tru-al-ly,' like that of the Eastern species, and a mellow warble."And Winton Weydemeyer (1934a) writes:On frequent occasions during the last seven summers I have forsaken the com-fort of my bed to enjoy their subdued, gentle singing. For one must be an earlyriser indeed if he wishes to hear the Mountain Bluebird's song. Singing com-mences in full darkness, and continues for a few minutes to as much as an hour,ceasing soon after daylight. * * * Only once during the past seven yearshave I heard the bird's song at any other time of the day: At 9 o'clock on a dark,rainy morning in March of 1932, a Mountain Bluebird gave weakly a few snatchesof its usual daybreak song.In form, the song is almost a replica of the familiar caroling of the WesternRobin; but it is given very softly, crooningly, with an unmistakable quality ofthe Bluebird's gentle call. Though I have not determined the distance at whichthe singing can be heard, I doubt if it is audible at seventy yards. The notes arerepeated over and over, without a pause, for as much as thirty minutes at a time.Because of the marked resemblance to the song of the Robin, * * * thesong of the Mountain Bluebird appears to be a possible illustration of retrogres-sion in the evolution of bird song. It seems probable that the song, at some timein the past, was louder and more varied, and was sung more commonly, than itis now; and that it is gradually being lost, even as the species is losing otherthrush-like characters. If this be so, it is possible that some or all of the Moun-tain Bluebirds in some parts of their breeding range are already songless, as thetestimony of many writers indicates.Field marks.?The male mountain bluebird is unmistakable in hisbeautiful coat of plain cerulean or turquoise blue, with only a shadingof dusky in his wing tips. The female is modestly clad in a palebrownish or buff gray, with a tinge of bluish on the upper surface.Both can be distinguished from the western bluebird by the entireabsence of chestnut. The blue is much paler than in most other bluebirds, except the lazuli bunting, which is a smaller bud and has whitewing bars.Enemies.?Other hole-nesting birds are competitors for nesting
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sites, notably flickers and English sparrows, and probably the ordinarypredators take their toll. Mr. Criddle (1927) says of these twoenemies: "Flickers are quite important factors in the survival ofyoung bluebirds, even though they often provide the adults withnesting holes. Two instances came to my attention of the parentsbeing driven from their nests by flickers, in both cases resulting inthe deaths of the young by starvation. * * * Male mountainbluebirds are able to defend their nests against all intruders of theirown size, this includes the house sparrow which has somewhat of areputation for ousting other species. The sparrow, however, is nomatch for the bluebird in open fight and despite its persistency, it hasnever been observed to get possession of a nesting box occupied bythe latter." He has seen the bluebirds drive away kingbirds, crows,and squirrels, but the flickers are generally too formidable. Housewrens have nested near the bluebirds, but he has never seen the formerdo any damage to the latter. Among the enemies of the bluebirds hementions Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks and weasels but thinksthe latter are not so destructive as the squirrels, which are betterclimbers. Cold rain and snowstorms early in spring or late in falloften prove fatal to young, or even adults.Dr. Friedmann (1938) could find only one record of cowbird para-sitism; a nest found by T. E. Randall in Alberta contained four eggsof the bluebird and one of the Nevada cowbird.Fall.?Early in August, family parties begin to gather into smallcompanies or larger flocks and gradually drift along southward fromthe more northern portions of their summer range, the migration con-tinuing well into November. They do not ordinarily move in com-pact flocks. At this season one often sees detached companies ofmountain, western, or chestnut-backed bluebirds wandering about theopen country, sometimes loosely associated with sparrows, juncos,warblers, flickers, and other small birds, on their way south. Butmany bluebirds spend the winter in the greater part of their summerrange, moving from the mountains down into the valleys.Winter.?Ralph Hoffmann (1927) says: "In winter any extensiveopen country, such as the wheat fields of interior California, is visitedby flocks of mountain bluebirds."These bluebirds do not wholly desert the higher elevations even inwinter; Russell K. Grater writes to me: "During late February 1942,I had occasion to be on ski patrol into Cedar Breaks National Monu-ment. At that time the snow was several feet deep on the open.The altitude is around 10,300 feet. Here on the snow fields weremany mountain bluebirds, darting hither and yon, apparently catch-ing something on the snow. An investigation revealed that the snowwas literally alive with hundreds of tiny winged insects and the birds
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were making the most of the abundance of food. These birds wereobserved commonly throughout the open country on this trip."George F. Simmons (1925) says that, in the vicinity of Austin,Tex., the mountain bluebird "appears in these comparative lowlandsusually during very cold weather or during the rare snowstorms andaccompanying freezes, which remain for several days."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Western North America from Alaska and northern Can-ada south to northern Mexico.Breeding range.-?The mountain bluebird breeds north to east cen-tral Alaska (Fairbanks, Lake Mansfield, and Ketchumstock) ; south-western Yukon (Dawson, probably; Selkirk, and Lake Lebarge);possibly southwestern Mackenzie, since it has been taken in summerat Fort Franklin, Great Bear Lake (type specimen), and at HayRiver and Fort Resolution on Great Slave Lake; north central Alberta(Lesser Slave Lake and Boyle) ; southern Saskatchewan (CypressHills, Wood Mountain, and Yorkton) ; and southern Manitoba(Aweme, Lake St. Martin, probably, and Richer). East to south-eastern Manitoba (Richer); western North Dakota (Fort Union,Arnegard, and Medora); western South Dakota (Short Pine Hillsand the Black Hills) ; northwestern Nebraska (Pine Ridge and otherpoints in Dawes and Cheyenne Counties) ; eastern Wyoming (LaramieMountains, Cheyenne, and Sherman) ; central Colorado (Estes Park,Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and Fort Garland); extremenorthwestern Oklahoma (Black Mesa region); and the mountains ofNew Mexico (Halls Peak, Pecos Baldy, Ribera, and the SacramentoMountains). South to southern New Mexico (Sacramento Moun-tains and Silver City) ; central Arizona (White Mountains and Mogol-lon Mountains) ; and southern California (San Bernardino Mountains).West to central southern California (San Bernardino Mountains),the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges in California (Walker Pass,Sequoia Park, Fyffe, Mount Sanhedrin, and Mount Shasta) ; westernOregon (Swan Lake, Fort Klamath, Saddle Mountain, and Portland)
;
western Washington (Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier) ; westernBritish Columbia (Horseshoe Lake, Oyster River, Vancouver Island,Smithers, Atlin, and Bennett) ; and eastern Alaska (Taku River, Mc-Carthy, and Fairbanks).Winter range.?The mountain bluebird winters north casually tocentral Washington (Yakima and Spokane), southwestern Idaho(Meridian); northern Utah (Salt Lake City and Provo), and centralColorado (Grand Junction and Denver). East to central Colorado(Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo); eastern New Mexico (LasVegas and the Guadalupe Mountains) ; western Chihuahua (Pacheco)
;
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD 287and eastern Sonora (Nacori and Alamos). Irregular or casual inwinter east to eastern Kansas (Manhattan) ; Oklahoma (Caddo) ; andTexas (Bonham, Corsicana, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi); andNuevo Le6n (Monterrey). South to southern Sonora (Alamos).West to Sonora (Alamos and Sonoyta) ; northern Lower California(San Ram6n, Rancho San Pablo, and Guadalupe Island, one record)
;
the coast valleys of California north to San Francisco Bay (San Diego,Santa Barbara, occasional on Santa Cruz Island, Salinas, and Sonoma)east of the Coast Range in Oregon (Medford and Portland) ; and eastof the Cascades in Washington (Yakima).Since the first decade of this century the mountain bluebird seemsto have increased and spread eastward, at least in the northern part ofits range. At Eastend, Saskatchewan, it is reported to have increasednoticeably between 1910 and 1922; at Aweme, Manitoba, it was
"rare" in 1890, and "common" before 1928; at Lake St. Martin,Manitoba, in 1931 the Indians reported it to be a comparativelyrecent arrival. A young bird, thought to be this species, was shotbut not recovered, June 10, 1931, at Churchill and an adult specimenwas collected there on August 6, 1938.Migration.?Some early dates of spring arrival are: Nebraska
?
Hastings, March 5. North Dakota?Charlson, March 19. Manito-ba?Aweme, February 28. Saskatchewan?Indian Head, March 16.Colorado?Fort Collins, February 12. Wyoming?Wheatland, Febru-ary 28. Montana?Helena, March 12. Alberta?Camrose, March 14.Utah?Corinne, March 8. Idaho?Meridian, February 17. BritishColumbia?West Summerland, February 14 ; Atlin, April 13. YukonDawson, April 20. Alaska?Dyer, April 20.Some late dates of fall departure are: Yukon?Carcross, September24. British Columbia?Atlin, September 24 ; Chilliwack, November 6.Alberta?Glenevis, October 15. Idaho?Priest River, October 13.Montana?Fortine, November 10. Wyoming?Laramie, November 3.Utah?Ogden, November 4. Colorado?Walden, November 5.Saskatchewan?Eastend, October 14. Manitoba?Brandon, Octo-ber 28. North Dakota?Argusville, October 11.One very interesting banding record is available. A young birdbanded at Camrose, Alberta, on June 9, 1939, was caught previous toNovember 30, 1939, at Wingate, Runnels County, Tex.Casual records.?At Cape Etolin, Nunivak Island, Alaska, threespecimens were collected on September 23 and 28, 1927. At Barrow,Alaska, two specimens were collected on June 5, 1930, and one onMay 20, 1937. All five of these birds were females. There are tworecords for the species in Minnesota: a pair seen closely on April 5and 7, 1935, near St. Cloud; and one to five seen from December 1942to March 14, 1943, at Duluth.
288 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMEgg dates.?Alberta: 8 records, May 21 to June 19.California: 34 records, April 5 to July 17; 17 records, June 9 toJune 18, indicating the height of the season.Colorado: 30 records, May 2 to June 12; 18 records, May 18 toJune 4.New Mexico: 6 records, May 5 to June 6.OENANTHE OENANTHE OENANTHE (Linnaeus)EUROPEAN WHEATEARContributed by Bernard William TuckerHABITSThe European wheatear is a bird of extremely wide distribution,ranging across Europe and Asia and extending, in the words of theA. O. U. Check-list, "to northern and east-central Alaska and southto the mouth of the Yukon and the Pribilof Islands." With such arange it might be expected to occur in widely varied types of surround-ings, and this is in fact the case. Always a bird of open country, itfinds suitable breeding grounds from bare hillsides, downs, and rabbitwarrens in England to the steppes and highlands of Asia and theArctic barrens and hilltops of all three northern continents.In Alaska it seems especially to frequent the mountains and barrenhilltops. Dall (Dall and Bannister, 1869), who saw many at Nulatoin May, was informed by natives that they were abundant on thedry, stony hilltops, where the reindeer congregate. In much thesame way Nelson (1887) was informed at St. Michael, Norton Sound,that they were "common on the bare mountains in the interior, fre-quenting the summer range of the Reindeer." Osgood (1909) recordsthat on August 7, the day after his arrival at the head of SewardCreek, east-central Alaska, "a party of Wheatears, two adults andseveral young, was found flitting about some rock piles near camp.Thereafter one bird or more was seen on every trip into the higherparts of the mountains." He observed that they frequented slidesand heaps of small broken rock almost exclusively. Dixon (1938)gives particulars of its occurrence in the Mount McKinley NationalPark in the Alaska Range. A male, one of a pair that was evidentlybreeding, was collected on May 29, 1936, high up on a mountainside1 ,000 feet above timberline. A young one barely able to fly was ob-tained on July 14, 1926, at Copper Mountain, where two familieswere subsequently seen, and in 1932, when they were numerous, nestingpairs were seen at Sable Pass, Savage Canyon, and near DoubleMountain. In August of the same year several families were seen atHighway Pass, along the highroad which was then under construction.Not much seems to be recorded about the habits of the wheatear
EUROPEAN WHEATEAR 289in America, but in the extreme north of Europe I have seen wheatearsin surroundings probably not dissimilar from their Alaskan haunts.On the high fells of the Arctic coast of Norway, dreary wastes offrost-shattered rocks and stones, a few wheatears share the desolationwith snow buntings, but in Scandinavia at any rate they are foundcommonly on the lower ground and may be met with breeding inrocky places anywhere from sea level. Farther south in Lapland, inthe conifer forest belt, wheatears are by no means confined to thehigh ground above timberline, or even mainly found there. Theybreed freely in forested country where there is a certain amount ofopen, rocky ground and are there quite arboreal in their habits, farmore so than in England, as will be described under "Behavior." Itseems, therefore, that in Alaska the wheatear is more restricted in itshabitat than in comparable latitudes in Europe. The Alaskan birdsaverage slightly larger than the European ones (Ridgway, 1907) buthave not been considered distinct enough to separate.Spring.?In temperate Europe the wheatear is one of the earliestmigrants to arrive. Birds begin to reach the British Isles in thesecond week in March, the main arrival extending from the end of thethird week to mid-April, though some passage continues till mid-Mayand even later (N. F. Ticehurst, 1938, vol. 2). An average arrivaldate in the English Midlands is March 23. Between the latitude ofthe Mediterranean and that of England the birds must travel rapidlyon their way north, for the passage in the former region seems to beginlittle earlier than the date of the first arrivals in the British Isles.Meinertzhagen (1930) states that the spring passage in Egypt beginsearly in March (earliest March 3) and that between about March 18and April 10 the birds are abundant. Alexander (1927) found thatthe passage near Rome extended from March 24 to May 2. Theinterval between the dates of arrival in Britain and in the far north ofEurope is much greater than that between the former and the beginningof the spring passage in the Mediterranean countries. Thus Blair(1936) observed the first arrivals at Vadso on the northern shores ofNorway on May 20. At Nijni Kolymsk on the Arctic coast of eastSiberia the first arrival in 1912 was not seen till May 31 (Thayer andBangs, 1914); the conditions here are more severe than in ArcticNorway. Data for Alaska are rather scanty, but arrival seems to beno later than in northern Scandinavia in spite of the much greaterdistance from the birds' winter quarters. Even as far north as PointBarrow, Murdoch (1885) observed the first arrival in 1882 on May 19,when the ground was still covered with snow except in a few places,but the birds remained only a few days, passing on to the northeastand not being seen again. Dall (Dall and Bannister, 1869) sawnumbers at Nulato on May 23 and 24, and Nelson (1887) obtained
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specimens on May 26 and 28 but does not state definitely whetherany had been observed previously. He stresses the "curiously irregu-lar distribution of this bird in Alaska in different seasons," its appear-ances in numbers in particular localities in one year and completeabsence in another. This is characteristic of many species of birdsin Arctic and sub-Arctic countries.Dall and Bannister (1869) speak of wheatears being seen on arrivalin Alaska in "large flocks," but probably this should be understood asmeaning no more than a large number in one place. In Europe,although considerable numbers may be met with on migration inplaces near the coast, they are generally scattered and show littleevidence of real gregariousness. Moreau (1928) notes that in Egypt
"in spring males preponderate in the earlier half of the migration,but there is no striking segregation of the sexes at any time," andthis would seem to hold good as a general statement.Courtship.?The usual display of the wheatear takes the form ofhoppings and bowings round the female and a common posture is withthe body somewhat tilted forward and the tail fanned so as to showoff its conspicuous pattern of white and black. Bertram Lloyd (1933)has described a case in which a female was being courted by twomales, one of which, when all three flew off together, continued histail-fanning display in the air, fluttering along about 15 feet above theturf and singing spasmodically the while. The observer writes of thisas an aerial display flight, but as there is no other record of similarbehavior it seems rather doubtful whether it can be properly so called,if the term is understood to imply a regular feature of the bird'sbehavior; it seems not improbable that the carrying over of the tail-fanning of the more usual ground display into flight may have beensomething of an aberration under stress of excitement. Anotherperformance of a paired male accompanying his mate as she prospectedrabbit holes for a suitable nest site is recorded by Miss E. L. Turner(1911), who says: "He would rise into the air some distance thendrop like a stone within a hairsbreadth of the ground, much after themanner of an ecstatic lapwing. When this display of daring ceasedto impress, he would hop round her, suddenly turn his back and spreadout his tail feathers so that the white parts were brought into view."Occasionally under the influence of extreme excitement a malewheatear has been observed to behave in a remarkably frenzied andecstatic manner, as has been vividly described by Bertram Lloyd,already quoted:Their chosen ground was a rough shallow trench in the turf, some eight to tenyards long, with a number of rabbit-scrapes round about it. Actually this "trench"was merely a rough irregular patch about a foot wide and three inches deep,where the turf had been dug out. Twice as I watched, the male Wheatear rose
EUROPEAN WHEATEAR 291hurriedly in the air * * * and sang a few hasty notes * * *; but mostly the pairwere quietly feeding or perching upon clods, flirting their tails in their charac-teristic manner, and were by no means loquacious. Presently, however, whenthe female was at one end of the "trench" and the male some distant, near the otherend, the latter turned smartly about and facing his mate, suddenly threw him-self into the air for a few feet with wide-spread wings. Then dropping sharplyto the ground he proceeded to perform a kind of almost ihythmic dance, violentsexual emotion thus freeing itself, I suppose; for he leapt from the centre of theshallow trench to the edge of its bank (perhaps six inches) then back to the centre alittle further forward (eight or ten inches) then on to the bank again, and soon in rhythmic progression, with the utmost celerity. He thus seemed merelya little whirling mass of fluffed-up feathers and quick-darting legs, till reachinghis mate, who was watching (and possibly admiring) him from her end of thetrench he cast himself flat before her, lying taut, with head to earth and wings andtail widely outspread. In this wise he certainly displayed very effectively agreat part of his plumage to his demure and sober-coloured mate, the sun glintingon the fresh blue-grey of his back, and the wide-spread wings throwing intoclear relief the vividly contrasted whiteness of his rump and the fine markingsand lines of his head and chin. I could see his form quivering with excitementwhile he lay thus prone for a few seconds. * * * Then, rising, he flew quietly offaccompanied by his mate, and they resumed feeding a few yards away.This observation was made on May 5, 1924, near Tring, England.That the utilization of a depression for the purpose of dancing to andfro across it was not merely an individual trick is shown by thecuriously similar account given by the well-known observer EdmundSelous (1901). He describes in detail the behavior of two malewheatears on March 30, when a female was in the vicinity, and re-peatedly observed a frenzied dancing display, much as Lloyd describes,the performer generally selecting some depression in the ground in orderto dart to and fro across it in a state of the greatest excitement.Finishing here, he runs a little way to another such depression, enters it, andcoming out again, acts in precisely the same way, making the same little rapidlymoving arch of two black up-and-down pointed wings, moving now this way,now that, now forwards, now backwards, from edge to edge of the trough, perchingeach time on each edge of it, but so quickly, it seems rather to be on the points ofthe wings than the feet that he comes down. Wings are all one sees; they whirlforwards and backwards, backwards and forwards, making a little arch or bridge,the highest point of which, in the centre?which is the point of the upper wing
?
is some two feet from the floor of the trough, whilst the point of the lower onealmost touches it.After a time the performance would cease, to be resumed by oneor other after an interval during which both hopped about togetheron the turf. During the display the non-performing bird appearedto show little interest, but sometimes after it they would dart at oneanother as if to attack, only to separate when almost in the act ofclosing. Once a variant of the dance was observed: "He now hardlyrises from the ground, over which he now seems more to spin in astrange sort of way than to fly?to buzz, as it were?in a confined
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area, and with a tendency to go round and round. Having donethis a little, he runs quickly from the hollow, picks a few little bitsof grass, returns with them into it, drops them there, comes outagain, hops about as before, flies up into the air, descends again anddances about."Presently the female reappeared, the rivals meantime hopping orflitting about, singing or maneuvering around one another in a ratherindefinite fashion until at last a fierce fight took place. This, how-ever, appeared to lead to no positive result, the combatants separatingas if by mutual consent to resume their hopping about, singing, anddisplaying. After another fight and more of the same sort of behavior,one of the males flew to the female, "and these two are now in eachother's company, singing, flying and twittering for some ten minutes.It would seem as though she had made her choice, and that this wassubmitted to by the rejected bird, but just before leaving at six o'clockall three are together again." Here, unfortunately, the account ends.At the end of March the birds would probably not long have arrivedon their breeding grounds, and it seems clear that Selous was fortunateenough to witness most of the drama of pair formation, though it is apity that he missed the last act. But in the case of Lloyd's observa-tion, the birds were evidently paired, as would be expected from thedate, and it is evident that the "dancing" display may be an outletfor sexual excitement at widely different stages of the breeding cycle.Nesting.?The wheatear is territorial in its breeding habits. Thenest is normally always under cover. In Britain, especially in thelowlands and on the less elevated hills and downlands, it is very com-monly in a rabbit burrow. Otherwise the normal site is a cavity underor among rocks, or in heaps of stones, and doubtless this is thetype of situation normally used in Alaska. In Europe it may alsosometimes be placed in an old stone wall or drain pipe, and nearhuman habitations old tins and all sorts of other artificial receptaclesmay be occupied. Occasionally a somewhat more open site may beused, and Boyd Alexander (1908) has recorded that on the Kentcoast it is not unusual to find nests built in a mere depression on thebare beach, but in most districts such a situation would be consideredhighly abnormal.The male may inspect nest sites before the arrival of a female, butlater both sexes or the female, with the male accompanying her, havebeen observed doing so and it appears probable that the femaleexercises the final choice (Nethersole-Thompson, 1943). The nest isgenerally built by both sexes, though principally by the female. Itis rather loosely built cup of grasses, bents and roots, and sometimesmoss, lined with fine grass or rootlets, hair and feathers, and bits ofwool or vegetable down.
EUROPEAN WHEATEAR 293Eggs.?The eggs of the wheatear are a uniform, delicate, pale blue,only occasionally showing some red-brown specklings. The Rev.F. C. R. Jourdain (1938, vol. 12) gives the measurements of 100 Britisheggs as: Average, 21.2 by 15.9 millimeters; maximum, 24.8 by 15.4and 21.8 by 17 millimeters; minimum, 19 by 15.3 and 19.4 by 14.6 milli-meters. I am not acquainted with any measurements of Alaskan eggs.The normal clutch in Europe is six, sometimes five and occasionallyseven, but Jourdain mentions that complete sets of three or four mayalso sometimes be found and very rarely eight. The species is double-brooded on the south coast of England (Walpole-Bond, 1938) but isusually single-brooded, and it seems safe to state that it must be so inAlaska. In the British Isles eggs are found late in April or early inMay, but chiefly in May. In Germany the period is given as thesecond half of May to June (Niethammer, 1937). At Vadso, northernNorway, where the conditions no doubt more nearly approach thosein Alaska, full clutches were found on June 23-25 (Blair, 1936).Young.?Incubation is performed chiefly by the female, but MissE. L. Turner (1911) and H. L. Saxby (1874) record the male alsotaking a share. Niethammer (1937), however, quotes a case of acaptive pair in which the task was performed entirely by the female.Incubation begins on completion of the clutch (D. Nethersole-Thompson, 1943), and the period is given by Jourdain as about 14days. Caroline and Desmond Nethersole-Thompson (1942) in a de-tailed survey of eggshell disposal by British birds state that theeggshells are removed from the nest, though small pieces may befound crumbled up in the lining. They have observed a femalecarrying a shell and have found many shells in nesting areas. Theyoung are fed by both sexes, but according to Miss Turner, alreadyquoted, if the birds are disturbed or suspicious one member of thepair, not necessarily always the same sex, may be much more easilyput off from feeding than the other. She records that at severalnests she was photographing the hens alone brought food to theyoung, the males diligently collecting it and supplying their mates,but refusing to face the camera. But she quotes a case of anothernest at which the photographer counted 32 visits by the male andonly one by the female. The feces of the young ones are carried awayby the parents, but when old enough the nestlings deposit theirdroppings at the mouth of the nest hole. This is recorded on theauthority of Dr. II. J. Moon in a paper by R. H. Blair and B. W.Tucker (1941) summarizing the results of an enquiry on nest sani-tation and published information on this subject. Oscar and Magda-lena Heinroth, the results of whose amazing achievement in rearingmost of the birds of central Europe from the egg are embodied intheir great work "Die Vogel Mitteleuropas" (1926), found that
294 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMyoung wheatears leave the nest in about 15 days and can fly ratherwell at 19 days. Field observations on the fledgling period seem tobe lacking, as are exact observations on the length of time that theyoung are tended by the parents after leaving the nest. Familyparties may be seen when the young are well grown, but in Englandfull-grown young birds may be seen alone in August. The Heinrothsfound that the young could feed themselves well and adequatelyat 26 days.Plumages.?The plumages of the common wheatear are fullydescribed by H. F. Witherby (1938, vol. 2) in the "Handbook ofBritish Birds." The down of the nestling is dark gray, long, andfairly plentiful except on the femoral tract; the mouth is pale orangeinside, with no spots; and the flanges externally are very pale yellow.The juvenal plumage (both sexes) is quite distinct from that of adults.The upperparts are grayish to buffish brown, each feather with apale subterminal spot and narrow dark brown tip, producing a some-what spotted general effect. The white upper tail coverts are usuallyvery narrowly tipped with brownish, the throat creamy white andbreast pale buffish, the feathers lightly tipped with brown, giving arather mottled or obscurely barred appearance. The wing quills,greater coverts, and tail feathers are like those of the adult female.These feathers are retained when the rest of the juvenal plumage isexchanged in August for that of the first winter, in which both sexesresemble the adult female in winter except that occasionally some ofthe new median coverts have small white wedge-shaped spots at thetips as in the juvenal. The first nuptial plumage, assumed early inthe year, is like that of the adults, except that in males the upperpartsare a browner, less pure and clear gray, and the wing and tail feathersa browner black.Food.?The wheatear, like its allies, is mainly insectivorous. TheRev. F. C. R. Jourdain (1938, vol. 2) gives the following summary:"Coleoptera (small Carabidse (Amara), Staphylinidse, Curculionidae(Otiorrhynchus) , and Elateridse), Diptera (Muscidae, Tipulidas andlarvae), Hymenoptera (Bombus and ants), Lepidoptera (Euchelia,Zygsena, larvae of Arctia caia, etc.), Orthoptera (grasshoppers), etc.Also small land Mollusca (Helix, Clausilia), centipedes, and spiders.In winter ants and beetles."Though based mainly on British data, this may be taken as givinga good idea of the usual diet. Vegetable food does not seem to havebeen recorded in Europe, and so it is rather curious to find thatthe stomach of a single bird recorded by Cottam and Knappen (1939)taken at Hooniah Sound, Alaska, May 12, 1920, contained foodalmost entirely of plant origin. It included "thirty unidentifiedbulblets and fragments of many more, totalling 96%, and undeter-
EUROPEAN WHEATEAR 295
mined plant fiber, 3%. The animal matter consisted of one jumpingspider (Attidpr), 1%; fragment of another spider, trace; and fragmentof an undeterminable insect, trace. Gravel constituted 5% of thetotal content." It may be noted that Bean (1S83) found wheatearsat Cape Lisburne in August feeding on grass seeds and fruits ofSaxifraga. The indigestible portions of the food, mostly the chitinousparts of insects, are disgorged as pellets, a habit probably found in allinsectivorous passerines, though in many it has not been recorded.Behavior.?The wheatear is a lively and sprightly bird, constantlyactive. As already mentioned, it is a characteristic species of opencountry, with a liking for rather stony and waste places. In describ-ing its behavior it will be convenient to follow, but slightly to expand,the condensed and necessarily somewhat "telegraphic" account thatthe Writer gave in the "Handbook of British Birds" (1938, vol. 2).It is essentially terrestrial in habits, moving over the ground in aquick succession of long hops, sometimes so rapidly that it seems torun, frequently halting on some little eminence or flitting a short dis-tance from one such perch to another, or making little flutteringdashes into the air after insects. At rest the carriage is rather upright,but it is seldom long still, constantly bowing and bobbing and at thesame time spreading the tail and moving it up and down. Whenperching off the ground it usually does so on fences, walls, rocks, orheaps of stones, sometimes on bushes, but in England not often ontrees. Where there are scattered trees on its breeding ground itmay sometimes be seen to perch on them, but it has been repeatedlyobserved that on migration the Greenland wheatear is much moredisposed to perch in trees than birds of the present race. That anArctic race breeding on treeless barrens should show a greater likingfor trees than one accustomed to more temperate latitudes may seemodd, but is none the less a fact. In the days when it was usual toread human feelings and motives into the actions of animals it mighthave been suggested that the disposition to perch on trees was suffi-ciently explained by the very fact of a sojourn in lands where any suchinclination could not be indulged. Nowadays such explanations willhardly satisfy. In actual fact there is evidence that the habit is apeculiarity of northern-breeding wheatears whether they nest in tree-less regions or not. In Lapland, where birds of the present race breedregularly in more or less open and rocky places in forested country,they perch freely on the tops of the tall pine trees, and it has recentlybeen recorded that among wheatears in at least some parts of Scotlandthe habit is far more prevalent than is the case in England. Thebehavior of the Alaskan birds where trees are available does not seemto have been noted. The flight of the wheatear when sustained is
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undulating like that of so many small birds, but more often than notone sees it fly for a short distance only, low over the ground with arather flitting action, to settle not far away on some little hillock orlow perch and repeat the performance if followed. In its pursuit ofinsects it will sometimes hover in the air for a moment, and occasion-ally where the air currents are favorable a more sustained hoveringhas been observed as the bird prospects the ground for food. Inplaces where conditions permit, especially on migration, wheatearshave an inclination to take shelter underneath rocks or stones, or inother holes and crannies. They will do this to avoid birds of prey andother causes of alarm and will roost in such places when they can.Voice.?The note of the wheatear most commonly heard is thescolding or alarm note, a hard chack-chack like two pebbles strucktogether. This may be prefaced by a shriller note, weet-chack-chack, and this should perhaps be regarded as a more definite alarmnote, regularly heard when the birds have young. The weet is alsoused alone. The food call of the young, both before and after fledging,is a tremulous, shivering wheeze or rattle, but well-grown young birdshave also a very distinct, twanging teek, and a not dissimilar note mayat times be heard from adults. The song, which may be heard inEngland from the time of arrival to about mid-July, is a short, pleas-antly modulated warble rather incongruously mixed with creaky orrattling sounds often suggestive of a handful of little pebbles shakentogether. Imitations of other birds may sometimes be incorporated,and these may on occasion be very good indeed, as has been especiallystressed by Saxby (1874) writing of wheatears in Shetland. Probablyit is largely an individual trait. The song is most characteristicallydelivered in a little fluttering song-flight, in which the bird rises to nogreat height and then glides down again with spread tail. But it isalso regularly uttered from some little eminence on the ground, suchas a clod or stone, from rocks, fences, stone walls, and the like, occasion-ally from bushes or even telegraph wires, and in northern Europe alsofrom the tops of trees (see the preceding section), though over muchof its range this would be considered most unusual. Occasionallythe song may be heard at night. It is evident that on migration thewheatear begins to sing only when approaching its breeding grounds,for although Misses Baxter and Rintoul (1914), the well-knownScottish ornithologists, record that birds on the spring passage arefrequently heard singing on the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth,song from migrants in the Mediterranean region has apparently neverbeen recorded. Nor does the species normally sing in the winterquarters in Africa, as do some passerines, though Meiklejohn (1941)has recorded one heard singing in Tanganyika on December 25.
EUROPEAN WHEATEAR 297Nicholson (1936) has described a subdued subsong, heard from a youngbird in August, a low inward warbling reminiscent of the song of theskylark (Alauda arvensis).Field marks.?The wheatear has been compared to a bluebird as toshape, flight, and feeding habits, though it is actually somewhatsmaller and its coloring is very different. The outstanding marks ofthe species are its white rump and white tail with broad black term-inal band and black central feathers, combined with black or blackishwings. This pattern is as distinctive of the somewhat spotted youngas of the adults. The adult male in breeding plumage is a clear grayabove with a black mark through the eye bordered by white aboveand with whitish underparts, more or less tinged with sandy buff onthe breast. In autumn and winter he is much browner and morelike the female, which is brown above and buff below, with the blacksof the male replaced by dark brown and the dark facial mark oftenquite obscure. If birds of the present and Greenland races are seentogether, at any rate in Britain, where it is no very exceptional ex-perience since the latter is a regular passage bird, the Greenlanderappears a noticeably larger and stouter bird and often seems to havea bolder, more upright carriage. It should be noted, however, thatthe Alaskan wheatears also tend to be rather large. In spring typicalmales of the two races are tolerably distinct in coloring and manyGreenlanders can be recognized in the field with considerable confidenceby observers with a good eye and the requisite experience, owing tothe birds deeper buff underparts and rather more brown-tinged, less puregray upperparts. But a good many individuals could not be dis-tinquished in the field by coloring. In Britain it is also noticeablethat the Greenland bird is quite decidedly more prone to perch intrees than is the common form, but as further explained under "Be-havior" this point in itself must not be relied on too much. In anycase information is lacking as to the habits of the Alaskan birds inthis respect.Enemies.?The wheatear is liable to the attacks of hawks in thesame way as other small birds frequenting open ground, and its nestto the occasional depredations of ground vermin as are other speciesof similar nesting habits.In the southeast of England, man would formerly have had to bereckoned as its chief enemy, for wheatears were at one time greatlyesteemed by epicures and were trapped in fantastic numbers od theautumn migration by the shepherds of the South Downs of Sussex.The traps, or "coops," as they were called, were made by the simpledevice of cutting a small trench in the turf and laying across it,grassy side downward, the sod removed in making it. This formed792825?49 20
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a passage or cavity with a way ir> at either end in which a horsehairnoose, or, according to other accounts, two such nooses, were fixed.Descriptions of the precise construction of these traps differ somewhatand some are perhaps inaccurate, though no doubt the details didvary. Two types for which there is firsthand authority are figuredby Walpole-Bond (1938) in the latest treatment of the subject. Inboth of these the excavation was T-shaped, the crosspiece of the Tformed by the removal of an oblong sod about two-thirds as wideas long (dimensions of about 8 by 11 inches have been mentioned),while the other limb of the T, across which the sod was placed, waslonger and relatively narrow. Owing to the birds' predilection forrunning into shelters of this kind, and being deceived by the appearanceof a clear way through, they were very easily taken in such snares.The scale on which these traps were operated and the numbers ofbirds taken were astonishing. In Yarrell's "History of British Birds"(1874) it is stated:One man and his lad can look after from five to seven hundred of them. Theyare opened every year about St. James's Day, July 25th, and are all in operationby August 1st. The birds arrive by hundreds, though not in flocks, in dailysuccession for the next six or seven weeks. The season for catching is concludedabout the end of the third week in September, after which very few birds areobserved to pass. Pennant, more than a century since, stated that the numberssnared about Eastbourne amounted annually to about 1,840 dozens, which wereusually sold for sixpence the dozen, and Markwick, in 1798, recorded his havingbeen told that, in two August days of 1792, his informant, a shepherd, had takenthere twenty-seven dozens; but this is a small number compared with the almostincredible quantity sometimes taken, for another person told the same naturalistof a shepherd who once caught eighty-four dozens in one day. In Montagu'stime (1802) the price had risen to a shilling a dozen, and it is now much higher,through the greater demand for and smaller supply of the birds.In the course of the nineteenth century the numbers taken grad-ually declined and the practice has fortunately long died out, thoughWalpole-Bond (1938) mentions that up to as recently as 1902 wheat-ears were still sent in fairly large numbers to certain hotels at Brightonand perhaps Eastbourne as well. It appears, however, that thesewere chiefly "caught in clap-nets spread ostensibly for Starlings" and
"that very few were captured by the old-fashioned method."A list of ecto- and endoparasites recorded from the species is givenby Niethammer (1937).Fall and winter.?From what has been said in the preceding sectionit will be apparent that wheatears may occur in large numbers incoastal districts on the autumn migration. But it is rarely, if ever,that they are in anything that can properly be called a flock; whenthe numbers are large the birds are usually widely scattered, andalthough they may be said to exhibit social tendencies to the extent
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of indulging in a certain amount of chasing and play they are essen-tially individualistic, flushing singly or in little groups of two orthree if disturbed and not flying in close or coordinated formations.This is true of the Mediterranean region as well as of more northerlylocalities in Europe, and it doubtless applies equally to America andAsia. In its African winter quarters it is also usually met withsingly, as has been noted, among others, by Lynes (1925) and Moreau(1937), frequenting open country, especially where there is bare soil,anywhere from the low hot steppe to above timberline. In Tangan-yika Moreau records its occurrence from sea level up to 10,000 feet.With regard to the time of departure from the breeding groundsinformation is naturally much scantier for the high north than for theBritish Isles and temperate Europe. At Nijni Kolymsk, east Siberia,the species is recorded as late as September 21, 1911 (Thaver andBangs, 1914). In Alaska birds are on the move in August and areto be seen at least till the end of the month and probably later.Nelson obtained specimens from August 20 to 25; family parties werestill to be seen in the Alaska Range on August 24 (Dixon, 1938);Bishop (1900) shot one at the Aphoon mouth on August 27; and ayoung male is recorded from Kruzgamepa on August 30 (Thayer andBangs, 1914). In the Pribilofs it has occurred on September 1(Mailliard and Hanna, 1921). Singularly little is known about themovement of the Alaskan and east Siberian birds between theirbreeding grounds and the remote winter quarters in east Africa andsouthern Arabia. Hartert and Steinbacher (1938) state that on theSiberian east coast it is only known as a very scarce passage bird."The autumn migration even in the case of the most easterly birdsmust thus be to the southwest, although isolated specimens are knownfrom Japan, the lower Yangtsekiang, and the Philippines." InEngland the earliest departures from the south coast are early inAugust, and movement continues till the third week of October(Ticehurst). In central Europe the period of the passage is given asfrom the end of August or beginning of September to mid-October(Niethammer). In central and south Italy it is from about mid-August to the end of September (Alexander; B. W. Tucker). InEgypt the first birds arrive on the Mediterranean coast about August15, and they are common by the 21st. Passage diminishes aboutOctober 21, and the latest record is November 17 (Meinertzhagen).In Kenya and Uganda considerable, numbers arrive in mid-September,and these are augmented throughout October and November (vanSomeren). It will be understood that the European and African dataquoted in this and the "Spring" section are far from exhaustive butare selected as representative.
300 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMDISTRIBUTIONBreeding range.?Breeds throughout the greater part of Europe,including the whole of the British Islands, northward to latitude 71?in Norway and 70? in Russia, also in north Sweden and Finland andin Novaya Zemlya, southward to north Spain, south France, Corsica,Italy, Sicily, Greece, and south Russia. In the Mediterranean regionit breeds chiefly in mountainous country. Extends westward throughAsia Minor, Syria, northern Iran, Aralo-Caspian region, and centralAsia to Mongolia and Siberia. In America, in northern and east-central Alaska, south to the mouth of the Yukon and the PribilofIslands. Attempts have been made to distinguish other races in Asia,but these do not appear to be well founded. For discussion, seeMeinertzhagen (1922) and Hartert and Steinbacher (1938). The raceOenanthe oenanthe nivea (Weigold), of central and southern Spain, isconsidered valid by Witherby (1938). Other races are described fromCrete and northwest Africa.Winter range.?South Arabia and east Africa; also, but rarely, insouthern and eastern Iran and Mesopotamia. The A. O. U. Check-list and Ridgway, no doubt following Seebohm (1881) in the "BritishMuseum Catalogue," include India in the winter range, but thereappears to be no good evidence that any winter regularly in India.Spring migration.?The earliest date recorded on the AmericanContinent appears to be Point Barrow, May 19, and the next (manybirds) Nulato, May 23. Other particulars will be found under thesection "Spring."Fall migration.?Latest dates recorded in America appear to be:St. Paul Island, Pribilof Islands, August 29 and September 1 ; Kruzga-mepa, August 30; but it probably occurs later, as on the Arctic coastof east Siberia it has been recorded as late as September 21. Otherparticulars will be found in the section "Fall and winter."Casual records.?Jourdain (1938, vol. 2) notes occurrences inWaigatz, Kolguev, Yalmal, Spitsbergen, Bear Island, and the Ca-naries. Other casual records could no doubt be added for Asia andthe western Pacific.OENANTHE OENANTHE LEUCORHOA (Gmelin)GREENLAND WHEATEARHABITSThe 1931 Check-list gives the following interesting distribution forthe Greenland wheatear: "Breeds in the Arctic Zone from EllesmereIsland and Boothia Peninsula east to Greenland and Iceland andsouth to northern Quebec. Winters in West Africa, migratingthrough the British Isles and France. Casual in migration or winter
GREENLAND WHEATEAR 301in Keewatin, Ontario, New Brunswick, Quebec, New York, Pennsyl-vania, Louisiana, Bermuda, and Cuba."The wheatears are characteristic Old World birds, having a widePalearctic distribution, in which there are several Eurasian forms.The species has extended its range into the northeastern corner ofNorth America in the form of the Greenland wheatear, and into thenorthwestern corner in the form of the typical wheatear of Europeand Asia. Neither form, though both are more or less established asbreeding birds at the two extremities of Arctic North America, hasestablished any regular migration route on this continent. The stepswhich led up to the discovery of the two migration routes and theseparation of the Greenland subspecies have been fully explained inan interesting paper by Dr. Leonhard Stejneger (1901), to which thereader is referred. He gives the diagnostic characters of the Green-land bird as "larger than Saxicola oenanthe, the length of wing vary-ing between 100 and 108 millimeters; color similar, but the rufoustints more bright on the average." The wing measurement of thetypical subspecies seldom equals 100 millimeters and is usually muchless.He adds the following comments on the strange distribution andprobable expansion of range of this interesting species into the Nearcticregion:The Wheatear, the most widely distributed species of the genus Saxicola, thusextends its range across the entire palaearctic continent from the Atlantic to thePacific Ocean. At both extremities of its home continent, however, it has ex-panded its range into the New World, and no one who follows on the map theroute of the retreating winter migrants can for a moment be in doubt that theseroutes really represent the way by which the species originally invaded America.It would be difficult to find a more beautiful example to illustrate that nowwell-known law which was first formulated by Prof. Johan Axel Palmen, of Hel-singfors. Moreover, no better example could be found for demonstrating thenecessity of minute discrimination in ascertaining the characters by which these
"migration route races," as Palmen calls them, are characterized.It seems that one more lesson can fairly be drawn from the differentiation ofthe Greenland race, viz, that the Greenland-Iceland-England route must be con-siderably older than the Alaska-Tchuktchi-Udski route, since it has resulted in theestablishment of a separable race. A consideration of the further fact that noregular migration route could have been effected between Greenland, Iceland, andGreat Britain during the present distribution of land and water in that part of theworld also leads us back to a period when the stretches of ocean now separatingthose islands were more or less bridged over by land. For such a condition ofaffairs we shall have to look toward the beginning of the glacial period. At thattime it must, therefore, be assumed that the Wheatear extended its range intoGreenland. The advent of the typical form into Alaska, on the other hand, isprobably one of very recent time, an assumption corroborated by the somewhatuncertain and erratic distribution of the species in that northwestern corner of ourcontinent.
302 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMMigration.?The Greenland wheatear has the most remarkablemigration route of any of our passerine birds, which evidently followsthe ancestral route by which the species originally invaded Greenlandand North America. From its winter range in western Africa it passesthrough England mainly in May, but often in April and sometimes asearly as the first of April ("Witherby, 1920) ; it has been known to ar-rive in Greenland as early as April 4-12 (Chamberlain, 1889); and ithas been taken several times in Quebec in May and June, where itprobably breeds occasionally as far south as the north shore of theGulf of St. Lawrence. The wheatear is undoubtedly a very hardybird, but it is remarkable that it can survive on that long, northernroute, which has to be covered at a season when that inhospitableregion is locked in ice and snow and when food must be very scarce.The return trip in fall over the same route is made largely in Septem-ber and October, though a late straggler was taken at Godbout,Quebec, on November 9, 1886 (Comeau, 1890), and the last one wasseen that year in southern Greenland on October 5 (Chamberlain,1889). At these dates winter must have held an icy grip on thosenorthern countries.Nesting.?The former scientific name, Saxicola, and the old commonname, stonechat, well indicate the haunts and the nesting habits ofthe wheatear, for it seems to prefer to live on the barren, stony slopes,where there are loosely piled stones and boulders scattered about overthe open spaces. Its nest is usually well hidden under stones, or increvices among the rocks or in cliffs or walls. Referring to the nestingof the Greenland wheatear, Montague Chamberlain (1889) writes:
"It builds in locations similar to the Snowflake, though it commonlyselects a spot under 600 feet high. The situation of the nest is alsosimilar, though the present species goes farther into the heaps ofstones?sometimes as much as four feet or more. A favorite situationfor the nest is the wall of a house or a stone fence."John Ripley Forbes (1938) found a nest on Baffinland that wastucked in a crevice in a cliff 8 or 10 feet high. "It was constructed ofdry grasses and beautifully lined with the white feathers of theptarmigan. The entrance to the crevice was so small that it wouldnot admit my hand through the entrance. The crevice ran some dis-tance back into the rock and, during another visit, I found the younghad left the nest on hearing my approach and had retreated into therock, to return after I had left."Eggs.?Six or seven eggs make up the usual set for the Greenlandwheatear, but as many as eight and even nine have been reported;these are larger numbers than are usually laid by the European bird.The eggs are similar to those of the European wheatear, but areslightly longer on the average.
RED-SPOTTED BLUETHROAT 303Witherby's Handbook (1920) gives the average of 40 eggs as 21.8by 15.8 millimeters.Food.?Clarence F. Smith has sent me the following information onthe food of the Greenland wheatear, taken from a paper by T. G.Longstaff (1932): The stomachs of eight wheatears from westernGreenland were examined; they held Coleoptera and their larvae insix stomachs, parasitic Hymenoptera in six, Diptera and their larvaein five, Lepidoptera adults in two and their larvae in two, andHeteroptera in two. Spiders, gastropod shells, shrimps, harvestmen,Trichoptera, and Neuroptera also were found. All stomachs con-tained some animal matter. Plant food was found in seven stomachs,including crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) in six and seeds of VacciniumuUginostim and Juniperus communis.Behavior.?All the habits of the species have been so fully and welldescribed in B. W. Tucker's excellent account of the European wheat-ear that it hardly seems necessary to say anything more about themhere. However, the following account by Dr. Harrison F. Lewis(1928) of the behavior of a Greenland wheatear that he saw atNatashquan, Quebec, is of interest:It had a way of standing quietly for some time in one place, puffed out to asturdy, rotund figure, perched on slender feet, with the high, rounded dome of itsgray head rising directly from the upper end of its body. When it was darting onfoot after insects on the ground it depressed and extended its head, and appearedwide and flat. It pursued its prey with quick little darting runs, now here, nowthere, with head lowered. Sometimes it would flit about for greater or less dis-tances rather restlessly, at other times it would stand entirely still, except forquiet but alert turning of the head, for minutes together.When the bird was restive because of my close approach and observation, itwould stand erect and regard me attentively, and occasionally would give a quicklittie bob and jerk, as though feigning to spring into the air, yet not moving itstoes all the while. Sometimes such a jerk was accompanied by a quick, nervousflirt of the wings, exposing for a flash the white about the upper part of the tail,and sometimes it was not so accompanied. Of course, when the bird flew thewhite of the upper part of the tail was very conspicuous.CYANOSYLVIA SUECICA ROBUSTA (Buturlin)RED-SPOTTED BLUETHROATContributed by Bernard William TuckerHABITSThe bluethroat as a species extends right across Europe and Asiaand just reaches the New World. A number of races have beenseparated, 15 being recognized by Hartert and Steinbacher (1938).In most of these the striking brilliant blue gorget has a chestnut-redspot in the center, but in the Middle European form, C. s. cyanecula,the spot is silky white. In several other races the spot is either
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white or else both types occur. The bluethroat that occurs in westernAlaska is treated binomially in the A. O. U. Check-list, but it maybe assumed to be the east Siberian race, C. s. robusta (Buturlin).This is a large, dark, richly colored race with a wing measurement,according to Hartert (1910), of 75-80 millimeters. Grinnell (1900)found this bird evidently breeding near Cape Blossom, KotzebueSound, and the A. O. U. list also records breeding at Meade Point onthe authority of Bishop, in litt. No further particulars about thelatter record are available to the writer, and as GrinnelTs accountappears to be the only one published it may be quoted in full. Hewrites:I met with this species in the vicinity of Cape Blossom on July 3, '99. Thelocality was the side of a ravine between two hills of the first range, about a mileback of the Mission. This hillside was of a gentle slope, and was clothed withthick patches of dwarf willows one or two feet in height. I was tramping alongthe bed of the ravine when I heard a harsh note, entirely unfamiliar to me, fromthe brush a little to my right. I started up the slope so as to be in more openground and get a better view, when I caught a moment's glimpse of the authorof the strange note, as he flew hurriedly close along the ground to a distant bush.The note and bearing of the bird reminded me more of those of a wren, and notuntil I finally had the bird in hand did I have any idea of its identity. By hidingand making squeaking noises I succeeded in attracting the bird within range, andsecured it. It had an insect in its bill, and so I judged there must have been anest in the vicinity. But after waiting a long time I failed to see or hear anyother Bluethroat, and as it was late in the day I started on my return to camp.I had proceeded about a quarter of a mile when I heard that faint harsh note,unmistakable after once learned, among the calls of Tree and Savannah Sparrowsand Yellow Wagtails, on a similar hillside. I soon obtained a good view of thisBluethroat, and it, too, had an insect in its bill. It was less shy than the firstone. I had no doubt of a nest this time, and selecting a point of observationbehind a bush, waited and watched. At last I gave it up, intending to returnthe next day. But that proved to be my last day with the birds at Cape Blos-som * * *. The single specimen obtained of Cyanecula suecica is an adultmale in somewhat worn plumage. That this species was breeding at CapeBlossom, I have no doubt, and I can easily see how I could have previouslyentirely overlooked it, on account of its unfamiliar habits and notes.Others have seen birds which may have been only vagrants. Thus,Nelson (1887) records a party of seven, of which one was obtained,met with by Dr. Adams at St. Michael on June 5, 1851. They werenot seen again and the natives were said not to be familiar with them.Again, Bailey (1926) found birds fairly common on Wales Mountainon June 10, but none were noted after June 11, and Friedmann (1937)records one from St. Lawrence Island in August.[Author's note: The latest information comes from Henry C.Kyllingstad, of Mountain Village, Alaska, who writes to me asfollows: "The following may be an addition to the known range ofthis bird. On July 11, 1943, a small bird with a nervous manner
RED-SPOTTED BLUETHROAT 305flew into the Government schoolyard at Mountain. It had a loudclear call somewhat like that of the water thrush, but I did not hearit sing. I had only a brief look at it, but it was close, not more than15 feet away, and I was able to see the brilliant blue patch on thethroat and the characteristic shape of the tail, though the bird didnot remain still. I had no idea what the bird could have been untilsome weeks later when I received a copy of E. W. Nelson's 'ReportUpon Natural History Collections Made in Alaska/ when I recog-nized it from the plate on page 220. I am sure it could have beenno other bird. On three subsequent occasions I saw birds with asimilar manner and call within a short distance of Mountain Village."]As so little is recorded about the habits of the bluethroat in Alaskawe must rely upon observations on the well-known western form innorthern Europe, where there is no reason to suppose that the be-havior or habits differ in any essential way from those of the easternrace.The bluethroat would better merit the name of "northern nightin-gale" than the red-winged thrush, to which this title has been applied,for not only is it actually a close relative of the nightingale, but ithas a fine and varied song and can hold its own with the best song-sters anywhere. As might be gathered from Grinnell's experience,it is a bird of the Arctic willow and birch scrub, and in Europe andAsia it is one of the common and characteristic passerines of the farnorth and is found breeding from sea level wherever suitable groundoccurs. It is found principally in swampy localities, though probablynot so much from any special attachment to wet ground as such asbecause it is here that it finds the sort of scrub vegetation that itdelights in. Its rich and musical song, pleasantly contrasted with thecheerful but much simpler performance of the Lapland longspur,enlivens the lonely and monotonous?yet to the naturalist fascinat-ing?tundra country beyond the forest limit, where it can still findsufficient cover for its liking in the water-logged hollows. In theforest belt it is found among the scrub of the moorland tracts, inopen swampy places in the woods, and in the more luxuriant willowthickets along the rivers or where the forest has been cleared aroundfarmsteads and habitations. In the most southern parts of itsrange, as in the case of many other Arctic forms, it is only at highaltitudes that the red-spotted bluethroat finds congenial conditions,so closely is the association with an Arctic or sub-Arctic type ofhabitat ingrained in its makeup. Yet the structurally identicalwhite-spotted bluethroat of temperate Europe is mainly a lowlandbird.Courtship.?The display of the bluethroat has been described byseveral observers. In the characteristic display posture, which may
306 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMbe associated with vehement singing, the head is stretched almoststraight upward or even actually inclined backward, displaying theblue gorget and red or white spot to the full, while the tail is stronglycocked or jerked up and down and the wings drooped. This postureseems to have been first described by Ziemer (1887), who observed itin the male of a captive pair of the white-spotted form in an aviary.He writes (translation)
:
While the female now sat quiet and apparently indifferent in the middle of thecage on a little eminence, the male for some time ran about restlessly and evidentlyexcited, jerking his tail and calling from time to time. Then he began to sing, atfirst softly and intermittently, then gradually louder and more continuously,until finally he drooped the wing tips even more than usual, so that they almosttrailed on the ground; then he fanned out his tail and cocked it up to beyond thevertical, laid the head so far back that it almost touched the tail, and then, singingwith all his might, pirouetted round the female in this attitude, thus showing offhis finery to the full and from time to time making bowing movements. Bustlingabout in this way he moved only his feet, while he remained in the same stiffposture, so that it looked as if he were being driven by clockwork.It is necessary to exercise some caution in basing accounts of birdbehavior on observations under the necessarily somewhat unnaturalconditions of captivity, but in tins case we have sufficient supportingevidence from field observation to justify the conclusion that thebehavior described was essentially normal, and Ziemer's account isvaluable because it enables us to fill in some details of a display thatis difficult to observe adequately in nature because it is generallyperformed in cover and often, it appears, toward dusk. Otto Natorp(1928) records observing a pair of white-spotted bluethroats in thedusk, the male moving round the female with the head stretched up-ward and backward and the tail strongly cocked, just as Ziemer de-scribes, and he states that he observed a similar display on anotheroccasion. Again, Aplin (1903) describes a male of the red-spottedform singing ecstatically with head and neck stretched up, bill pointednearly upward, tail flirted up and down or held at rather less than aright angle with the body and wings drooped, while the female wascreeping and hopping about in the Arctic birch scrub close by. In allthese cases the display as described seems to be fairly definitely acourtship performance, but it should be observed that in the relatedEuropean robin a closely similar posture, displaying the red, insteadof blue, breast, has been shown to be an aggressive or threat postureand not sexual at all. This naturally raises the question whether thesame may not be really true of the bluethroat, but the recordedaccounts do not favor this supposition and more observation is desir-able. It would not be unprecedented for fundamentally the sameposture to be used in different situations in two species.Finally it must be mentioned that although the male sings freely
RED-SPOTTED BLUETHROAT 307from perches he also has a somewhat pipitlike song flight, which mustbe reckoned a form of display, in which he rises singing in the air andglides down again with spread wings and tail.Nesting.?[Author's note: Only a few North American nests havebeen reported, all in the vicinity of the Meade River, about 30 milesinland from Barrow, Alaska. Three of these are in the Wilson C.Hanna collection, two being taken on June 18, 1932, and one on June19, 1936, and all containing six eggs each. A set of eggs in the col-lection of Dr. Louis B. Bishop was taken there in July 1928. Andthere is a set in the Chicago Academy of Sciences, taken in the samelocality on June 20, 1932.There are two sets of eggs of this species in the Thayer collection inCambridge. One was taken by Koren, near Nijni Kolymsk innortheastern Siberia on June 14, 1905, from a nest "in a hollow in theground in a thicket of small willows and heathberry plants." Theother came from Tornea, Lapland, evidently the western race, andwas taken from a nest among the roots of a bush, on June 23, 1900.The base of the nest consists largely of string, cottony substances,leaves, and very fine twigs or rootlets ; the main nest is made of stripsof inner bark, interwoven with grasses, rootlets, and fine twigs, mixedwith a little green moss and plant down ; it is lined with cattle or rein-deer hair. Externally it measures 3 inches in diameter and 2% inchesin height; the inner cup is about 2 inches wide by 1% deep.Henry J. Pearson (1904) mentions two nests of this species found inRussian Lapland. One, found on June 24, "was placed on a bankfacing south, and was made of moss outside, well lined with fine grass."The other, found June 29, "was in a clump of grass on the edge of thelake, surrounded in fact by water and only two inches above its sur-face. I expect the water had risen since the nest was made, as it waseight inches above the usual level."]Eggs.?[Author's note: Six seems to be the usual number of eggslaid by the red-spotted bluethroat; all the Alaskan sets reported wereof this number; Pearson (1904) reported a set of four and a set ofseven; and others have said that seven eggs in a set are not unusual.The two sets of six eggs each in the Thayer collection are ovate andsomewhat glossy. The ground color varies from "tea green" to "deeplichen green," and the eggs are mostly very faintly sprinkled with thefinest dots of brownish olive or dull, pale brown; in some eggs themarkings are concentrated into a brownish cap at the large end ; someeggs appear almost immaculate.Mr. Hanna has sent me the following description of the three setsin his collection: "The eggs are ovate to short-ovate. The shell isclose-grained and shows little or no gloss. The uniform ground coloris grayish olive. One set is almost without superimposed markings,
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while another set has slight, fine markings of drab. The third sethas more superimposed markings of drab or buffy brown, heavieron the large end, and in three of the eggs to form a small, faint wreath."The measurements of 45 eggs average 19.1 by 14.5 millimeters;the eggs showing the four extremes measures 21.2 by 14.8, 19.0 by15.3, 16.1 by 13.8, and 19.3 by 13.7 millimeters.]Young.?Incubation, according to Jourdain, is apparently by thehen only, but information is scanty, and the period is about a fort-night. Both sexes feed the young. According to Chislett (1933)nest sanitation is the special duty of the male, but it seems ratherunlikely that the female never takes part. Jourdain states that theyoung leave the nest at 14 days but are not then fully fledged. Onlya single brood is reared in the short Arctic summer.Plumages.?The plumages of the western form of red-spottedbluethroat are described in detail by Witherby (1938, vol. 2) andthe eastern race, to which doubtless the American birds belong, isdescribed by Hartert (1910) as a large, dark, strongly colored formwith large red breast spot and with wing measurement of 75-80millimeters.Witherby had not examined a nestling of the red-spotted form, butdescribes one of the European white-spotted bluethroat (C. s. cyan-ecula), which can safely be assumed to be similar, as having darkslate-gray down, fairly long and plentiful, distributed on the outerand inner supraorbital, occipital, humeral, and spinal tracts. Themouth inside is orange, without tongue spots, and the flanges arewhitish yellow externally. The juvenal plumage is very dark withlight streaks. The upperparts are blackish brown, each feather witha median buff streak broadening at the tip; the throat, breast, andflanks are similar. The tail and wing quills are like those of theadult, and the wing coverts have buff tips. In the first winter plum-age the male resembles the adult male in winter but has less blue onthe throat, which is more or less whitish but may show some rufousin the center, while the chestnut breast band is paler than in the adult.The female is also like the adult, but the throat is whiter and lacksthe dark spots that the adult females show. The primary covertsand outer greater coverts have buff tips in both sexes.Food.?Bluethroats are primarily insectivorous. Jourdain (1938,vol. 2) notes: Diptera and their larvae (Culicidae, Tipulidae, smallblack flies, etc.), Coleoptera and larvae, and also some aquatic insects.Small snails are also recorded, as well as worms, and some seeds andberries are taken in autumn. Gurney, quoted by Jourdain, mentionsAcocephaJus nervosus, Philaenus spumarius, and a shell of Littorinarudis in the case of a migrant on the English east coast.Behavior.?Bluethroats are, generally speaking, skulking birds,
RED-SPOTTED BLUETHROAT 309keeping to the ground or near it in the cover of vegetation, but willcome out to feed in the open when undisturbed. With the exceptionof the singing male and to some extent of birds with young, blue-throats do not show themselves readily away from cover. Theyspend most of their time on the ground among rank vegetation or, inthe case of migrants, at any rate in Europe, often among root cropsin cultivated fields. In thick cover the bird creeps about in a mouse-like fashion, but if the observer remains concealed or keeps very quietit may emerge into the open. Here the carriage is seen to be notice-ably erect, and the bird moves over the ground with long hops orsometimes in little runs. The tail is usually cocked up in a perkyfashion and is frequently flirted up and down and from side to side,being somewhat spread at the same time. It is also somewhat spreadwhen the bird alights. When suspicious or slightly uneasy it has anervous bobbing action, another of the characteristics emphasizingrelationship with the European robin. If it is driven from cover,or for that matter when making a voluntary flight, it travels low andseldom for more than a short distance, quickly diving into coveragain. In doing this it has been observed of migrants that the lineof flight generally flattens out at the last moment instead of the birddropping down into cover vertically as so many species do. On thebreeding ground , in spite of its predilection for cover, it will at times
?
and not only when singing?perch quite freely in the open on somelow bush or other perch, but any slight disturbance will quickly sendit into shelter again.Voice.?The note most commonly heard is a scolding, hard-soundingtacc, tacc, but it has also a more plaintive hweet, which seems to bemore definitely an alarm note, and a rather soft, croaking turrc, turrc.The delightful song of the bluethroat has charmed all naturalistswho have heard it in its northern haunts and has earned for it amongthe Lapps of its native country a name meaning "a hundred tongues."It is a loud, sweet, and remarkably varied performance with, in partsespecially, a distinct family resemblance to that of the nightingale,though never quite so rich and full. As is the case in the nightingale'ssong, each phrase is a repetition of the same note or simple combinationof notes, and although some, including a striking metallic ting, ting,ting, which has been compared to a note struck on a metal triangle,seem to be common to all birds, there is a great deal of variation notonly in the notes and phrases in the repertoire of any given birdbut also between those of one bird and another. Not all the notesare musical; here and there more churring or other nonmusical soundsoccur, but this does not detract from the beauty of the song as awhole, any more than does the same feature in the song of the night-ingale.
310 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMIn the unbroken daylight of the Arctic summer the bluethroat poursout his song at all hours. During spells of genial weather in thesehigh latitudes, the night hours, with the sun still up and the stronglight of noon no more than gently and restfully subdued, cast astrange, indefinable glamor and "other-worldliness" over the land-scape, and it is at such times that the song is heard to perfection.But it may be heard too under very different conditions when thevagaries of a late spring in the Arctic lead the human observer totake a much less romantic view of his surroundings. To his ownintrinsic merits as a songster the bluethroat adds that of being anexcellent mimic, and Seebohm and Harvie-Brown (1876) have de-scribed how a whole variety of notes and calls of other species maybe run together "in such a way as to form a perfect medley of bird-music, defying one who is not watching to say whether or not thewhole bird-population of that part of the forest are equally engagedin the concert at the same time." The song is generally deliveredfrom a more or less exposed perch, often on a low bush or tree, butnot infrequently, in contrast to the bird's habit at other times, at afair height on the top of a young conifer or birch tree or, where suchthings are found, even on telegraph wires. The song is also utteredin a special display flight, which has been referred to already, andSeebohm (1901) states that on first arrival it may warble in a verylow undertone, evidently indicating what would nowadays probablybe called a subsong.Field marks.?For a European observer unfamiliar with the speciesone can compare the general form and build of the bluethroat to thatof a rather slim robin, but for ornithologists in America, to whom
"robin" means a quite different bird, no such ready comparison offersitself. Perhaps the actual form and outline of the bird may be de-scribed as rather like that of a small, long-legged bluebird, but thecoloration is entirely different. The upperparts are dark brown. Thehandsome blue throat and breast are fully developed only in the adultmale in the breeding season, and in a sense is a better field character,since it is present at all ages and in all seasons, is the rufous base tothe dark brown tail. This is conspicuous when the bird spreads itstail or when it flies away from the observer, and in a migrant thatflits up among bushes or, as may happen in Europe, in a field of rootsor potatoes, and quickly drops into cover again, it may serve foridentification when little else is seen. The bright blue bib of thebreeding male shades into blackish below and below this again isbounded by a chestnut-red band of the same color as the spot in themiddle of the bib. These bright colors are somewhat obscured in fallby pale tips to the feathers. The female has the bib whitish, defined
RED-SPOTTED BLUETHROAT 311by a dark breast band and stripes at the sides, with some dark spots,and may have some indication of a red center spot. There is a gooddeal of individual variation and the young birds in the fall are muchlike the adults, but distinguished as described under "Plumages."The underparts other than the bib are whitish.Enemies.?No special data are available on this subject, but thesecretive habits of the bluethroat probably protect it to a considerableextent from birds of prey.Fall and winter.?As very little is recorded about the eastern form ofbluethroat on its fall migration we must again rely largely on observa-tions in the west, and although the precise conditions under which theywere made are obviously not reproduced exactly in Asia, neverthelessthey will serve to give some idea of the habits of bluethroats at thisseason. In Great* Britain the species is hardly ever met with inlandbut is a regular passage migrant on parts of the east coast and stillmore upon certain islands. It also occurs in numbers in the Germanisland of Helgoland. On migration it may be found skulking amongSuaeda bushes or other scrub or rank vegetation on coastal sand dunes,or it may even frequent cliffs. Where there is some cultivation, as onHelgoland and on Fair Island, its British counterpart, it has a specialliking for potato and root fields, where it gets most of its food hoppingabout under or close to the shelter of the protecting leaves and isdifficult to flush. It is also much attracted by gardens, where theseexist, and here if it is not disturbed it may become very confiding, forit is secretive and wary rather than shy. Gatke (1895), the famousornithologist of Helgoland, writes: "If during one's garden occupationsone pays no special attention to the bird, or pretends not to notice it,it will for hours long hop around near one, at twenty, fifteen, or even aless number of paces off. * * * If, however, it becomes aware ofbeing watched, it vanishes swift as lightning, in long bounds, undersome shrubs or among some bushes." Gatke adds, however, that onthe fall migration it frequents the potato fields exclusively and nevercomes into the gardens, which form its chief resort in spring. Butthis, like some of his other statements, is somewhat too sweeping anddogmatic, for I have myself watched bluethroats in Helgoland gardensin fall.In their winter quarters bluethroats are solitary in habits and retainthat attachment to cover near water and in swampy places that isobservable on the breeding ground. They are found in such placesas the outskirts of reed beds and canebrakes, the borders of lakes orstreams or of irrigation channels among crops, as well as, where theyoccur, in suitable hedgerows, gardens, and other cultivation. R. E.Moreau (1928) states that occasional snatches of song may be heard
312 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMin winter quarters in January and February. Hugh Whistler (1928)writes:From September until May the Bluethroat is a common species in India eitheras a passage migrant or a winter visitor, but its movements have not yet beenproperly worked out. It does not breed nearer than Ladakh. Although ex-tremely common at certain times and places it escapes observation through itsskulking habits. It is a bird of the ground and heavy cover, preferring dampishspots, such as reed-beds on the edge jheels, tamarisk thickets in river-beds, heavystanding crops and similar situations. In these it feeds on the ground, onlyoccasionally ascending to the top of the bushes to look around or to sing a fewbars of its beautiful song.Ordinarily it is only seen when one walks through cover, as it dashes up at one'sfeet and flies a few yards before diving headlong again into obscurity where itruns rapidly along the ground in short bursts; at the end of each course of runningthe tail is elevated and slightly expanded; the dark brown tail with its brightchestnut base is very conspicuous in flight and readily leads to identification.The alarm note and ordinary call is a harsh tack, but on its breeding grounds thisBluethroat is a fine songster and mimic.DISTRIBUTIONBreeding range.?The species Cyanosylvia suecica breeds in most ofEurope, except Portugal, Italy, and the British Isles (though exceptin the north it is represented by the white-spotted form, C. s. cyanecula)and across Asia eastward to east Siberia and Manchuria, south toArmenia, Iran, Ladakh, and southern Mongolia. A number of racesare recognized. The range of C. s. robusta, the form to which theAlaskan breeding birds in all probability belong, is given by Hartertand Steinbacher (1938) as covering the larger part of Siberia from theTaimyr and the lower Tunguska to the Tchuktschi Peninsula.Winter range.?The winter range of the species comprises NorthAfrica, Iraq, Iran, India, and southeastern Asia. Hartert (1910) givesthat of C. s. robusta as Burma, Assam, Farther India, and China.Spring migration.?The bluethroat is a somewhat late migrant, theEuropean birds passing through Britain and Helgoland for the mostpart in May and reaching their breeding grounds late in May oreven in June. In Chihli, northeast China, C. s. robusta also occurson passage in May (La Touche). Thayer and Bangs (1914) recordthe first arrival of this race on its breeding grounds at Nijni Kolymskon May 31. In Alaska, Nelson (1887) records a party at St. Michaelon June 5.Fall migration.?The passage of European bluethroats in Britaintakes place from the end of August to the second week of October,but mainly in the latter half of September. The passage of C. s.robusta in northeast China also takes place in September and October(La Touche).
GREATER KAMCHATKA NIGHTINGALE 313CALLIOPE CALLIOPE CAMTSCHATKENSIS (Gmelin)GREATER KAMCHATKA NIGHTINGALEHABITSOne of the pleasantest surprises and one of the most importantresults of our expedition to the Aleutians in 1911 was the additionof this beautiful and attractive bird to the North American list. Itwas a mere straggler, of course, for no other ornithologist had everreported it as occurring at all regularly on these islands. My assistant,Mr. McKechnie, shot one of these birds on Kiska Island on June 17,and saw two others at the same time. They were near the beachabout some old buildings, but were too wild for him to secure anymore. Dr. Alexander Wetmore, another member of our party, sawone there two days later, but was unable to secure it.Dr. Leonhard Stejneger (1885) records the capture of an immaturespecimen on Bering Island on January 29, 1883, where he says thatit is only an accidental visitor. It is therefore a rarity even in themore western Commander Islands, and the capture of our specimen,now in the United States National Museum, extends its range severalhundred miles eastward.It is a common bird on Kamchatka and an exquisite songster, ofwhich Dr. Stejneger (1885) writes: "Kamtschatka's Nightingale, oneof the loveliest birds I ever saw or heard, breeds plentifully roundPetropaulski, especially in the sunny alder-groves on the slopes aboveand behind the town. In the late spring of 1883 I shot the first malearrivals on the 22d of May. It was absolutely silent, creepingshyly among the lower branches of the bushes. During the followingautumn I met several in the latter part of September. They werefound especially in a narrow valley on the eastern side of the grave-yard, the same place where Kittlitz, more than fifty years ago, hadcollected his specimens during the same season of the year. Aboutthe 1st of October all had left."Austin H. Clark (1910) says that this "was the most abundant birdabout Petropaulski and also the best songster. Its fine, clear songwas the most characteristic bird note of the place, and was heard fromsunrise to sunset. This species shows a preference for hillsidescovered with scrubby growth, in which it is very adept at concealingitself. It is also common on the lowlands where any little clumpsof bushes occur sufficient to afford it shelter. Most of its time isspent on or near the ground, but the song is usually delivered fromthe tops of the bushes or the lower limbs of small trees. If surprisedin such a situation, the bird is very quick to take refuge in the thickunderbrush."Spring.-?La Touche (1925) says that the "ruby-throat," as he792825?49 21
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calls it, "winters in Formosa and as far as India and the PhilippineIslands. It nests in N. W. China, in Siberia, Kamtschatka, theKurile Islands, and Yezzo, and it passes through South Japan innumbers, as I saw many migrants at sea off the South coast of Hondoduring the month of May. * * * Although not a conspicuousbird in South China, it must be fairly common at times of passage.I once met with a number in a bean-field near Chinkiang, but thatwas the only time when I saw many together."Tsen-Hwang Shaw (1936) says that it passes through Hopei Prov-ince in China in May, and that it is found in cultivated fields andreed beds. "Its food consists of ants, wasps, small beetles, and otherinsects."The following two paragraphs, on nesting and eggs, are contributedby Bernard W. Tucker.Nesting.?Dybowski, quoted by Taczanowski (1872), says: "It nestson the ground in very well concealed places, either in heaps of boughsand small bits of wood swept together by the floods, or else in thicketsor dense grass, or under the shelter of hillocks. The nest is foundonly by accident ; we found only a few, although the bird is so numerous.The nest is domed and has an opening at the side. It is constructedof dried marsh grass, and lined with a few bents. Although artis-tically built, the structure is weak, and it is difficult to remove itwithout destroying its original shape."Eggs.?The same authority writes: "Late in June the femaledeposits five oval-shaped eggs; some, however, are rather elongated,others shorter and stouter; and they have a slight gloss. The groundcolor is greenish blue; and the entire surface is marked with verypale brick-red (almost imperceptible) spots, which are rather morethickly scattered round the larger end. They measure from 18.8 by15.3 millimeters to 21.4 by 16 millimeters."In his later, posthumously published "Faune Ornithologique de laSiberie Orientale," Taczanowski (1891) quotes measurements of 16eggs, which, excluding an obviously abnormal one measuring 25.5by 16.6 millimeters, show an average of 21.11 by 15.5 millimeters;maximum, 22 by 16 millimeters; minima, 20.4 by 15.2 and 22 by 14.8millimeters.Plumages.?As this pretty little bird has not been described inNorth American manuals, it seems worth while to include Shaw's(1936) description of the adult plumages, as follows:Adult male. Entire upper parts olive brown, feathers of forehead and crownfaintly edged paler and centred darker; * * * tail brown edged with olivebrown; a superciliary line from base of bill to the eye and a broad moustachialstripe white; lores and under the eye black; ear regions olive brown with whitishshaft-streaks; chin, throat, and fore neck glossy scarlet surrounded by a narrow
GREATER KAMCHATKA NIGHTINGALE 315black line; sometimes the scarlet feathers fringed with white; upper breastbrownish gray, shading into buffish gray on lower breast and flanks, and intonearly white on the centre of abdomen; under tail coverts buff.Adult female. Differs from the male in having no scarlet or black on thechin and throat; these parts being dull white; breast buffish brown; lores brown-ish black; cheeks pale brown; the superciliary line indistinct and the mousta-chial streak dull.A bird collected by Dr. Stejneger (1885) on Bering Island onJanuary 29, 1883, presumably a young male, "has the throat andchin white, with some mottlings of the lovely scarlet, which adornsthese parts in the adult male."La Touche (1920) says: "The female of this bird is generallydescribed as having the throat white, but old females have sometimesa considerable amount of the ruby colour. Two of these birds takenat Shaweishan on the 8th of May and 27th of October have thethroat as richly colored as young males, while two others taken inthe same locality on the 1st of May and 29th of October have theedges of the feathers just tinted with red. The general plumageof these birds is that of the adult female."Behavior.?Hamilton M. Laing (1925) writes:This charming little thrush, with the ruby-jewelled throat, and the songthat is said to be of the angels, was quite common and nesting in the woodssurrounding Petropavlovsk. It was also found high on the hilltops where itcould be called out of every alder tangle. Though in pose like most thrusheswhile hopping on the ground, when they perched they elevated the tail jauntilyand took on a "perky" appearance. They were never seen taking elevatedperches and were always found in the shrubbery. They were the first to answerthe decoy call of the bird in distress and always followed the deceiver for a timeto voice mild-mannered protest. When alarmed or curious the male oftengave a little whistle, a note not heard from any American thrush.Vaughan and Jones (1913) say that "the Siberian Ruby-throatis rather a rare winter visitor" in southeastern China, "but it hassuch very skulking habits that it is seldom seen. One was shot atKong Mun from a boat in mistake for a rat, as it was running amongsome reeds close to the water's edge."All writers seem to agree that the Kamchatka nightingale is oneof the most popular cage birds among the Chinese, on account of itsbrilliant scarlet throat and its charming song. Capt. H. A. Walton(1903), writing of the birds of Peking, says: "Many Ruby-throatswere caught during May. They seem to thrive well, for a time atleast, on a mixture of finely chopped up raw meat and bean-flourpaste; but a bird that has passed safely through the winter in cap-tivity commands a good price."Voice.?Although everyone praises the angelic song of the Kam-chatka nightingale, no one seems to have given a very good descriptionof it. But Mr. Laing (1925) says of it: "At the time of our arrival,
316 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMJuly 15, the song season was evidently over. Only once was a songsuspected from this bird. On the morning of the 22nd about 4 milesfrom town, 'a single charming song was heard from the woodedhillside?a thrush for a certainty. It had the quality. It wasinexplicably sweet?as fine as a Hermit Thrush?even finer, sweeter,and quite as light and sentimental.' Let us hope the KamchatkanNightingale was the author."Mr. Tucker contributes the following items: "Impressions of thesong vary somewhat. Dybowski says that the rubythroat is one ofthe pleasantest songsters in Dauria, but describes the song as soft,quiet and somewhat unvaried. Others are less sparing in theirpraise: Clark (1910), for example, speaks of its fine, clear song and(1945) calls it 'the finest and most persistent songster in Kamchatka';David and Oustalet (1877) describe it as equally remarkable for thevivacity and grace of its movements as for the beauty of its song.Seebohm (1879), again, speaks of a wonderfully fine song, richer andmore melodious than that of the bluethroat and scarcely inferior tothat of the nightingale. In any case the song is so much esteemed bythe Chinese that it is one of the most popular cage birds in northernChina. In the wild state the song is usually delivered from the topsof the bushes or the lower limbs of small trees. If surprised in such asituation, the bird is very quick to take refuge in the underbrush(Clark, 1910). Laing (1925) observed that 'when alarmed or curiousthe male often gave a little whistle, a note not heard from any Americanthrush.' It has also a harsh scolding note tic, tic, tic, mentioned bySeebohm."Field marks.?"The rubythroat is a small bird of the thrush typewith uniform brown upperparts and, in the case of the male, a brightruby-red throat and broad white superciliary and mustachial stripes.The female is less distinctive. She has the throat white, sharplydefined from the bufnsh breast, the superciliary stripe bufnsh white,and no mustachial stripe" (Tucker, MS.).Fall.?The southward migration of the Kamchatka nightingaleseems to be mainly coastwise and even largely at sea. Mr. Clark(1910) says that the United States National Museum has specimensof this larger, northern form from the following localities: "Hakodate,Yezo (2) ; at sea off Kinkesan Light, Hondo ; Yaeyama Island ; Amoy,China; Malate, Philippines. * * * During the first two weeks ofOctober, when we were about the southern Kurils and the easterncoast of Yezo and Hondo, these birds were frequent visitors to theship. One was captured on October 10, several miles east of KinkesanLight, on the coast of Hondo."La Touche (1920), referring to northeastern Chihli, in northernChina, says: "The Common Ruby-throat is scarce at Chinwangtao in
TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE 317
spring, when it passes in May. During the autumn passage it is veryabundant, and passes then from about the 10th of September to theend of that month."Shaw (1936) reports it as passing Hopei Province in September andeven in the first part of October.Winter.?Referring to the Kamchatka nightingale in its winter homein the Philippines, John Whitehead (1899) writes:This beautiful migrant from the north is common in the highlands of Luzon,being met with from the coast-line up to the summit of the highest mountains.It is shy and easily alarmed, passing most of its time in the thick tangled growth,where pursuit is almost impossible. I have seen this species on the slopes ofMonte Dulungan, in Mindoro, and in Negros (within a few yards) in a nativegarden. At Cape Engano, in the month of May (30th), a female of this speciesflew into my tent and settled for a moment on one of my collecting-boxes; the birdswere then migrating north, and were common in some low plants amongst theseadrift. The natives call this bird "Kerin," a word which resembles its note, butit also has an alarm-cry, not unlike the croak of a frog. It is a frequenter inNorth Luzon of the overgrown banks of rocky streams, and is decidedly moreactive after sunset, flying about after dark, when its note "kerin" may be heard.DISTRIBUTIONContributed by Bernard William TuckerBreeding range.?C. c. camtschatkensis breeds in Kamschatka andthe Kurile Islands. The typical race ranges from the Altai to theUssuri region, southward to Manchuria and Transbaikalia, northwardto about the Arctic Circle in Yakutsk and the Yenisei region, andsporadically in western Siberia and west to Perm; also north China(Kansu, northern Szechwan).Winter range.?India, Tenasserim, South China, Hainan, Formosa,the Riu-Kiu Islands, and the Philippines. On passage in Japan.Casual records.?Ufa and Orenburg Governments in Russia,Caucasus, south France, Italy.MYADESTES TOWNSENDI (Audubon)TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIREHABITSAudubon (1840) named and figured this rather puzzling bird froma single female obtained by that pioneer naturalist J. K. Townsendnear the Columbia River; this one specimen remained for a long timeunique. It is now known to have a wide distribution in the mountainregions of the West, from central eastern Alaska and southwesternMackenzie to southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico.Its status has at last been fixed as a member of the thrush family,though at first glance it would hardly seem to belong there. It looks
318 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMand acts much like a flycatcher, with its somber colors and flycatchinghabits. In flight the light patches in its wings and the white in the tailsuggest the mockingbird. Its feeding habits remind one of the blue-birds. But its song is decidedly thrushlike, though not equal to thesongs of the star performers in this gifted group, and its spotted youngproclaim its close relationship to the thrushes.During the breeding season the solitaire is a bird of the mountains,at various altitudes in different parts of its range. In New Mexico itbreeds mostly above 8,000 feet and from there up to 12,000 feet,ranging up to timberline and above it, among the stunted spruces anddwarfed willows, in summer. In Colorado, its breeding range is notmuch lower, from 7,000 to 10,000 feet. In his notes from ZionNational Park, Utah, Russell K. Grater says: "This bird is residentthroughout the year in elevations from 7,500 to 10,500 feet and iscommonly seen in the lower canyons in the winter. It appears tofrequent the more deeply shaded, narrow canyons much more thanthe more open situations." Farther north it breeds at much loweraltitudes.Its favorite haunts iD the mountains are the open forests of pines andfirs on the gentle slopes, which it seems to prefer to the more denselywooded and more shady forests, though it is sometimes found therealso. Steep, rocky, fir-covered slopes are often favored, within theCanadian Zone. And it sometimes finds a congenial summer home inthe wider canyons, where the high rocky walls support a scatteredgrowth of stunted cedars and offer suitable crevices for nesting.Nesting.?Townsend's solitaire is a lowly nester. It usually placesits nest on or near the ground, often sunken into it, but generally thenest is protected from above by some form of overhanging shelter,which also helps to conceal it. Many nests have been found partiallyconcealed at the base of a fir or pine, where a small cavity had rottedout or been burned out by forest fires ; many such cavities exist on thefir-clad slopes of the mountains. Another common nesting site isunder the overhanging bank on the side of a narrow mountain trail,where the sitting bird may be flushed by a passer-by; in such a situa-tion the nest may be sunken into a hollow in the earth and is oftenconcealed under the overhanging roots. A cavity under a rock or acrevice among rocks is sometimes chosen, or a rotted out cavity in adead stump, rarely as high as 10 feet above the ground, may be used.Among the tangled roots of a fallen tree the birds may find a suitablecavity, especially if a large stone has fallen out and left a temptinghollow.Grinnell, Dixon, and Linsdale (1930) mention a nest, found close toLake Helen in the Lassen Peak region in California, that "was in anook (20 by 20 centimeters) formed by three rocks on a dry, rocky
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ridge. The cavity had a little dry moss in the back part of it and aspray of grass at the entrance. A few hemlocks stood above and be-low the site on the slope, but none was nearer than fifty meters. Thenest, composed of sticks and twigs, was lined with needles from silverpine."Mrs. Bailey (1928) says of a nest in New Mexico: "When climbingPecos Baldy, on a flat-topped grassy ridge at 12,000 feet, where Pipitswere nesting, and Horned Larks flying around with grown young, weflushed one of the Solitaires from an old charred log and to our sur-prise discovered its nest fitted into a burned hollow underneath, rest-ing on the ground roofed over by the log. In this case the nest wasmade from material close at hand?grass and weed stems."A most unusual nesting site is illustrated by C. Andresen (1942),who published a photograph of "a solitaire's nest built in an open cup-board of a table in a camp ground at Lake Almanor, Plumas County,California. On June 12, 1942, the nest had 3 eggs and one of the birdswas incubating."A very good description of a nest of Townsend's solitaire is publishedby A. W. Anthony (1903), furnished by J. W. Preston, to whom thenest was sent:At the base of the nest is a quantity of disintegrated trash such as bits of bark,pieces of weed stalks and finely broken old grass stems and blades, with some dirtand dust which had evidently been scratched up from the bottom of the cavity.On this slight platform are dead sticks and twigs, from larch and pine, intermixedwith much old faded grass, pine needles and leaves of fir, and with some bulbs androotlets of different grass-like sedges. The materials have been drawn into theburrowed-out cavity in the bank, leaving two-thirds of the material outward fromthe true nest, which is of fine dry grass stems and blades finely shredded and formedinto a neat, well-rounded rather shallow cup. I note a few sprays of the long,black moss so common among the fir trees of the mountains. The structure be-fore me is oblong in outline, being ten inches long by five wide, and three and one-half inches deep. In the inner end is formed the neat, symmetrical nest, cunninglyresting in so great an amount of superfluous matter. The inside measurementsare one and one-half inches deep by two and nine-tenths across. The structure isof course, somewhat compressed in boxing.Grinnell and Storer (1924) describe a typical nest, as follows:
"It was in a cut bank, three feet above the road and two feet belowthe top of the bank, in a depression in the earth between rocks andat the base of a young fir tree the outstretching roots of which par-tially concealed the nest. As is usual with the solitaire, a straggling
'tail' or apron of material extended down the bank a foot or so fromthe nest proper. The constituent materials of the latter were slenderdead fir twigs and old, brown needles of sugar and Jeffrey pines. In-side, the nest was about 3 inches (80 mm.) across and 2 inches (50mm.) deep."The nests are not all as large as the one so fully described above;
320 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMthey vary greatly in size to fit the cavity occupied; the material usedmay amount to merely a few handfuls or less, aDd rarely none at allis used; the material is often only carelessly thrown into the cavity,so that it looks like a wind-blown mass of rubbish that had lodgedin a depression; and the long tail or apron straggling out below addsto the delusion.J. K. Jensen (1923) reports a nest in which no nesting material wasused: "It was in a clay bank beside the road in the Santa Fe Canyon.The bird had evidently scratched the little pocket out in which theeggs were deposited. The four eggs were resting on the bare ground,and there was not even a suggestion of nest building."Eggs.?Townsend's solitaire lays three to five eggs, most commonlyfour and only rarely five. They are usually ovate but sometimesshort-ovate or elongate-ovate, and very rarely slightly pointed. Theyare only slightly glossy. The eggs are entirely different from theeggs of other North American thrushes and are often very beautiful.The ground color is usually dull white, but sometimes a very palelight blue or bluish white, or more rarely greenish white or yellowishwhite, and very rarely with a shade of pinkish white. They are moreor less evenly covered with small spots or very small blotches orscrawls of various shades of brown, reddish brown, yellowish brown,or darker browns, together with underlying spots or blotches of
"ecru-drab" or "lavender-gray." The markings are sometimesconcentrated at the larger end, or consolidated into a ring of spots.Two published descriptions are worth quoting. The eggs sent toJ. W. Preston, of Baxter, Iowa, are described by Mr. Anthony (1903)as follows: "The ground color of the eggs is faint greenish-blue,blotched and marked with pale chestnut and lavender. Some of thespots are large, and a number of irregular markings resembling writtencharacters appear, well scattered over the surface, but heavier aboutthe larger end. Two of the eggs are less heavily marked, the specksand spots being smaller. These eggs appear somewhat elongate."Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1908) says of the eggs taken in the San Ber-nardino Mountains:The four sets of eggs taken, conform to one general type of coloration, thoughthere is some variation. All the eggs of each of the four sets are practically identi-cal among themselves. Two extremes of coloration may be described. In onestyle the ground color is white, with the palest possible tint of grayish-blue. Themarkings are so profuse as nearly to obscure the ground, doing so completelyabout the larger ends. These markings vary from brick red, through an un-broken series of tints to very pale lavender; but a vinaceous tint prevails. Themarkings are in the nature of blotches and finer dots and points, often blurredtogether. In the other style of egg the ground is white with a decided pale bluetint, spattered with blotches and spots of lengthwise trend. These are thickestat the large end, bold and distinct, not running together, and are in color lavender,vinaceous, brick red and burnt sienna.
TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE 321The measurements of 50 eggs average 23.5 by 17.2 millimeters;the eggs showing the four extremes measure 26.5 by 18.1, 22.9 by18.3, 20.8 by 17.3, and 22.8 by 16.2 millimeters.Young.?No one seems to have worked out the incubation periodfor the Townsend's solitaire. Probably what nests have been foundhave been robbed by egg collectors. Nor does it seem to be knownhow long the young remain in the nest, nor at what rate they develop.Mrs. Wheelock's (1904) brief experience with a brood of young soli-taires would seem to indicate that both parents assist in the care ofthe young and are very solicitous for their welfare. The late datesat which fresh eggs have been found suggest that two broods are oftenraised in a season, but the evidence is not conclusive.Plumages.?Ridgway (1907) describes the striking juvenal plumagevery well, as follows: "Pileum, hindneck, back, scapulars, rump,upper tail-coverts, and lesser and middle wing-coverts conspicuouslyspotted with buff, each feather having a single spot of this color, ap-proximately rhomboid or cordate in shape, the feathers broadly mar-gined with blackish, causing a somewhat squamate effect; underparts pale buff or grayish buff, the feathers margined with black orsooty." The wings, except the coverts, and the tail are as in theadult; the greater wing coverts, which are not renewed at the post-juvenal molt, are tipped with buff, which fades out to white duringwinter, and the tips are largely worn away before spring.The postjuvenal molt begins early in August and is usually com-pleted before the end of September. This involves all the contourplumages and the lesser and median wing coverts but not the rest ofthe wings nor the tail. It produces a first winter plumage, which ispractically indistinguishable from that of the adult.Adults have one complete postnuptial molt, beginning sometimes asearly as the middle of July and continuing mainly through August.June and July birds are usually in much-worn plumage, and many arein fresh plumage again before the end of September. There is butlittle seasonal change in plumage; there is, apparently, no spring molt,but wear reduces the extent of the white on the greater coverts andthe tertials, and the body plumage is somewhat grayer, less brownish.The sexes are alike in all plumages.Food.?Professor Beal (1915b) examined only 41 stomachs ofTownsend's solitaire, too few in his opinion to "draw general conclu-sions." The food was made up of 35.90 percent of animal matter and64.10 percent of vegetable. Of the animal food, Lepidoptera in theform of caterpillars made up the largest item, 12.95 percent for theyear; one stomach, taken in May, held 72 percent caterpillars. Beetlesconstituted the second largest item, 10.74 percent, of which 5.89 per-cent were the useful predatory ground beetles (Carabidae) , 95 percent
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of the contents of one January stomach and 93 percent of the food inan October stomach consisted of Carabidae. Ants were eaten to theextent of 4.71 percent, bees and wasps amounted to less than 0.5percent, and he found only a trace of flies (Diptera) ; it seems strangethat a bird, supposed to take so much of its food on the wing, shouldhave eaten so few of these flying insects. Hemiptera were found tothe extent of 3.51 percent, grasshoppers amounted to less than 1percent, and there was only a trifle of other insects. Spiders wereeaten to the extent 2.94 percent, and there was one hairworm (Gordius).More than half of the vegetable food was wild fruit or berries, andthere was no evidence that any cultivated food had been taken. Hefound cedar berries in six stomachs, madrona berries in five, hack-berries and rose haws in two each, and serviceberries, wild cherries,sumac berries, poison ivy, waxwork, honeysuckle berries, and elder-berries in one stomach each.Strangely enough, he does not mention mistletoe seeds, which othershave referred to as a favorite food; these viscid seeds are swallowedwhole and passed through the alimentary canal to adhere where theyfall; thus these birds help to spread this parasite, as well as the poison-ivy. Pine seeds, pinyon seeds, and kinnikinnick berries have beenmentioned by other observers.Dr. G. F. Knowlton has sent me the following note on the contentsof two stomachs: "Recognizable stomach contents consisted of onenymphal Orthoptera, six Hemiptera, one being a scutellerid and an-other a mirid; three adult caddisflies; 11 beetles, one being a weeviland another a click bettle; four lepidopterous larvae, apparently cut-worms; two Diptera, one being a crane fly; 17 Hymenoptera, all buttwo of which were ants, three being carpenter ants. One stomachheld four berries; the other contained plant pulp and piant fragments."The birds were taken on June 20 and July 2, in Utah.I. McT. Cowan (1942) includes Townsend's solitaire among thebirds that feed on the termite Zooterrnopsis angusticollis. And LeslieL. Haskin (1919) adds angleworms to the list, "which it securedRobin fashion, except that instead of watching for them from theground it would drop down upon them from the lower limbs of thefruit trees, returning immediately to its perch. In fact, during theentire time I watched it, I did not see it take more than half a dozenhops along the ground." He also watched it "taking its prey inBluebird fashion, by watching for it from fence-posts and stumps,and dropping to the ground only when an insect had been located,returning immediately to its point of observation."Many observers have referred to the solitaire's flycatching habits,and it has been called the "flycatching thrush." Samuel F. Rathbunwatched a pair thus engaged for nearly half an hour and says in his
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notes: "In their actions these birds were almost identical with fly-catchers, sitting erect on or near the extremity of some limb, welltoward the top of the tree, and from this location they would fly outand catch the passing insects. At all times the birds were perfectlysilent, for during the entire time of observation neither uttered a note."H. W. Hensha\v (1875) evidently never observed this habit, for hesays: "The habit of catching insects on the wing, after the manner ofthe Flycatchers, which is attributed to this bird, appears to be not acommon one, or, as is likely the case the bird varies its habits in dif-ferent localities, as, of hundreds I have seen at different seasons, nonewere ever thus engaged, nor have I ever seen them searching amongthe leaves for insects, like the thrushes. In their usual manner ofprocuring food, as in their habits and motions generally, they havealways seemed to me nearly allied to the Bluebirds."Behavior.?Many of the solitaire's traits have been referred toabove, as well as some of the points on which it resembles otherspecies in appearance and manners. Dawson and Bowles (1909) havesummed this up very well, as follows:Barring the matter of structure, which the scientists have now pretty wellthrashed out, the bird is everything by turns. He is Flycatcher in that he delightsto sit quietly on exposed limbs and watch for passing insects. These he meetsin mid-air and bags with an emphatic snap of the mandibles. He is a Shrike inappearance and manner, when he takes up a station on a fence-post and studiesthe ground intently. When its prey is sighted at distances varying from tento thirty feet, it dives directly to the spot, lights, snatches, and swallows, in aninstant; or, if the catch is unmanageable, it returns to its post to thrash and killand swallow at leisure. During this pouncing foray, the display of white in theSolitaire's tail reminds one of the Lark Sparrow. Like the silly Cedar-bird, theSolitaire gorges itself on fruit and berries in season. Like a Thrush, when themood is on, the Solitaire skulks in the thickets or woodsy depths, and flies at thesuggestion of approach. Upon alighting it stands quietly, in expectation thatthe eye of the beholder will thus lose sight of its ghostly tints among the inter-lacing shadows.It is generally regarded as a solitary, quiet, retiring bird, oftenbeing seen singly, in pairs, or in family groups, but at times, mainlyon the fall migration, it is sometimes seen in larger groups. Henshaw(1875) mentions such a gathering: "At the Old Crater, forty milessouth of Zuni, N. Mex., they had congregated in very large numbersabout a spring of fresh water, the only supply for many miles around ;and hundreds were to be seen sitting on the bare volcanic rocks,apparently too timid to venture down and slake their thirst whilewe were camped near by."Ridgway (1877) records the thrushlike behavior of the solitaire inthe vicinity of its nest: "As we walked along the embankment of amining-sluice it flitted before us, now and then alighting upon theground, and, with drooping and quivering wings, running gracefully,
324 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMin the manner of a Robin, then flying to a low branch, and, afterfacing about, repeating the same maneuvers?evidently trying toentice us away from the spot."The flight of the solitaire is not swift, probably not over 20 milesan hour in direct flight; but the flight is usually not direct or muchprotracted, and is more or less erratic; Grinnell and Storer (1924) saythat it reminds one of Say's phoebe, "in that the wings are widelyspread and flapped rather slowly, and the flight course is irregularlycircuitous."It is ordinarily a gentle bird and not inclined to quarrel with itsneighbors, but it is very solicitous in the defense of its home and willoften drive away other birds from the vicinity of its nest or young.Voice.?Much has appeared in the literature in praise of the charm-ing song of Townsend's solitaire, and I have some interesting contrib-uted notes on it. Aretas A. Saunders (MS.) praises it as "one of themost glorious and beautiful of bird songs" and says that it "is a ratherprolonged, warblelike series of rapid notes, each note on a differentpitch than the last. The notes are clear, sweet, and loud, and followeach other almost as rapidly as those of the winter wren."Samuel F. Rathbun heard one singing in the Olympic Mountains,on July 19, 1920, and says in his notes: "While we were eating lunchthe song of this bird suddenly rang out not far away. It seemed tocome from near the top of one of the trees in a nearby grove of coni-fers. The song was most beautiful, full and clear, with sparkling,ringing notes, some of which remind one of the song of the purplefinch at its best. But the solitaire's song has much more volume andis more brilliant. It was given a number of times, and well fitted itssurroundings, for there was a swing to it that went with the expanseof the mountain heights."Dr. Louis B. Bishop (1900) praises it highly in the following words,as he heard it in Alaska: "On the hot noon of June 26, while seatedon the summit of a hill some 1,500 feet above Caribou Crossing, Iheard the most beautiful bird song that has ever delighted my ear.It seemed to combine the strength of the robin, the joyousness andsoaring quality of the bobolink, and the sweetness and purity of thewood thrush. Starting low and apparently far away, it gained inintensity and volume until it filled the air, and I looked for the singerjust above my head. I finally traced the song to a Townsend solitairethat was seated on a dead tree about 150 yards away, pouring forththis volume of melody without leaving its perch."Ralph Hoffmann (1927) says that it has "the quality of the Black-headed Grosbeak's song and a tempo between that of the WarblingVireo and the Purple Finch." The song has been said by others toresemble the warbling of the bluebird, a decided compliment to the
TOWNTSEND'S SOLITAIRE 325bluebird, and also the mockingbird, the California thrasher, and thesage thrasher, all of which seems a bit fanciful.Forrest S. Hanford (1917) writes thus attractively of the songsterin the solitude of its mountain retreat:The little shadowy canyon wherein I rested enjoyed a hushed and solemn tran-quility not diminished, but rather added to, by a drowsy murmuring from abright brook splashing on its way to the lake. This, I thought, could be noneother than the haunt of a Solitaire, and I wished that I might see the bird; andas in answer to my prayer came one, a small gray ghost of a bird that flittedsilently in and out the leafy corridors of its retreat, finally resting on the limb ofa pine not ten feet away. And as I watched, the feathers of his breast andthroat rose with a song that softly echoed the beautiful voices of the brook, thegurgling of eddies, the silvery tinkle of tiny cascades, and the deeper medley ofminiature falls. Infinitely fine and sweet was this rendering of mountain music.At times the song of the bird rose above the sound of the water in rippling cadencesnot shrill, but in an infinite number of runs and modulated trills, dying awayagain and again to low plaintive whispering notes suggestive of tender memories.The star performance of the solitaire is its flight song, which hasbeen referred to by only a few observers. Mr. Saunders says in hisnotes: "The flight that accompanies the song varies greatly. As Ihave observed it, the bird hovers for a long time high in the air andsings continuously while doing so." Charles L. Whittle (1922) whoobserved it, also in Montana, has published a diagram of the flight,and has written the following description of it:On May 15 my attention was attracted to the Solitaires by hearing them singas they were migrating northerly over the mountains as single birds and in pairs.They commonly flew well above the mountains so that identification was madeby their songs. * * * A number of times on this date a Solitaire could beheard singing high in the air and well above us up the mountain, and sometimesit could be seen coming down the steep slope just over the trees with great velocity,alighting suddenly on a tree top, when he would again burst into song. OnMay 24 I witnessed the beginning of a song-flight, no doubt a courtship per-formance, of which the precipitate descent over the tree tops just described isthe termination, although at that time the birds appeared to have mated.I was standing on a nearly treeless ridge, at an elevation of 7,300 feet, when aSolitaire which was singing close by on a stunted pine, flew upward in two seriesof irregular spirals. The first series was made by circling to the left, and thesecond series by circling to the right, as shown diagramatically in figure 30. Bythis method the bird mounted to a height of perhaps 500 feet, singing at intervals.Then he started off as though to leave the vicinity, when, suddenly and withastonishing velocity, he plunged downward, apparently with set wings, in asuccession of steeply-pitched zigzags, almost to the ground, and then turnedabruptly upward again in a second series of spirals of the same character, whichended in another zigzag drop of at least 700 feet when he disappeared down theslope.Authorities seem to differ greatly as to the singing season of thesolitaire ; several have reported its singing in fall and winter, and somestate that it ceases to sing during the normal song period of other
326 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMbirds, late in spring and early in summer. Mr. Whittle (1922) quotesa number of observers on the subject, and then sums up the evidence,as follows: "The Solitaire is thus reported, by the combined testimonyof several observers, to be in song, at least at intervals, from Septem-ber to February inclusive, and by two observers to be silent duringthe customary singing season. Others, however, including the writer,find the species quite normal in the matter of having the usual springsinging period. It is difficult to account for the reports that thisspecies does not sing during the courting and nesting seasons."Mr. Saunders (MS.) says on this subject: "The season of song ofthe Solitaire, judged from the small amount of data I have, beginsin March or April and continues to the middle of July, my earliestand latest dates being March 15, 1910, and July 20, 1911. It fre-quently sings in fall. In most years I heard it early in October, butin 1908 I heard it from September 7 to October 23, which are myearliest and latest dates for fall singing."Kussell K. Grater writes to me: "At Cedar Breaks National Mon-ument, at an elevation of over 10,000 feet and in the dead of winter,I have heard solitaires singing loud and clear from the trees, whilesnow several feet in depth covers the ground. This song was thesame familiar one heard in the warmer months."Dr. Coues (1874) quotes T. M. Trippe as saying:Toward the middle and latter part of winter, as the snow begins to fall, theFlycatching Thrush delights to sing, choosing for its rostrum a pine tree in someelevated position, high up above the valleys; and not all the fields and groves,and hills and valleys of the Eastern States, can boast a more exquisite song.* * * At first it sings only on bright, clear mornings; but once fairly in themood, it sings at all hours and during the most inclement weather. Often whiletravelling over the narrow, winding mountain roads, toward the close of winter,I have been overtaken and half-blinded by sudden, furious storms of wind andsnow, and compelled to seek the nearest tree or projecting rock for shelter. Insuch situations I have frequently listened to the song of this bird, and forgot thecold and wet in its enjoyment. Toward spring, as soon as the other birds beginto sing, it becomes silent as though disdainful of joining the common chorus.Townsend's solitaire also has some short, metallic calls or alarmnotes, which have been written as tink, tink, or clink, or peet, andwhich are somewhat ventriloquial in effect. They suggest similarnotes from some of the other thrushes. Harry S. Swarth (1922)writes, referring to the Stikine Kiver region: "The solitaires did notsing much but the call note was uttered continually. From ourrooms in town at Telegraph Creek, this was one bird note that couldbe heard hour after hour, monotonously repeated nearly the wholeday through. To our ears it sounded so nearly like the distantbarking of a California ground squirrel (Citellus beecheyi) that the
TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE 327sound would surely have been disregarded as a bird call had webeen in a region where the squirrels occur."Field marks.?The solitaire can be distinguished as a long, slim,brownish-gray bird with a long tail, a short bill, and a light eye ring.In flight the white outer tail feathers and the buff areas in the wingsshow conspicuously. It suggests a mockingbird, but its colorationis much duller.Fall.?Henshaw (1875) writes: "They are quite common, in thefall, in Eastern Arizona and Western New Mexico. Having rearedtheir young, these birds appear to forsake the pine woods, whichconstitute their summer abode, and appear lower down on the hillsides, covered with pifions and cedars. Their food at this seasonappears to consist almost exclusively of berries, particularly from thepifions and cedars, and the crops of many examined contained littleelse save a few insects."Grinnell and Storer (1924) say: "The Townsend Solitaire as aspecies does not, in the Yosemite region, make much of a change inits haunts with the passage of the seasons. In summer the majorityare to be found in and about the red fir forests of the Canadian Zone.At other times of year the birds forage and live in the western juniperswhich often grow close by on rocky slopes, or else they drop to theTransition Zone where mistletoe berries on the golden oaks affordbounteous forage. There are no solitaires in Yosemite Valley duringthe summer months, but with the coming of winter the oaks on thetalus slopes become tenanted by numbers of the birds."Frank M. Drew (1881) says that, in Colorado, "in fall the Soli-taire comes out of the woods and can be found around houses, or inlow bushes near water."Winter.'?Townsend's solitaire does not seem to be much affectedby low temperature, its haunts and its movements in winter beingdependent on the food supply in the shape of fruit and berries, insearch of which it wanders about in large or small groups or in familyparties. It spends the winter throughout most of its summer range,except in the most northern part of it, but at lower levels than itoccupies in summer. It has been known to winter as far north asMontana, during the severest seasons, even when the thermometeris flirting with zero and winter storms are howling.In the vicinity of his ranch, in the lowlands of Montana, E. S.Cameron (1908) records the solitaire as a winter resident, and evi-dently not present in summer. He says that it arrives the "secondweek in September and leaves middle of April. * * * A pairfrequented my ranch in Dawson County during November 1904,and throughout October and November in 1905. On November 25,
328 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMthese were joined by two others when all four seemed to live near thewater troughs and playfully chased each other round and round thecedars. They were not seen after a blizzard on Nov. 28, when thetemperature fell to 14? below zero, but they are able to withstandsevere cold, as a pair returned at the end of January and remaineduntil April 14."Frank Bond (1889) gives the following account of a great gatheringof solitaires in a canyon near Cheyenne, Wyo., in winter:On the walls of the canon, especially in the less precipitous places, there flourishesa scattering growth of scrub cedar whose branches were well laden with the darkblue cedar berry. Living, I believe, almost entirely upon these berries, for a winterdiet, were countless thousands of Townsend's Solitaire (Myiadestes townsendii)and Robins {Merula migratoria propinqua). I saw also Sitta canadensis andseveral Long-crested Jays (Cyanocilta s. macrolopha). Both the Solitaires andRobins were acting like school children out for a holiday. They would chaseone another hither and thither, now up to the brow of the canon 500 or 600 feetabove, now back and forth across the mirrored ice of the river below, and allthe while singing and chattering like mad. It warms one's heart to enter sucha vale of melody in cold December." [The birds were still there up to February7.1 In El Paso County, Colo., according to Aiken and Warren (1914),the solitaire is "a solitary bird in summer, but sometimes they con-gregate in flocks of 20 or more in warm, sheltered canons and gulchesin winter. Early in 1911 Solitaires were seen in the residence portionof Colorado Springs several times, which is something unusual."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Western North America from the Arctic Circle to centralMexico.Breeding range.?The Townsend's solitaire breeds north to centraleastern Alaska (Yukon River 20 miles above Circle); northwesternYukon (Bern Creek, Selwyn River, and the Semenof Hills); andsouthwestern Mackenzie (Mount Tha-on-tha, at the mouth of theNahanni River). East to southwestern Mackenzie (mouth of theNahanni River) ; the mountains of western Alberta (Jasper Park,Banff, and Calgary); western Montana (Lake McDonald, FlatheadLake, Billings, and Kirby) ; northeastern Wyoming (Bear LodgeMountains) ; western South Dakota (Black Hills) ; northwesternNebraska (Squaw Canyon and Pine Ridge, in Sioux County) ; south-eastern Wyoming (Wheatland and Laramie) ; central Colorado (EstesPark, Buffalo Creek, Manitou, and Fort Garland) ; and centralnorthern New Mexico (Taos Mountains and Pecos Baldy). Southto northern New Mexico (Pecos Baldy, Santa Fe, and Fort Wingate) ;central Arizona (White Mountains and Fort Whipple) ; and southernCalifornia (San Jacinto Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, and
TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE 329Mount Pinos); also in the Sierra Madre of Mexico from northwestChihuahua (Colonia Garcia) to northwestern Zacatecas (SierraMadre). West to southern California (Mount Pinos), the Sierra andCascade ranges in California (King's Canyon, Yosemite, Fyffe, ButteLake, and Salmon Mountains); Oregon (Pinehurst and Prospect);Washington (Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, Tacoma, and Seattle)
;
western British Columbia (Mount Benson, Vancouver Island; Glenora,Telegraph Creek, and Atlin) ; southwestern Yukon (Carcross andBurward Landing); and eastern Alaska (Chitina Moraine, JosephVillage, aud the Yukon River above Circle).Winter range.?In southern British Columbia and in most of theUnited States range of the solitaire the migration seems to be prin-cipally altitudinal. The species winters north to southern BritishColumbia (Victoria, Sumas, the Okanagan Valley, and Arrow Lakes)northern Idaho (St. Joe National Forest near St. Maries) ; and centraleastern Montana (Terry). East to eastern Montana (Terry andKirby); eastern Wyoming (Platte Canyon and Laramie); easternColorado (Fort Morgan and Manitou); rare or accidental east tosoutheastern South Dakota (Vermillion); eastern Nebraska (Omahaand Lincoln) , and Kansas (Topeka) ; western Texas (Palo Duro Can-yon near Amarillo, Guadalupe Mountains, and Chisos Mountains;rarely to Kerrville); and southwestern Chihuahua (Maquerichic).South to southern Chihuahua (probably to the limit of the breedingrange in Zacatecas); northern Sonora (15 miles south of Nogales);and northern Lower California (Sierra San Pedro Mdrtir, and Guada-lupe Island, one record). West to northwestern Lower California(Tecate), central California and occasionally the coastal region(Indio, Claremont, Santa Barbara, the valleys of the Sierra Nevada,Berkeley, Davis, and Paynes Creek); Oregon (Klamath Basin); westernWashington (Tacoma, Seattle, and Bellingham) ; and southwesternBritish Columbia (Victoria).Migration.?Some late dates of spring departure are: Texas?Kerr-ville, April 17. Kansas?Hays, April 6. Nebraska?Hastings, May26. Utah?Ogden, April 30.Some early dates of spring arrival are: Colorado?Durango, March25. Wyoming?Yellowstone Park, April 11. Montana?Big Sandy,March 31. Saskatchewan?Eastend, April 19. Alberta?Banff, April20. Idaho-?Rathdrum, March 4. Oregon?Corvallis, March 4.British Columbia?Chilliwack, March 29; Atlin, April 30.Some late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia?AtlinLake, September 9; Okanagan Lake, November 22. Washington
?
Pullman, October 22. Oregon?Weston, October 28. AlbertaBanff, October 20. Montana?Missoula, November 25. Wyo-ming?Wheatland, October 30. Colorado?Yuma, November 5.792825?49 22
330 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMSome early dates of fall arrival are: Montana?Terry, September9. Colorado?Fort Morgan, September 27. Nebraska?Long Pine,October 10. Kansas?Hays, October 12. Texas?20 miles north-west of Amarillo, September 27.The migratory movements of the solitaire seem to be rather erraticand during migration it is often found far east of its normal range; asat Lake Johnston, Saskatchewan; Stonewall, Manitoba; one bandedat Wilton, N. Dak., on October 7, 1937; Falls Creek, Murray County,Okla.; and Dallas, Tex.Casual records.?There are three records of the occurrence of thesolitaire in Minnesota: a specimen collected at Collegeville, StearnsCounty, December 20, 1909; another taken near Fairmont, MartinCounty, November 30, 1916; and one at a feeding station near Grove-land from January to the middle of March 1922. A specimen wascollected at West Point, Wis., in February, 1910; and another inLake County, 111., December 16, 1875. An individual was underobservation near Toledo, Ohio, from December 26, 1938 to January14, 1939. The easternmost record is from Long Island, where aspecimen was collected November 25, 1905, at Kings Park.Egg dates.?California: 24 records, May 2 to August 7; 14 records,June 2 to June 20, indicating the height of the season.Colorado: 20 records, May 16 to July 10; 11 records, May 30 toJune 15.New Mexico: 6 records, June 3 to July 12.Washington: 7 records, May 22 to June 17.Family SYLVIIDAE: Warblers, Gnatcatchers, and KingletsACANTHOPNEUSTE BOREALIS KENNICOTTI (Baird)KENNICOTT'S WILLOW-WARBLERContributed by Bernard William TuckerHABITSKennicott's warbler is a race of?if indeed it is really separablefrom?Eversmann's warbler (A. b. borealis) of the Old World. Ridg-way (1904) stated that the Alaskan bird is smaller than the typicalrace, with the color of the upperparts decidedly grayer (at least inspring and summer plumage) and the underparts less strongly tingedwith yellow. It must be admitted, however, that the grounds for theseparation of the race kennicotti are not very secure. Ridgway gavethe average wing measurements of seven unsexed adults as 62 milli-meters against 68.5 for males and 63.7 for females in the case of birdsfrom eastern Asia. Witherby (1938, vol. 2) gives the wing measure-ment for the typical race as 62-71 millimeters in males (12 measured)
KENNICOTT'S WILLOW-WARBLER 331and 61-67 in females. This places Ridgway's measurements withinthe range of variation of the typical form. However, Dr. C. B. Tice-hurst (1938), the leading and most recent authority on the group,gives the measurement for males of the typical form as 65-72 milli-meters and of females as 62.5-66 (exceptional specimens 58.5 and 61.5),and as this is based on a large number of specimens it would seem as ifan average of 62 millimeters probably does indicate a smaller race.Ticehurst himself was not able to examine sufficient material to judgethe validity of the Alaskan race, but quotes the opinion of J. L. Peters,whom he consulted. Peters wrote: "This seems a rather unsatis-factory race, but I think it may be distinguished from typical borealisby the average smaller size and smaller bill. I compared 4 cf cf and1 9 from Alaska with a series of Siberian breeding birds of borealis;kennicotti cf wing 63.4-67.1, 9 63.1 mm. The colour charactersgiven by Ridgway do not seem to hold."Ticehurst adds that he has seen one unsexed bird from Alaska (wing61.5), "which is much yellower below than autumn borealis, and has asmaller bill than 9 borealis," thus just the reverse of Ridgway's de-scription so far as the underparts are concerned. He further notesthat Friedmann (1937) also remarked on the yellowish wash on theunderparts of two birds from St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, taken inJuly and August. Altogether one cannot but agree with Ticehurst'sfinal conclusion that "the form requires much further study on largermaterial before its validity can be assured or its range demarcated."Swarth (1934) not only queried the validity of the race kennicottibut even raised the question whether the species really breeds in Alaskaat all. He writes: "It is an extremely rare bird on the Alaskan side, ithas not been found actually nesting there, and occurrences are nearlyall as in our Nunivak specimen, of migrating birds in late summer.These might be merely an overflow of migrants from the Siberian sidethat later retrace their course."Reference to the original records for the localities of presumedbreeding quoted in the A.O.U. Check-list shows that Swarth's commentwas not unjustified. The earlier records for the coastal districts ofwestern and southwestern Alaska include only two June dates, namely,June 14 (Grinnell, 1900) and June 19, the date of two specimens fromNushagak in the National Museum, collected by J. W. Johnson in1884 and mentioned by Osgood (1904). Osgood himself secured twospecimens near Iliamna at the base of the Alaska Peninsula on July13 and 14, while none of the several records for St. Michael and thevicinity is earlier than July 26 (Nelson, 1887). Most other recordsrefer to August or even September. No details are recorded aboutthe Nushagak specimens, and those secured by Osgood were asso-ciating with other warblers, so there is little reason to think they were
332 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMbreeding birds. This leaves us, so far as the above records are con-cerned, with only the bird seen by Grinnell on June 14. This datecertainly suggests breeding. The bird was hunting among somewillow bushes and stunted spruces, and it was expected that it wouldprove to be nesting, but eventually it flew right away, so that evenin this case there was no very strong evidence of breeding. Moreover,it is not irrelevant to point out that apparently not one of the earlierobservers ever heard the song in Alaska, with the exception of Town-send (1887), who records that one obtained by him in a thicket farup on one of the highest hills of the middle Kowak River region wasstill in song on August 1
.
However, the question of breeding in Alaska seems to be settledby the observations of Dixon (1938) in the Mount McKinley NationalPark. He states that "Kennicott's willow-warbler was a fairly com-mon breeding bird on the upper Savage River in 1926. Here, onJune 20, we found half a dozen willow warblers singing in one tractof spruce woods. * * * Three specimens were collected in June1926, and two proved to be adult males in full breeding condition."Even Dixon, however, found no nests, and he records further that
"in 1932 I repeatedly visited the exact locality where these warblershad been found in 1926, but I neither saw nor heard them. Allsummer a continued search was carried on in the McKinley regionbut not a single willow warbler could be found. The late heavysnows had apparently prevented their reaching this inland district."Such erratic and inconstant breeding distribution from season toseason, dependent mainly on weather conditions in spring, is a char-acteristic phenomenon with many Arctic birds: a species may bepresent in numbers in a given district in one year and completelyabsent in the next. Nevertheless, it may be suggested that the fielddata are not particularly favorable to the existence of a distinctAlaskan race. The writer speaks with some diffidence on this Amer-ican problem, especially as there may be more recent data not acces-sible to him, but the evidence does seem to raise the question whetherthis warbler may not be still only in the process of colonizing Alaskafrom Asia, a question that clearly has a bearing on the status of therace kennicotti. Only more material from;?both sides of BeringStrait and more field study in Alaska can finally settle the problem.Acanthopneuste, or, as the writer would prefer to call it, Phyllo-scopus, borealis (for Ticehurst, already quoted, has shown that theseparation of Acanthopneuste has very little basis) is biologically note-worthy on account of its extremely interesting migration. There arewell-established cases of migrants extending their winter range inrelation with an extension of the breeding area, but the present speciesexemplifies the reverse situation, the adherence to ancestral winter
KENNICOTT'S WILLOW-WARBLER 333quarters in spite of a great extension of summer range. There can beno reasonable doubt that the original home of the species was in themore eastern part of Siberia, with winter quarters in southeasternAsia and the Malay Archipelago. Yet the European birds have notadopted what might seem the natural course of migrating for thewinter to Africa. They return annually to the much more distantancestral winter quarters, and to do this they must first travel thelong journey eastward to eastern Asia before finally turning southwardthrough the eastern parts of China.Throughout its summer range in the Old World this warbler isprimarily a bird of the northern birch woods, though it may also befound nesting in conifer and mixed woods. In the Mount McKinleyNational Park, however, the typical haunts of the species are thespruce woods (Dixon, 1938). In northern Europe it is found as a rulein well-grown woodland, avoiding the mere scrub growth which sat-isfies its relative the willow-warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus), thoughit also appears to require a fair amount of ground cover, and it has adistinct liking for the neighborhood of streams or other water andswampy places, though in no way confined to such. In fact, it may befound in anything from dry woods to even those that are more or lessflooded.As there are next to no bionomical data on the species in America,observations in Europe will be mainly relied on in the account thatfollows, and as the writer has had the opportunity of studying Evers-mann's warbler, as the Old World form is called, in Lapland it will bepossible to draw to a considerable extent on original experience.Migration.?The Arctic willow-warbler passes through easternChina on its spring migration during the latter half of May and thefirst 10 days of June. La Touche (1926) says that it "is one of thelast birds seen in the spring migration, being still seen in North-EastChihli about the 10th of June. Although the song is never heard inChina, it commonly utters in spring a very loud call, 'tsic-tsic.' " Hesays that it is "one of the earliest autumn migrants, appearing inS. E. China as early as the last days of August and in North-EastChina from the middle of that month."Collett (1886) says that, in Lapland, "these birds appear to arriverather late in the spring. Mr. Seebohm, in 1887, met with the firstarrivals on June 18th, and a few days afterwards found them inconsiderable numbers. In 1885, at Matsjok (Tana), they couldhardly have arrived before June 22nd, but two or three days after-wards they were numerous." At the other end of its summer habitat,in northeastern Siberia, Thayer and Bangs (1914) say that thisspecies arrived at Nijni Kolymsk, May 30, 1912.Referring to the Commander Islands, to the westward from the
334 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMAleutians, Dr. Stejneger (1885) says: "They are not known to breedon the islands, where they have been collected only during the springmigration. In 1882 I shot only one specimen on each island, butduring the 'bird-wave' of 1883, they were plentiful in the northernpart of Bering Island. The birds occurring on the islands belong tothe same stock as those inhabiting the mainland of Kamtschatka."Courtship.?All the small Old World leaf-warblers have more or lesswell-defined postures and display actions in courtship, but those ofAcanthopneuste borealis have yet to be adequately observed. Dixonrecords two birds that were "seen to perch on a limb fluttering theirwings quite audibly and uttering a harsh 'chit' at frequent intervals,"which sounds like a display action, though it might possibly have beenaggressive, and I have observed what was evidently a sexual chase ofthe type met with in so many small birds, among the bushes in aNorwegian birch swamp late in June.Nesting.?The nest is placed among vegetation on the ground andis a domed structure with entrance hole at the side, built of finegrasses with commonly some moss and dead leaves and lined with finegrass. It is characteristic that feathers are absent from the lining,though one recent author has recorded three small ones in one nest.Collett (1886) found three nests near Matsjok, of which he says:The first nest I found (on July 27th) was placed at the foot of a slope thicklycovered with birch trees, and was well hidden by Cornus suecica, halfgrownChamaenerion angustifolium, Veronica longifolia, and Melica nutans. It layunder the root of a tree, which partly formed a roof to the nest. The other nest,found the same day at another slope in the wood, had no such protection; butboth nests were completely domed, as is usual in those of the other Phylloscopi.They were most loosely constructed; the outer base was composed of some drybirch-leaves; the outside consisted of coarse straws and moss, the interior of finerstraws, but without a trace of hairs or feathers. The number of young birds inthe first was seven, in the other six. Each brood was about nine days old.The third nest (July 28th) also lay on a high slope covered with birch trees,protected by a thin branch of juniper and surrounded mostly by Cornus suecica,while the other tall forest plants here were absent. This nest was thus some-what exposed. Like the others, it was domed and loosely put together, insidewith fine straws, outside of larger, but nevertheless soft, straws, as well as a gooddeal of two kinds of moss which covered the ground in the immediate neighbour-hood, viz. Hylocomium splendens, Hedw., and Dicranum scoparium, Hedw. Thenumber of young was six, nearly ready to fly.Henry Seebohm (1879) writes of its nesting in Siberia: "When Ileft the Arctic circle it had probably not commenced to breed; buton the 6th of July I had the good fortune to shoot a bird from its nestat Egaska, in latitude 67?. * * * The nest was built on theground in a wood thinly scattered with trees, and was placed in arecess on the side of a tussock or little mound of grass and otherplants. It was semidomed, the outside being composed of moss, and
KENNICOTTS WILLOW-WARBLER 335the inside of fine dry grass. There was neither feather nor hair usedin the construction. I did not see this bird further north than lat.69?."J. H. Riley (1918) reports that Copley Amory, Jr.?took a nest and seven slightly incubated eggs on the Kolyma, directly oppositeNijni Kolymsk, June 18, 1915. The nest was in swamp and willows on one sideof a "niggerhead," with water directly below the nest and a leaning dead willowstick directly above. The nest outwardly is composed of rather coarse grasswith a few pieces of sphagnum moss, loosely woven; internally of finer grass andlined with white ptarmigan feathers. The outer covering extends up over theegg cavity, forming a roof. In fact, the nest has the appearance of two nests,the outer one composed of dark-colored coarse grass and the inner of finer yellow-ish grass. Outwardly the nest measures about 634 by 5 inches; the egg cavitywhich is rounded 2 inches. The inner nest is placed in the front of the massthat composes the outer nest.Eggs.?The Arctic willow-warbler lays a set of five to seven eggs;probably six is the commonest number, but there are many sets ofseven.Mr. Riley (1918) describes the eggs taken by Mr. Amory as follows:"The eggs are short, ovate in shape; white, rather evenly spotted withlarger and smaller spots of vinaceous russet in two tints; the spotsmore numerous on the larger end. They measure as follows: 16.7 by12.6, 16.4 by 12.5, 15.5 by 12.4, 16.4 by 12.5, 16.7 by 12.7, 16.5 by12.6, 16.2 by 12.4 mm."Seebohm (1879) says that "the eggs are larger than those of ourWillow-Warbler's, pure white, and profusely spotted all over withvery small and very pale pink spots."Young.?Only one brood is reared. There can be little doubt thatonly the female incubates, as in the case of its nearest relatives, thoughthis does not seem to have been positively proved. This conclusionis supported by a statement of Robert Collett, who discovered Evers-mann's warbler breeding in northern Norway and gave an excellentaccount of it in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London(1877). He mentions that a female he shot had large incubationspots but makes no mention of these in males which he obtained.Plumages.?The plumages of Acanthopneuste b. borealis are de-scribed by H. F. Witherby in the "Handbook of British Birds" (1938,vol. 2) and by Ticehurst (1938, vol. 2). The nestling has not beendescribed. The juvenal plumage is much like the adult but lessgreenish above, more inclined to grayish brown, and whiter below.Ticehurst states that first autumn birds incline to be brighter andgreener than adults, less gray-green above and more tinged withyellow on the underparts. "Usually too they can be recognized bythe unworn bar on the wings and the freshness of the flight and tail
336 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMfeathers, which in adults show wear, since they are not cast afterbreeding, but held until the early spring moult."Food.?Collett, quoted above, states that in Norway in summerthe food seems to be wholly taken from the countless myriads ofmosquitoes, of which there are at least half a dozen species. Allcrops examined were crammed with these insects. In a later com-munication (1886) he mentions having on two occasions found thelarvae of a Cidaria or other geometrid larva in the stomach, as wellas other soft insects. Further exact information is scanty, butJourdain (1938, vol. 2), summarizing the records of several otherobservers in addition to Collett, mentions Hymenoptera (larvae ofTenihredo or Lophyrus, ants), Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and otherinsects.Behavior.?All the small leaf-warblers of the Old World havemuch in common in their behavior, and Eversmann's warbler differslittle in this respect from its better-known European relatives. Likethem it is a lively and active bird, constantly hovering and flittingabout in foliage in search of insects, and sometimes it will hoverfor a few seconds to pick one off a leaf. It does, however, differfrom some allied species in that, at any rate in the breeding season,it keeps principally in the canopy of well-grown trees, in which itchiefly feeds and sings, though it may also be seen at times in lowervegetation.Voice.?As more or less marked geographical differences in songand notes, which may or may not coincide with accepted racial differ-ences, are not unknown within the limits of single species of thegenus, it cannot be assumed that the song and notes of Eversmann'swarbler in Europe are identical with those of the same species inAlaska, though it is evident that they are similar. To an observerfamiliar with European birds much the best description that can begiven of the song of Eversmann's warbler is that it is unmistakablylike that of the cirl bunting (Emberiza cirlus), though it is somewhathigher pitched and less hard-sounding. To those not acquaintedwith that bird the best that can be said is that the song is a littlerattling repetition of a single somewhat sibilant note, lasting forapproximately three seconds. It is usually, though not invariably,preceded by a clicking tzick uttered one to three times, and when thebird is in full song the fairly regular alternation of the monotonouslittle song phrases and clicking tzick notes is very characteristic. Atsuch times there is less than one-second interval between the end ofa song and the next tzick. The song is generally delivered fromamong the foliage of trees, though at times lower down, and the billmoves rapidly during its utterance. It may be heard in Laplandfrom the time of the bird's arrival about mid-June until mid-July
KENNICOTT'S WILLOW-WARBLER 337
or a little later. Though in general so simple a song gives little scopefor variation I have heard one variant in quicker time which wasrather distinct.Dixon (1938) states that the song of Kennicott's warbler "mightwell be described as intermediate between that of the orange-crownedand northern pileolated warblers." The writer is not acquaintedwith either of these, but judging from descriptions this would seem tosuggest some little advance on the extreme simplicity and uniformityof the song of the species in Europe.The tzick note is also used on the breeding ground separately fromthe song as a call or possibly rather as an alarm or scold. It is no doubtthe note rendered by Dixon as a harsh chit. What is undoubtedlythe same note is described by La Touche (1926) as commonly utteredby passage birds in China in spring, although the song is never heardfrom these migrants. A note of migrants described as a repeatedhusky tswee-ep is evidently different, and I have heard a note thatcould be so rendered on the breeding ground. Another quite distinctnote which I have heard in the breeding season is a low rattle or churr,and during what appeared to be a courtship chase I have heard fromone or both birds a kind of loud sit-sit-sit-sit . . ., something like thenotes of the song repeated in a more staccato fashion, less sibilantlyand with more emphasis.Hamilton M. Laing (1925) writes:For some days after our arrival at Petropavlovsk, an elusive song of goodquality was heard in the birch woods, but the author could not be seen. When abreeze was blowing, the twinkling leaves of these trees made it most difficult tocatch sight of birds aloft in the upper branches. On July 27, an effort was madeto learn the identity of the puzzling song heard in the woods since arrival. Theassumption that it was wagtail was quite wrong. It came from the treetops, andfinally the bird was seen in song, even to the beak open in delivery, and then itwas shot. It proved the same small warbler-like chap resembling our TennesseeWarbler, taken July 21. The song is suggestive of several others. It suggeststhe Northern Water-Thrush, the Oven-bird at times, and even the CaliforniaPurple Finch. It might be fairly syllabized as 'Reecher! Reecher! Reecher!Reecher!'?quite ringing and melodious.Collett (1886) gives the following account of the song:Whilst the females are sitting, the males have each their singing-place, whichthey hardly ever leave. It was on a little hill within the woods covered withlarger birch and a few pine trees which towered above the others. Here the malewould sit, in the top of the loftiest trees, and sing almost incessantly the wholeday; it stopped only for a few moments, when it generally entirely disappeared,and sometimes it could then be seen to meet the female. Some minutes after itwould perch again on the top of its tree, as a rule on the same branch, and recom-mence its song again. * * *The indefatigable manner in which the male gives forth its monotonous, butnevertheless strongly sounding, song is almost incredible. The song consists, asI have previously remarked, of a single note, zi-zi-zi-zi . . ., repeated
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unusually quickly, fourteen to sixteen times in succession. After each songfollows a short period of rest, which in the height of the singing-time scarcelyexceeds half a minute, when it recommences its song again.The song of the different specimens was almost precisely alike, but in some itmight sound a little more or less harsh than in others. Seebohm has comparedthe song to the trill of the Redpole; and this seems to be a suitable description,although it appeared to me to resemble more the first quick notes of the song ofSylvia curruca.In these latitudes, where the day is but little lighter than the night, the songmight be heard at any hour and even at midnight. A little after the middle ofJuly most of the males had ceased to sing, although at Matsjok once or twice Iheard the song so late as the 28th of that month.Field marks.?A small warbler something like a warbling vireo,about 4% inches long, with dull greenish upperparts, a prominentpale yellowish eye stripe, whitish underparts tinged with yellow anda narrow pale wing bar. In birds on the breeding ground I foundthis bar tolerably noticeable at close range, but not otherwise. Asthe season advances it may be much obscured by abrasion. In thebreeding season the peculiar song and note are additional goodcharacters.Fall and winter.?This species leaves its breeding grounds early,and La Touche (1926) states that it appears in southeastern Chinaas early as the last days of August and in northeastern China fromthe middle of that month. He states that on migration "it is quitearboreal in its habits, except perhaps while passing through poorly-wooded country, where I have seen it hunting for insects in grass andbushes. But, once in a garden, I actually saw one hopping about onan open gravel path." H. C. Robinson (1927) states:This little willow-warbler is very common * * * throughout the MalayPeninsula, from August to the beginning of June, though very few arrive beforethe middle of October or remain after April. Most of our visitors seem to remainon or near the coast and do not penetrate into heavy jungle, though we have foundthem near the summit of Kedah Peak, at a height of 3,500 ft. in December.Among the mangroves and Casuarinas on the coast they are often met with,in small flocks or singly, and are very active and restless, flying with a short,jerky action, and returning to their perch like a flycatcher. They seem to feedlargely on very small flies and midges, though they are often seen searching theboughs like a tit. DISTRIBUTIONBreeding range.?The principal Old World race A. b. borealis(Blasius) breeds in northern Europe and Asia north to the tree limit(generally around latitude 70? N., but to 75? on the Taimyr Peninsula),including north Norway, north Finland (south to about 68?), northRussia, and west Siberia south to about 61?, but in Siberia east of
KENNICOTT'S WILLOW-WARBLER 339the Yenisei reaching much farther south and extending to the moun-tain regions of northern Mongolia, eastward across Siberia to BeringSea. Allied races are found in the Kamchatka Peninsula andNorth Pacific Islands.In western Alaska A. b. kennicotti is recorded in coastal regionsnorth to the Kotzebue Sound region (Kowak River), also at PortClarence, St. Michael and elsewhere on Norton Sound, on NunivakIsland, south to the Aleknagik River, Nushagak, and Iliamna at thebase of the Alaska Peninsula, and inland in the Mount McKinleyregion, Alaska Range. Probably only accidentally (bird found dead)even as far north as Icy Cape, near Wainwright.Winter range.?The species winters in the Philippines, FrenchIndo-China, Siam, Tenasserim, Malay Peninsula, and East IndianIslands to the Moluccas; also Formosa, Andaman Islands, etc.Ticehurst (1938, vol. 2) states with reference to kennicotti that hehas "seen a few very small birds from various southeastern localitiesin Asia in winter (Amoy; Tenasserim; Philippines; Penang; Siam)which may represent the winter-quarters, since it does not winterin the New World."Spring migration.?Ticehurst gives a number of dates from litera-ture and from labels of skins for the passage through eastern Asiato the breeding grounds, but the data are not extensive enough togive any exact picture of the northward spread of the species. It isapparent that the passage starts in China about the beginning of thesecond week of May, and the northeastern parts of the country maybe reached by the end of the week, but Manchuria and Amurland areapparently not reached till the end of the month. Arrival at NijniKolymsk at the mouth of the Kolyma, northeastern Siberia, is re-corded on May 30, and north Norway is reached about the beginningof the third week of June. For Alaska there appears to be no recordearlier than June 14.Fall migration.?The migration of the species through easternAsia begins early. It is recorded in northeastern Mongolia byAugust 7 and in northeast China by August 10, and southern China(Fokien, southeastern Yunnan) may be reached by August 24. Themigration continues through October and even into November.Nevertheless, not all birds leave so early as above, for specimens ofkennicotti are recorded in Alaska from August 16 to the end of themonth and even (Nunivak Island) to September 8.Casual records.?The typical race is recorded from Great Britain,Helgoland, Italy, Holland, and near Orenburg, Russia.
340 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMLOCUSTELLA OCHOTENSIS (Middendorff)MIDDENDORFF'S GRASSHOPPER-WARBLERContributed by Winsob Marrett Tyler and Bernard William TuckerHABITSMiddendorff's grasshopper-warbler is a little bird belonging to theOld World subfamily Sylviinae. It winters in the Malay Archipelagoand moves northward, by way of Japan, to its breeding grounds onthe Kuril Islands, Kamchatka, and the eastern coast of Siberia.La Touche (1926) gives the bird's range in more detail, stating:Middendorff's Grasshopper-Warbler appears to pass in numbers at Shaweishanon its way to and from Japan and extreme North-East Asia. Dr. Hartert givesKamtschatka, the Siberian coast of the Sea of Ochotsk, and "Schantar-Island,"Kurile Islands, as the breeding range; also Behring Island. It winters in theMalay Archipelago. This bird has not often been taken on the mainland ofChina. I obtained it in the reed-beds and by the river-banks at the mouth of theRiver Min (Fohkien Coast) at the end of May and beginning of June, and havespecimens from East Fohkien dated September and October. * * * Thereis no record of the bird having been taken in North China, and it doubtlessmigrates via Japan and Corea.The occurrence of Middendorff's grasshopper-warbler as a NorthAmerican species was established by a single specimen secured onSeptember 15, 1927, on Nunivak Island, Alaska, an island to thenorth of the Aleutian Chain. Of this individual Harry S. Swarth(1928) says: "One specimen: C. A. S. No. 30760, female, bird-of-the-year, September 15. The range of Middendorff's Grasshopper-warbler includes the north-eastern coast of Siberia and the KurileIslands, so that its occurrence in Alaska is no more extraordinary thanthat of some other Asiatic birds that regularly cross Behring Sea.The capture of this bird adds to our Check-List a species and genus inthe family Sylviidae."Swarth (1934) describes the specimen thus: "Bill, upper mandiblebrown, lower mandible brownish orange at base, shading throughbrownish yellow to a dusky tip; iris brown; tarsus purplish brown,toes rather pale brown."The species is treated binomially in the A. O. U. Check-list, buttwo races are now generally recognized, L. ochotensis ochotensis, ofKamchatka, the Commander and Kurile Islands, Sakhalin, and thecoasts of the Sea of Okhotsk, and L. o. pleskei Taczanowski, of Koreaand some of the Japanese islands. The latter is a somewhat largerbird with a longer bill, the culmen, according to Hartert and Stein-bacher (1938), measuring 18.5-22 millimeters as against 15.5-17millimeters in the typical race. Yamashina (1931) gives the corres-ponding figures as 16.5-17.5 millimeters (17 specimens) and 14-16.5millimeters (53 specimens). There are also some color differences
MIDDENDORFF'S GRASSHOPPER-WARBLER 341between the races : ochotensis has slightly darker centers to the feathersof the upperparts, while in pleskei these are lacking, and the back isdescribed as darker without the tendency to russet often shown bythe typical race. Yamashina adds that the throat, breast, and bellyof pleskei are pure whitish instead of more or less tinged with buffishor brownish. The American specimen evidently belongs to thetypical race, but L. o. pleskei is the form whose biology is best knownowing to the observations of Japanese workers, on which the accountwhich follows is partly based.Locustellas are extremely skulking little birds, frequenting longgrass, reeds, and bushy ground, often in marshy or wet places oractually over water, and the present species is typical in this respect.It is described as frequenting willow bushes and thickets in dampplaces. L. o. ochotensis is described as the characteristic bird of thebeds of reed grass at waters on Sakhalin, while in Kamchatka itwas found by Stejneger (Ridgway, 1884) "among the high grass andwillows which cover the swampy slopes of the mountains with a thicketalmost impenetrable to foot and eye" and by Laing (1925) fairlycommonly "in the low shrubbery on the more open country" atPetropavlovsk.On the Seven Islands of Izu off the coast of Japan Yamashina(1931) describes L. o. pleskei as breeding in places overgrown with thesmall bamboo Arundinaria simoni.Nesting.?B. Dybowski (1883) reports that the species (translation)
"arrives the first part of June, constructs an open nest in the herbage,above the ground level, composed of dried grasses and lined with smallfeathers; lays five eggs and commences incubation the end of June orbeginning of July."The following is a translation of the description of the nest of L. o.pleskei: "The nest is built on a flat place where Arundinaria simonigrows thickly. It is usually built on several stems of Arundinaria.Occasionally this species builds a nest on stems of hydrangea, whichgrows among the Arundinaria. The nest is placed at heights of about35-150 centimeters above the ground. It is shaped like a drinkingglass; the outer part consists almost entirely of dry leaves of Arundi-naria. On the inside are finely broken up (dunn gespaltene) pineneedles, dry bents, fine fibers, etc. The outer diameter is 10-15 centi-meters, the height 8-17 centimeters."Eggs.?L. Taczanowski (1882) says of the eggs (translation): "Theeggs are different from those of the other Locustellas; they have aground of a shade almost like that of the eggs of L. lanceolata, but uni-form, without any trace of dark spots; they have only a simple fineblackish vein, surrounding the large end completely or incompletely,otherwise, some present a crown of a little deeper shade, on which I
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cannot distinguish even with the aid of a lens, any trace of spots. Theeggs measure 20.5 by 14.2; 20.9 by 14.8; 20.9 by 14.2; 21 by 14.2;21 by 14.4; 21.4 by 14.2 millimeters."According to Dresser (1902), L. ochotensis lays five or six eggs, whichare pale rose-colored, unspotted, but marked with one or two fineblackish lines at the larger end, which sometimes form a wreath.Yamashina states that the eggs of L. o. pleskei have a grayish-whiteground color with a violet tone, and that as regards the spotting thereare two types: (1) with rather large scattered spots and short lines ofa violet-blackish and gray color, and (2) with the violet-brownish andpale purple spots so close that they almost cover the ground. He addsthat about two or three of type 1 are found to one of type 2. The dif-ference in the two descriptions is sufficient to raise the question whetherthe eggs Dresser described were rightly identified, unless, indeed,pleskei is really a different species, as some have held. Moreover,Yamashina states that the nests of pleskei always contain four eggs.He gives the season of laying as from mid-May to mid-June. Hartertand Steinbacher (1938) give the average egg measurement for ocho-tensis as 19.44 by 14.7 and for pleskei as 20.96 by 15.47 millimeters.Yamashina gives the maxima for pleskei as 23 by 15.5 and 20.7 by 16.2millimeters and minimum 19.5 by 15 millimeters.Food.?Like others of its kind the species is insectivorous. Yama-shina examined the stomach contents of 12 individuals of pleskei,which all contained the remains of Coleoptera. Three contained alsothe remains of small Hymenoptera, two small fruits, one larvae ofDiptera and Geometridae, and one small snails.Young.'?The female incubates (Yamashina). No other details areavailable.Plumage.?The plumage is described by Hartert (1910). The differ-ences between the races ochotensis and pleskei are mentioned above.Behavior.?Sten Bergman (1935), freely translated from the Ger-man, says of the habitat in the far north: t(Locustella ochotensis, oneof the characteristic birds of Kamchatka, arrives rather late in spring,never before June. In 1921 I saw the first individual on June 9 nearKlutschi, and the last on September 5 near Ust-Kamchatka."The bird does not frequent the larch or coniferous forests or, cus-tomarily, the dry birch woods, but occurs in the meadows, swamps, andalong the brooks, and, confining itself to the undergrowth, is seldom ornever found in the high trees. It is a typical bird of the lower slopesof the mountains among the alder scrub, and does not, like Lusciniacalliope camtschatkensis, ascend to the higher elevations."Leonhard Stejneger (1883), writing to Professor Baird, gives aglimpse of this elusive, little known bird, breeding in a far-awaycorner of the world, and of the difficulty in collecting specimens.
MIDDENDORFF'S GRASSHOPPER-WARBLER 343He writes:It is a kind of willow-warbler, common in Petropaulski, but not observed hereon the islands. My only specimen is a male, shot on the 5th of July, 1882.* * * The loud song, consisting of the syllables vritshe-witshe-witshe-witsh,and somewhat resembling the sound made by whetting a scythe, was heard, espe-cially towards night, from all sides when walking through the high grass andwillows covering the swampy slopes of the mountains with a thicket almost im-penetrable both to foot and eye. You would very seldom get a glimpse of thewatchful songster, when, clinging to the middle of the upright stalk of some highorchid or grass, he did his best in the singing-match with one of his own kind ora Calliope kamtschatkensis or a Carpodacus. But no sooner would you move yourgun to secure the longed-for specimen than he silently disappears, as completelyand suddenly as if he possessed Dr. Fortunatus's cap. The only way to obtain aspecimen is to watch patiently near one of his favorite bushes, with the gun ready.For hours I have thus sat in the wet swamp, almost desperate from the bites ofthe numberless bloodthirsty mosquitos, which I did not dare to wipe off, fearingto drive away the silent bird, who perhaps was watching my immovable figureuntil he was satisfied as to his safety. Curious, but still cautious, he would comenearer, slipping between the stems and branches nearest to the ground, utteringa very low, thrush-like tak; tak; tak; tak, and with the tail straight upright, verymuch like a long-tailed Troglodytes both in color and conduct. And if I keptabsolutely quiet he sometimes would proceed close to my feet, looking curiouslyat me with his pretty dark eyes. But before the challenge of a neighbor had at-tracted his attention and provoked his reply, which he usually began with a shorttrill, it would not have been advisable to move a muscle.Then comes the time to lift your gun very slowly, stopping as often as he sus-piciously stops his song, until the "crack" puts an end to it forever, and you holdin your hand a crushed specimen, unfit for preparation, when you have to shootfrom too short a distance, or return without anything, while, after a longer shot,you cannot find the plain-looking little bird amidst the immense vegetation in thedim light of the vanishing day and tortured by the intolerable mosquitos. Youwill understand from your own rich experience how much pleasure it gave me whenI, at last, obtained a tolerably good specimen.Voice.?Bergman (1935) quotes Stejneger's rendering of the song,and adds: "The single song is sung most frequently in the evening,but during the day the bird often flies up in the air and sings whiledescending. Sometimes it sings almost through the whole summernight."Yamashina (1931) described the male of L. o. pleskei as flying upto a height of about 2 meters and uttering a song rendered astschurrrr and after a time dropping down to the same place. Accord-ing to Stejneger the song of L. o. ochotensis somewhat resembles thatmade by whetting of a scythe and is rendered witshe-witshe-witshe-witsh. He found that it was uttered especially toward night anddescribed the songster as clinging to the middle of an upright stalk ofsome high grass or orchid (not performing a song flight as describedby Yamashina in the case of pleskei) , but ready to dive into cover atthe least disturbance. He describes the note as "a very low thrush-
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like, tak; tak, tak; tak," and this was the only note heard by Lainglate in July, when the birds had stopped singing.Field marks.?All the Locustellas are small warblers with stronglygraduated tails, which spend most of their time creeping or runningabout among vegetation near the ground and rarely show themselvesat all freely except when singing. Stejneger (in Ridgway, 1884)describes Middendorff's grasshopper-warbler as "slipping between thestems and branches near the ground * * * with his tail heldupright, very much in the manner of a long-tailed wren." Thisspecies has brown upperparts with only faint markings in the case ofL. o. ochotensis or none in L. o. pleskei. The lateral tail feathershave a subterminal blackish band and dull white tips. A photographof L. o. pleskei is given in Yamashina's paper already quoted.Winter.?Owing to its very secretive disposition little is recordedabout the habits of this species outside the breeding season, but it isevident that they are very much the same as on the nesting groundexcept for the absence of song. It frequents reed beds and otherrank vegetation largely, if not entirely, near water or in marshyplaces. La Touche (1930) met with pleskei in numbers in mangrovesat Swatow in May, "running along the banks of the lagoons on themud under the mangrove-bushes," and no doubt it may be foundunder similar conditions on the fall passage.DISTRIBUTIONSummer range.?L. o. ochotensis: Kamchatka, Commander Islands,coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, Sakhalin, and the Kurile Islands. L. o.pleskei: Korea and neighboring islands (known breeding placesDagelet, Quelpart, Hachibi, and Schichihatsu Islands), Kyushu, andthe Seven Isles of Izu off Honshu. Recorded also on Honshu andHokkaido, but breeding not proved.Winter range.?Philippines, Borneo, Celebes, and Southwestern(Serwatti) Islands. On passage in Japan and China.POLIOPTILA CAERULEA CAERULEA (LinnaeusBLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERHABITSContributed by Francis Marion WestonOur acquaintance with a new bird dates, it seems to me, not fromthe moment we learn to identify it in the field but rather from thefirst time we really have a glimpse of its "personality." Thus, my
"first" blue-gray gnatcatcher was certainly not the one my ornitho-logical mentor first pointed out to me, but another that came alongmonths later, flitted to a bush within arm's length of where I stood
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 345
and, between snatches at insects too small for me to see even at thatshort distance, spent several minutes looking me over.It was upon the foundation laid in those few minutes that I havebuilt whatever else I may have learned about the gnatcatcher. Inthe course of writing these pages, the memory of that first meetinghas come back to me many times, almost with the clarity of a visualpicture, and I feel that I am telling of the later adventures of onelittle bird rather than of the habits of its myriad kin.The habitat of the blue-gray gnatcatcher evidently varies materiallyin different parts of its range. In the far South, where it is resident,it is common and widely distributed in the nesting season, occurringregularly even in the residential (wooded) sections of the cities andtowns, as well as in all forested areas, wooded swamps, pine landswith an undergrowth of scrub oak, pecan and citrus groves?in fact,everywhere where there are trees suitable for nest sites. Farthernorth, it is characterized as being a bird of the watercourses and thetimbered swamps, spending most of its time in the tops of the tallesttrees. An interesting variation is noted from the "great open spaces"of Kansas, where N. S. Goss (1891) wrote of its being "as much athome in the shrubby bushes on the hillsides, or the mesquite growthson the plains, as within the treetops of the heavily-timbered bottomlands."Spring.?A few years ago it would have taken a whole paragraphto describe the spring arrival of the blue-gray gnatcatcher on itsbreeding grounds, for its movement from winter quarters in theSouthern United States and the Tropics differs from the familiarwavelike rush of the warblers. Today we need but a single word ofthe military parlance that has become part of our every-day speech:Infiltration. Yesterday, the gnatcatchers were not here; today, theyare; and we are always a bit surprised when we discover them. Earlyin March they are on the move from southern Florida; by the last ofthe month they are halfway on their course across the country; andmid-April finds them at the northern limits of their normal breedingrange.Courtship.?For a week or two after their arrival, they are stillsilent and retiring in habit; then suddenly they all seem to come tolife and are ready to resume that all-absorbing function of all livingthings?reproduction.In common with many of the other small birds, the gnatcatcherseems to have no well-marked courtship ritual. We note the un-restrained animation of the male birds, see their frequent bloodlesscombats, hear their ceaseless singing and chattering?then, after asurprisingly short interval, we find that mates have been selected andthe serious business of nest-building is under way.792825?i9 23
346 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMThe song of the male gnatcatcher, even at the peak of his springanimation, is scarcely louder than a whisper, and it is interesting tonote the opinion of our ablest interpreter of small-bird actions, Mrs.Margaret Morse Nice (1932), who finds that the male of this species,unlike louder-voiced birds, "does not sing to proclaim his territory;perhaps the spee which is constantly given by both birds serves thispurpose."Nesting.?More than with most species of small birds, the attentionand interest of the observer center about the nesting habits of theblue-gray gnatcatcher because of the great beauty of its nest. Thisnest should be even better known than its miniature counterpart,the nest of the ruby-throated hummingbird, for by virtue of itslarger size and consequent better visibility it can be found much themore readily of the two?yet it seems to have been entirely overlookedby the general public and is known only to ornithologists.The general situation of the nest in the extremes of the breedingrange of the species is decidedly different. In the southern end ofthe range nests can be found almost everywhere that trees grow?fromthe residential sections of the cities to the heart of the great riverswamps?but farther north they occur principally along watercoursesand in timbered swamp areas.The height of the nest above ground varies from a few feet to 70or 80. By far the greater number?those seen by human observers,at any rate?are less than 25 feet up; but this may not represent truedistribution in height for, as G. A. Petrides (MS.) points out, "thenoisiness and lack of suspicion of the birds about the nest probablyenabled the low ones to be located more easily." I suspect that thereported heights of the very high nests were estimated rather thanmeasured, but there are dependable figures available for many lowones. I have found some of these low nests myself: one just 4 feetfrom the ground near the end of a low-sweeping branch of a pecantree; another within camera tripod reach of the ground (not morethan 5 feet up) in a small lemon tree; and several that were between5 and 7 feet up in small scrub oaks in open pine woods. AngusMcKinnon (1908) mentioned one in northern Florida that was "in asmall oak only about three and one-half feet from the ground." Thelowest figure of all is given in a recent letter from R. A. Hallman ofPanama City, Fla., who describes a "typical Gnatcatcher nest, placedin the upright fork of a small scrub oak bush", which was "by actualmeasurement 38 inches * * * from the ground to tbe top ofthe nest."The nest is usually saddled on a horizontal limb 1 to 2 inches indiameter?occasionally on a larger one?but it is often placed in afork formed by an upright branch and a horizontal or slanting one, the
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 347lower branch furnishing the foundation and the upright lending sidesupport. An interesting variation was reported by J. J. Murray(1934), who described a nest near Lexington, Va., that "was notsaddled on a limb, but set between [sic] three small forks of an uprightcrotch, in the manner of the nests of the Yellow Warbler and Red-start."An attempt to compile from the literature a list of the trees selectedby the gnatcatcher for nesting sites resulted in a collection that readslike a catalog of the silviflora of eastern North America. It seemsthat this species is willing to use any tree in its habitat that provideslimbs of the right size and conformation. In the North, where thebird is uncommon or rare, no generalization as to preference can behazarded. In the South, where it is common to abundant, somelocal tendencies are noted but these vary widely in different sections.A. T. Wayne (1910) found that, in coastal South Carolina, the gnat-catcher prefers the live oak (Quercus virginiana) "because nestingmaterial is plentiful." S. A. Grimes (1928), writing from Jackson-ville, Fla., stated that "oddly, or not, the pine is the tree most com-monly chosen for the nest site." In his experience "the pines (atleast two varieties) have been selected * * * oftener than allother trees combined." That choice could hardly have been influ-enced by availability of nesting material. In extreme western Floridaand southern Alabama I have found more nests in scrub oaks (prin-cipally Quercus catesbaei and Q. cinerea) growing in open pine woodsthan in any other trees, and I have never seen a nest in a pine. Loca-tion in a tree with lichen-covered bark provides the ultimate inconcealment for a lichen-covered nest, but this correlation does notseem to be a factor in the choice of a nest site. The preference forpines in the Jacksonville area, as cited by Grimes, is a case in point,and I have seen nests in citrus trees, pecan trees, and cypresses wherelittle or no lichen growth was present. Yet the nest, even in otherthan its optimum surroundings, is always difficult to see and is seldomfound except as "given away" by its owners.If it were possible to extract a composite or average of all thepublished descriptions of the nest of the gnatcatcher?and the word-ing of most of them is monotonously similar?the result would besomething like this: A beautiful, cup-shaped nest, compactly built ofplant down and similar materials bound together with insect silk andspider web and covered externally with bits of lichen. Materialslisted seem to include every kind of soft plant fiber found in theregion where the subject nest was located. Many writers use thegeneral terms "plant down" and "fleecy plant substances," but afew particularize with "sycamore fuzz," "leaf down from the undersurfaces of leaves," "dandelion and thistle down," and "dried bios-
348 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMBoms." Fibrous materials that enter into the lining of nests includefine strips of bark, fine grasses, tendrils, feathers, and horsehair.A. T. Wayne (1910) collected several nests that were "profusely linedwith feathers." W. P. Proctor (MS.) mentions having seen a gnat-catcher in northern Florida "picking the petals from dewberry blos-soms [Rubus trivialis] for its nest."I was interested to discover what degree of availability determinesthe selection of material for a particular nest. I had an old nest, amantel decoration much the worse for dust and age, of which I knewthe original location?it had been taken from a point about 20 feetup in a medium-sized live oak that grew on the edge of a highwayright-of-way where it entered a wooded swamp. Pulling the nest topieces, I found it to be composed largely of oak catkins felted togetherwith plumed seeds and a kinky plant fiber, buff in color, that I couldnot name at the time. Scattered through the mass were a few smallpieces of what appeared to be "sheet" spider web or fragments ofcocoons, but there was no vestige (even under a strong hand lens) ofthe insect silk or spider web that had presumably been used to bindthe outer covering of lichens to the body of the nest. Actually, therewas no longer need for a mechanical binder since the lichens hadattached themselves firmly to their new foundation. The inner cupof the nest was a felted structure, readily separable from the baseand from the outer, lichen-covered sheathing. It had been shapedby a few stiff, wirelike grasses (unidentified) disposed through thefelted material almost like the reinforcing bars in an engineer's con-crete structure, and the felting was composed entirely of the plumedseeds and the kinky fiber and contained no catkins. Upon visitingthe original site at the usual season of nest building, I found (as Iknew I should) that the oak catkins and the lichens were obtainablein unlimited quantity within inches of the spot where the nest hadbeen built. The plumed seeds proved to be from one of the broom-grasses (Andropogon sp.), a small dried patch of which, still bearinga few seeds late in the season, was within 10 yards of the base of thenest tree?and I could find no more within a hundred yards in anydirection. The kinky buff fiber was discovered in inexhaustibleabundance along both sides of the right-of-way: it was the stem
"wool" of the cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea)
.
Measurements of two nests were kindly furnished by W. P. Proctor(MS.). One was: outside, 2 inches diameter by 2% deep; inside, 1%inches diameter by 1% deep. The other measured: outside, 2)i inchesdiameter by 2}{ deep; inside, 1% inches diameter by 1% deep. Thestriking feature of both these sets of figures is the difference betweenthe inner and outer depths
?
1){ inches in the first nest and % inch inthe second. These differences represent the thickness of the founda-
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 349tions of the nests, the thickness of the pads of resilient, closely feltedmaterial between the weight of the contents and the surface of thesupporting branch. It is not unlikely that the remarkable tenacityof these tiny nests under stresses of weather buffeting and familystruggles resides in the elasticity of their thick, resilient foundations.A moment's consideration of the proportions of the deep cup of thenest?1% by \){ inches?and of the slim length of the little bird thatmust crowd itself into these narrow confines explains why the incu-bating gnatcatcher can assume no other posture than with bill andtail pointing straight upward.Most observers agree that both sexes work at the construction ofthe nest, and my experience in northern Florida is that they sharethis labor fairly equally. W. E. C. Todd (1940) stated that, inPennsylvania, the male never assists in nest building but that he
"always remains near at hand and takes a great interest in the work."W. P. Proctor, reporting from southern Michigan, writes (MS.) thatin one instance of the three observed by him, the female alone didthe building, and that on one shared task the female did more thanthe male. Aretas A. Saunders, however, writing (MS.) from centralAlabama, finds that where there is an unequal division of labor themale bears the heavier burden, and also that the male is a morepersistent worker than his mate and that he is less sensitive to inter-ference by human intrusion. He cites an instance of one male birdthat was seen to bring nesting material five times in six minutes.Slower than this high-speed worker was a building pair reported byMrs. Nice (1931), who counted 27 trips to the nest with material inan hour. It always gives an observer a start, when he is watchingnest construction and has seen material brought in and placed inposition to, have a bird come in with a seemingly empty bill, yetwork as diligently at the structure as before. It is more in keepingwith the known industry of this species to account for this apparentlywasteful gesture as the placing of invisible lengths of spider web ratherthan as mere "boondoggling."The length of time required for nest construction is subject toextreme and inexplicable variation. W. E. C. Todd (1940) statedthat it requires between one and two weeks of constant labor tocomplete a nest. But Edward R. Ford (MS.) writes of a nest thathe saw under construction from the very beginning that, after onlythree days, "appeared, from the ground, to be completed." Perhapsthe important factor in this variation is the size of the "buildingcrew"?one bird alone, or both birds.A practice, apparently peculiar to the gnatcatcher, and one thathas been commented upon by almost every observer familiar with itsways, is its habit of tearing up a completed or partly built nest and
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re-using the materials to build a new nest a short distance away.L. L. Hargrave (1933) has collected and summarized a number ofpublished accounts of this peculiarity, and he concludes that nests areabandoned because of a change of conditions that renders the firstsite untenable or at least no longer desirable. He cites one case wherea pair of green herons started their nest close to a still unfinishedgnatcatcher's nest, and other cases where human interference wasprobably the determining factor in causing abandonment. A nest,once abandoned, immediately becomes the most convenient source ofmaterial for another structure. This use of an existing nest is all themore readily understandable when the extremely seasonal nature ofdesirable nesting material is considered. In the nest that I describedearlier in this section, the predominating materials?oak catkins and
"wool" from the cinnamon fern?are obtainable in quantity only overa short period. After this critical period, existing nests are the solesource of supply. Besides the nests that are moved by their con-structors in extension of the original building program, I have knownnests in which broods had been successfully reared to be torn up andcarried off by gnatcatchers, but whether the "wrecking crew" andthe original owners were the same or not, I am unable to state.Nest-building in many parts of the gnatcatcher's range precedesegg-laying by 10 days or two weeks. C. K. Lloyd (1932) attemptedto account for the need of this interval in the more northern sectionsby stating that the birds "nest early * * * and do not depositeggs until the trees are well leafed out," but he gave no reason forthe practice of "nesting early." In northern Florida, where manynests are built in evergreen trees and where most of the deciduoustrees are in full leaf at the time of nest-building, this explanationdoes not hold good, yet the same length of time elapses between thecompletion of the nest and the laying of the first egg as in the North.It seems to me that nest-building is best accomplished at the timethat the favored nesting material is obtainable in greatest abundance,even though that does not coincide with egg-laying time. Thus, innorthern Florida, nest-building takes place early in April when oakcatkins and fern "wool" are available with the least labor of search,but eggs are seldom laid before the third week of April.Eggs.?[Author's note: Four or five tiny eggs usually constitutethe set for the blue-gray gnatcatcher, seldom more or fewer. Theyare ovate or short-ovate and have little or no gloss. The ground coloris pale blue or bluish white. They are rather sparingly and more orless evenly covered with small spots or fine dots of reddish brown, ordarker browns; rarely there are a few very small blotches; sometimesthe markings are concentrated in a ring around the large end; andvery rarely an egg is almost immaculate. The measurements of 50
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 351
eggs average 14.5 by 11.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the fourextremes measure 15.5 by 11.2, 15.2 by 14.7, 13.2 by 11.2, and 15.2by 10.7 millimeters.]Young.?Little has been written about the nest life of the blue-gray gnatcatcher, and my own notes are peculiarly deficient in thisrespect. Out of the many gnatcatcher nests that I have seen, Ifind that I have not followed the history of a single one completelythrough any one phase of its development.Incubation is said to require about thirteen days from the layingof the last egg. G. A. Petrides (MS.), writing of a nest near Wash-ington, D. C, found "day-old young" on May 21 in a nest wherethe last egg of the set had been laid on May 8. William Palmer(1906) stated that, during incubation, the female parent "rarelyleaves the nest" and is fed there by the male, the inference beingthat he does not share in the duties of incubation. On the otherhand, Mrs. Nice (1932) remarked the close cooperation between theparents during incubation and stated that they relieve each otheron duty at short intervals (15 to 40 minutes) and that the eggs arenot left uncovered for more than a minute at a time. W. P. Proctor,of Benton Harbor, Mich., coordinates these apparently irreconcilablestatements when he writes (MS.): "At some nests, both birds sit onthe eggs; at others, the female alone sits. Where the birds taketurns, one usually sits from 15 to 25 minutes. At a nest where thefemale alone sat, there was no regularity; she was off anywhere froman instant to 15 minutes, and once * * * 26 minutes."Care of the young is characterized by the usual intense activityof this species, both parents sharing the duties of feeding and brood-ing the young. So unsuspicious, or so preoccupied, are they at thistime that they completely ignore human proximity and fly directlyto the nest with food. Added to this "dead give away," the growingyoung in the nest soon become very noisy, so the finding of nests atthis stage of development is an easy matter for even an inexperiencedobserver.In the experiment to be described later in the section "Behavior,"Maurice Brooks (1933) stated that a feature of the feeding of theyoung "was the extreme frequency"?43 feedings in 20 minutes, 34 bythe female, 9 by the male. This unequal division of labor does notobtain, I believe, under natural conditions for, although I do nothave notes to verify it, my recollection is that the male visits thenest with food almost or quite as frequently as does the female.Food brought to the young consists exclusively of animal matter,mostly insects; but so tiny are the separate items that an observerat a distance of only a few feet can seldom identify them. Some-times larger prey is brought in, large enough, according to W. P.
352 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMProctor (MS.), for the parent to have to "pound it on a limb" beforeoffering it to the young.The normal span of nest life is 10 to 12 days. S. A. Grimes (1932)wrote of a set of four eggs in the Jacksonville area that "hatchedMay 10 or 11, and the young left the nest on the 21st." G. A.Petrides (MS.) gives a period of 11 or 12 days for the brood that hereported as having hatched on May 20, since they were "apparentlyready to leave the nest on the evening of May 31 ." Beryl T. Mounts(1922) reported a nest near Macon, Ga., in which the eggs hatchedon or about May 16 and the young left the nest on May 26.E. H. Forbush (1929) wrote that, in the greater part of their range,gnatcatchers rear but a single brood in a season but that two broodsare normal in the far South. However, S. A. Grimes (1928), oneof the most ardent and capable observers of nesting, stated that, inthe Jacksonville region, this species "raises only one brood in aseason." Though I cannot make a positive statement on this subject,since I have never banded or otherwise marked gnatcatchers forindividual identification, I believe that some of the late nests I havefound were true second nestings and not second attempts by birdsthat had failed the first time. Taking April 24 as a median datefor complete sets of eggs in northern Florida, a nest that I foundjust being completed on May 25, 1930, may or may not have beena second attempt by a pair that had lost their first nest; but a nestjust started on June 1, 1941, in which a brood was later successfullyreared, seems to me to represent a true second nesting; and therecan hardly be any doubt that a brood that I saw just out of the neston August 8, 1926, comes in this category.Plumages.?[Author's Note: The young gnatcatcher in juvenalplumage is much like the adult female, both sexes being alike and lack-ing the black forehead. An incomplete postjuvenal molt occurs inJuly and August, which involves the contour plumage and the wingcoverts, but not the rest of the wings or the tail. This produces afirst winter plumage, which is similar to the previous plumage butmore washed with brownish on the back and sides. The first nuptialplumage is acquired in February by a limited molt of the feathers ofthe forehead, throat, and chin, when the black frontal band of themale is acquired, the upperparts become bluer and the young birdis now in adult plumage. A complete postnuptial molt occurs inJuly and August. Young males lack the black frontal band duringthe first fall and winter, and the females never have it.]Food.?In common with most of the other very small birds (thoughnot the hummingbirds) of Eastern United States, the blue-graygnatcatcher eats very little if any vegetable food; and, by virtue of itsfondness for some of the insects most harmful to man's interests, it
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 353
is considered an entirely beneficial species. A. H. Howell (1924)quoted the findings of Judd's analyses of stomach contents and citedparticularly "longicorn beetles, jointworm flies, caddis-flies and several* * * unidentified Diptera." He stated also that the gnatcatcherhad been seen in Alabama "feeding on cotton leaf worms." E. H.Forbush (1929) added to this, "locusts * * * gnats, * * *ants and other hymenoptera, wood-boring beetles, weevils andspiders." A. A. Allen (1929) summed up many important items ofthe gnatcatcher 's diet under the comprehensive term, "defoliatinginsects." It is not unlikely that a stomach analysis of Florida andTexas specimens taken in the citrus groves, one of the favorite hauntsof this species, would disclose the presence of some of the citrus pests.Winter food of the birds that remain within our borders probablyconsists largely of insect eggs and pupae, the known prey of thechickadees and kinglets with which the gnatcatcher associates atthat season.Food-table offerings seem seldom to attract this species; in fact, Iam able to find but a single instance of it, and that in winter. Mrs.Andrew L. Whigham, who maintains an all-year feeding station inher garden in extreme western Florida, writes (MS.): "In Januaryand February, 1933, for six or eight weeks, two of these birds usedour feed shelves. They ate the inevitable cornbread [a saltless recipeof Mrs. Whigham's, baked in quantity for the birds and proven tobe as attractive to most species as cracked sunflower seeds] and thecommercial mockingbird food mixed with grated carrot."Behavior.?The gnatcatcher is a little bird of intense activity;active, not with the methodical continuity of the brown creeper, butwith an irrepressible vivacity of its own in all phases of its life cycle
?
feeding, nesting, care of its young?at all tmes, in fact, except duringthe enforced inertia of incubation.In defense of its nest, the gnatcatcher's small size places it at a dis-advantage in competition with larger species, for it seems not to possessthe "driving power" of the even smaller hummingbirds, though itlacks nothing in either bravery or initiative when occasion demands(see section "Enemies" for a special case of nest robbery by bluejays). Its attitude toward human invasion of the sacred precinct ofthe nest shows wide individual variation. On the few occasions whenI have approached closely to a gnatcatcher's nest, my presence alwayscaused great excitement, which was evidenced by noisy protests butnever resulted in a direct attack. S. A. Grimes (1928) found thebrooding gnatcatcher very tame, and on several occasions he "climbedto within five or six feet of a sitting bird without causing it to leave thenest, or when it did it usually returned before I could get the cameraset up for photographing." In sharp contrast to this, the same
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writer (1932) described an attack made upon him while he wasphotographing a nest, when the male gnatcatcher actually "struckthe writer several times on the head and once in the eye," this lastblow incapacitating him completely for a time. Maurice Brooks(1933) tamed a pair of gnatcatchers by making gradual advancestoward the nest during the period of incubation until, after the younghad hatched, he and his family could come within 2 or 3 feet of thenest without interrupting the feeding schedule. Finally he cut off thenest branch and lowered it for easier observation, still without appar-ently disturbing the parent birds. His next move was to cup hishands loosely about the nest in an attempt to compel the parent birdsto alight on the hands. This intimacy was more than the birdswould stand and the result was surprising as the female immediatelyattacked viciously and repeatedly. Amicable relations were laterreestablished, and the female did occasionally actually alight uponthe experimenter's hands, but even then she would without warning
"sometimes take time out to attack." All attacks were made by thefemale.Except during courtship and in defense of its nest, the gnatcatcherhas never seemed to me to be pugnacious. Certainly, in its winterassociation with chickadees, titmice, and kinglets, it shows no tend-ency to harass or tease; so Alexander F. Skutch's note (MS.) on thewintering birds in Guatemala comes as a surprise when he writes that
"the adult males do not seem to get along together." He cites as aninstance: "On November 12, 1934, while following a large flock ofsmall birds through open woods near Huehuetenango, I noticed of asudden two blue-gray gnatcatchers in the oak tree in front of me.Upon finding themselves face to face, they became excited andattempted to sing; but at this season their voices were rusty fromdisuse, and their notes came thin and wheezy. Flying at each other,they clashed in midair; but the momentary affray was withoutconsequence. After the first onset, they separated. From theirattempts to sing, I feel sure that these birds were males. I havewitnessed similar behavior?often with singing?on the part of othersmall birds which are solitary during the winter, when two of thekind come together."The flight of the gnatcatcher, as described by Dr. H. C. Oberholser(1938), is "usually quick, but the bird does not ordinarily travel farwithout stopping. Sometimes it flies rather high, particularly whenpassing from one high tree to another, but it is usually seen flittingabout the underbrush." The character of the flight is somewhatundulating or wavering rather than direct, with rapid wing beats, andis similar to that of many other very small birds; but the gnatcatchercan readily be distinguished in flight by the length of its tail. Even
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 355
at some distance the observer has no difficulty in recognizing a gnat-catcher in flight, while chickadees, kinglets, and small warblers passunnamed. P. A. Taverner and B. H. Swales (1908) gave an idea ofthe capabilities of this species for performing sustained flights whenthey listed it among the migrating birds on the southward crossingfrom Point Pelee, Ontario. The gnatcatchers they saw were unableto face the heavy wind prevailing at the time of the observation, andhad to come back ashore, tacking just as a man would do in a boat,but the inference was that, under favorable conditions, the crossingwould be completed successfully.Certainly the most expressive feature of the gnatcatcher?as of itslarger counterpart, the mockingbird?is its long, ever-active tail; nowup and down, now from side to side, it is never for an instant at rest.Under stress of great excitement, the bird seems to try to combinethese two motions at once, and achieves a ludicrous impression ofcircular motion.The gnatcatcher's manner of feeding is similar to that of manyother small birds, yet it differs in some respects from the methodsemployed by its most frequent associates even though its food, inwinter at any rate, is probably the same as theirs. In its gleaningof the twigs and leaves of trees and bushes it tends to maintain anupright position and never (as I recall) hangs beneath a twig, as is thechickadee's constant habit. Like the kinglets, it often hovers before aleaf or terminal twig to secure some morsel that cannot be reachedfrom above, but it does not indulge in this habit with the frequencyof the kinglets. Unlike the creepers and the nuthatches, it is seldomor never seen on the trunks or large branches of trees. It is adeptas a catcher of flying insects (many other kinds besides gnats!) andeven in winter is often seen to secure food in this way. Its dartsafter flying insects differ markedly from the long swings of the trueflycatchers, for its forays are seldom more than five or six feet inextent and are usually vertically upward with a quick drop back tothe starting point. Again, unlike the flycatchers, it does not perchmotionless and wait for passing insects; and I suspect that muchof its catching of flying insects is by way of retrieving prey that,disturbed by the bird's actions among the leaves, makes a suddenflight to escape capture. Rarely, when the gnatcatcher is feedingin low bushes, it drops momentarily to the ground to pick up someobject that attracts its attention; but it is no sense a ground feederfor it does not search for food while it is on the ground.Field marks.?The blue-gray gnatcatcher, one of our smallest birds,can be distinguished from all other very small birds of eastern NorthAmerica by its clear blue-gray upperparts and unmarked white under-pays entirely lacking in yellow or yellowish tints, especially when the
356 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
coloring is noted in conjunction with the slender build, long tail andwhite outer tail feathers. The bird is longer, and therefore apparently-larger, that the kinglets because of the length of its tail. The browncreeper, another tiny bird with a long tail, differs notably in color,shape, and habit. The parula warbler, another bluish-gray bird, lacksthe long tail and always shows white wing patches and some yellowishin the plumage.No less a writer than John Burroughs (1880), when describing thegnatcatcher, made an unfortunately inept comparison that has beencopied down the years in the writings of many of his followers. Hewrote : " In form and manner it seems almost a duplicate of the catbird,on a small scale. It mews like a young kitten, erects its tail, flirts,droops its wings, goes through a variety of motions when disturbedby your presence, and in many ways recalls its dusky prototype."Such a comparison would never have occurred to an observer whoknew the mockingbird, for the points of similarity (except for size)between the gnatcatcher and the mockingbird are truly striking
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form, proportions (even to the long, expressive, white-edged tail),color value though not color tone, many characteristic movementsand attitudes, in fact in almost every feature except the lack of whitein the wings of the gnatcatcher. I once knew a tyro bird-watcherwho, not aware that altricial species attain full body size before leavingthe nest, spoke seriously of the gnatcatcher as a tiny mockingbird.The distinguishing mark of the male gnatcatcher in breeding plum-age'?the black forehead and line over the eye?is useful as a fieldmark only at very short distances. Many times I have tried to seeit, even with binoculars and in good light, but the activity of thelittle birds usually defeated my efforts. Only at the nest, when anapproach to within a few feet is possible, have I been able to detectit with ease and certainty. It seems to be not generally known thatthis distinguishing mark is not present in winter specimens.Voice.?Unlike the winter wren and the ruby-crowned kinglet, whosebid for fame rests as much upon the surprising volume of sound as uponthe beauty of their songs, the gnatcatcher does not take high rank as asinger. To an observer like myself, whose auditory nerves (withadvancing years) no longer react to high-pitched sounds of smallvolume, the gnatcatcher must actually be seen in the act of singingbefore the attention can be focused sufficiently to catch the sound.Once heard, the song is appreciated as a finished performance.C. J. Maynard (1896) immortalized it in this beautiful passage:I heard a low warbling which sounded like the distant song of some bird I hadnever heard before * * * And nothing could be more appropriate to thedelicate marking and size of the tiny fairy-like bird than this silvery warble whichfilled the air with sweet, continuous melody. I was completely surprised, for I
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 357
never imagined that any bird was capable of producing notes so soft and so low,yet each one given with such distinctness that the ear could catch every part ofthe wondrous and complicated song. I watched him for some time, but he neverceased singing, save when he sprung into the air to catch some insect.Other observers and writers, however, do not seem impressed by itsbeauty. F. H. Allen writes (MS.) that the song of this species is
"scrappy, formless, leisurely, and faint, and is delivered somewhatin the manner of a Vireo while the bird flits about among the branches.[Hel found the phrase pirrooeet occurring frequently in it." A. A.Saunders (MS.) regrets that he cannot describe the song in detail,since his collection of sound records "contains only a few fragmentsfrom a single bird. The song is long continued, of greatly variedrapid notes and trills, on a high pitch, and of a squeeky or nasalquality. It is more curious than beautiful."Wells W. Cooke (1914) cited a unique variation when "one bird washeard to give a long, and beautiful and perfect trill" ; and A. L. Pickens,writing (MS.) from Paducah, Ky., strikes a new note when he describes
"one fact about the blue-gray gnatcatcher most observers appear tohave missed. It has decided powers of mimicry. One of its mostamusing performances is the apparent imitation, in its almost whisper-ing tones, of a flock of crows, or else blue jays." He says that thefirst name he knew for this species was "Little Mockingbird."The song period commences with the reanimation of the gnat-catchers about mid-March and lasts only until eggs are laid andincubation is started in mid-April. Birds heard singing later thanthat in the far South may be only the late nesters or those that havelost their first nests and are preparing to try again. Like many othersong birds, the gnatcatcher has a mild revival of ardor in the fall,and I have a few times heard its song in October. A. F. Skutchmentions (MS.) having heard one "sing a sweet little medley in anundertone" in January in Guatemala.The call note of the gnatcatcher is far better known, because it ismore easily heard, than the song. I find it variously described bymany observers and writers, most of whom use combinations of thesyllable zee in attempting to "phonotype" it. Others liken it to
"the twang of a banjo string"; and "a nasal twee, suggestive of thecatbird's mew but thinner, shorter and fainter." Any or all of thesemay serve as aids to identification for one who hears the sound for thefirst time, but to my ear it possesses a quality that defies descriptionin stereotyped terms. It is more long-drawn than a chirp; not asclear as (more husky or "fuzzy" than) a whistle; definitely not atrill?and there I have compared it negatively with the more usualsmall-bird sounds, and still I have not described it. However, the
358 BULLETIN i9 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMsound is characteristic of this one species aDd, once heard, is readilyremembered and recognized.L. A. Stimson, writing (MS.) of the gnatcatcher in its winter quartersin southern Florida, mentions another note, "a shorter, more abruptcall with less of the zz quality."Enemies.?It is little short of incredible that so tiny a bird as thegnatcatcher can and does successfully fill the role of foster parent tothe young of the much larger cowbird (Molothrus ater), but there aremany instances of this on record. Dr. Herbert Friedmann (1929)recorded the gnatcatcher as "a not uncommon victim [of the cow-bird] and in some places a fairly common one." It must indeed bethe smallest North American species thus victimized. An extremecase is given by M. G. Vaiden (MS.), who, writing from the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta of Mississippi, states that he has examined 12nests of the gnatcatcher since 1919 and has found only two of themwithout cowbirds' eggs. In one instance, on June 4, 1939, he founda nest that "contained four gnatcatcher eggs and three cowbird 'seggs," implying that other parasitized nests examined by him hadcontained fewer than three. In another nest he found "two younggnatcatchers and two young of the cowbird." Of the two nests thathad not contained cowbird's eggs, only one was definitely immune,since the gnatcatcher was incubating her own eggs when discovered.In the other, the gnatcatcher had only commenced to lay, for the nestcontained but a single egg, and the observer concluded that thecowbird "just had not located the nest yet," for he is "of the opinionit later on did have cowbird eggs." Thus we have a known 83 percentand a possible 92 percent parasitization, which is, of course, too highfor any species to survive if it applied to more than restricted areas.Ben J. Blincoe (1923) watched a pair of gnatcatchers attackingpersistently a female cowbird and driving it away.The gnatcatcher probably suffers to some extent from predatorsand nest marauders?undoubtedly a few are taken by sharp-shinnedhawks and screech owls, and perhaps some others succumb to attacksby loggerhead and migrant shrikes?but there is nothing to indicatethat this species is singled out, nor, on the other hand, would it beexpected to enjoy greater immunity than other species of comparablesize within its range. However, a surprising instance of seeminglyselective predation-?though this may be as localized in its applicationas is the gnatcatcher-cowbird relation just cited from Mississippi
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was given by S. A. Grimes, of Jacksonville, Fla., who wrote (1928):Probably the greatest enemy of the Gnatcatcher is the Florida Blue Jay[Cyanocitta cristata florincola]. I have seen the Jay in the act of pilfering thesmaller bird's nest perhaps a score of times. One such episode remains singularlyvivid in my memory * * * When the Jay alighted on the rim of the nest,
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 359the Gnatcatchers were frantic and darted wildly at him, though so far as I couldsee neither actually struck him. Unperturbed, the Jay * * * grasped anegg in its beak and flew to a limb some twenty feet from the nest. I watchedthree trips to the nest, one egg being taken each time. I am inclined to believethat the Jay did not take all the eggs, for usually the nest is pulled apart afterthe last egg is eaten. And on the third visit the robber appeared annoyed withthe continued attacking of the owners and flew with the egg to a tree some dis-tance away before stopping to eat it. He did not return to the nest * * *.Fall.?In the northern part of its breeding range the gnatcatcher isone of the first species to withdraw from its summer home, and mid-August often sees the last of them there. Farther south they lingermuch later, temporarily joining the wandering groups of small wood-land birds headed by the chickadees and titmice.In northern Florida and southern Georgia and Alabama, where thegnatcatcher is resident, there is a gradual increase in numbers in fall asbirds from the northward pass through, then an equally gradual sub-sidence until the small winter population becomes stabilized. It is allso quietly and unobtrusively done that, unless a constant observeractually records numbers of birds seen on each trip afield, he is notlikely to realize until late in the season what has taken place before hiseyes. October is the time of greatest abundance, and by mid-Novem-ber only a few gnatcatchers remain.In southern Florida, where the gnatcatcher is not normally presentin summer, its fall arrival is, of course, noticeable if not conspicuous.L. A. Stimson writes (MS.) from Miami: "In fall its migration intothis area is in an increasing crescendo over a short period [leading up toits extreme abundance in winter]. Its first appearance will be madeby one or a very few individuals, and a week later it will be common."From the Southern United States, the gnatcatcher's progress to itstropical wintering grounds is presumably by way of the land massesand not by direct flight across the Gulf of Mexico, for I have neverfound a gnatcatcher among the many specimens of known trans-Gulfmigrant species killed by striking the lighthouse at Pensacola, Fla.,nor can I find a record of any having been killed at any other of theGulf-coast lights.Winter.?The blue-gray gnatcatcher's winter home in the UnitedStates embraces the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia, allof Florida, and a strip of the Gulf coast from northern Florida to Texas.In the northern part of this area it is uncommon to rare, but it becomescommon in extreme southern Louisiana and is abundant in southernFlorida and southern Texas.Arthur T. Wayne (1910) wrote of it in the Charleston, S. C,region: "The birds are sometimes very hard to detect during the winter,and at that season frequent the interior of large swamps where they
360 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMfind food and shelter." Another southern observer, S. A. Grimes,wrote (1928) from Jacksonville, Fla., that it "is easily overlooked inwinter, being rather retiring and feeding mostly in the higher foliage."My experience with wintering gnatcatchers in the similar?or evencolder?climate of extreme northwestern Florida and southern Ala-bama is widely at variance with these last two observations. Here,although the gnatcatcher is far from common, it is widely distributed,ranging low as well as high in every well-wooded habitat except purestands of pine. Alone, and usually silent in winter, it could easily beoverlooked, but I have found it almost invariably associated with Flor-ida chickadees and tufted titmice?and what could be easier to findthan a titmouse! A typical chickadee-titmouse winter group of smallbirds comprises half a dozen each of titmice, chickadees, ruby-crownedkinglets, and myrtle warblers, a blue-headed vireo, an orange-crownedand a yellow-throated warbler, and a gnatcatcher or two. The scold-ing note of the titmouse is the signal for the observer to look sharp forthe rare winter visitors that, when present, attach themselves to thesewandering bands of small fry, so in the course of a winter, I see manygnatcatchers.The gnatcatcher is not susceptible to freezing temperatures andhas been known to withstand successfully such extreme as 16? F.,provided these frigid spells last only a day or two; but the severeand protracted freeze of January 1940, when ice formed in northernFlorida every night for two weeks and on several days did not thawall day, caused the complete disappearance of the gnatcatcher fromthe Pensacola region until the advent of spring migrants. Duringthe following winter of 1940-41, few were seen, although migrantsand nesting birds had seemed no less abundant than usual in season.It was not until the second winter after the "big freeze" that the gnat-catcher could again be expected with confidence in every titmousegroup.Farther south in Florida the gnatcatcher reaches its peak of winterabundance. L. A. Stimson (MS.), describing its occurrence in theextreme southern end of the State, writes: "In the winter the gnat-catcher seems to show no favoritism as to habitat. It may readilybe found in the city [of Miami] in fruit, native or exotic trees; in theopen country in typical hammock trees; in pine woods; in the cypress;in the mangrove, buttonwood or bay fringes of the coast or swamps;and along the Tamiami Trail it will be found in the low willowswhere taller trees are absent. During its stay here the gnatcatcherassociates freely with other insect eaters, wintering warblers,westernpalm, myrtle, yellow-throated, prairie, parula, black and white,black-throated green; the vireos, white-eyed and blue-headed; andthe ruby-crowned kinglet. Woodpeckers, wrens, yellowthroats, and
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 361
cardinals will frequently be found in the same clump of trees. Infact its call note is often the guide to a good 'bird tree'."Alexander Sprunt, Jr., writes (MS.) from Okeechobee, Fla.:" Gnatcatchers swarm on some days. The hammocks and canalbanks in perfectly open country have hundreds of them, and thecharacteristic zee-e-e-e note sounds in one's hearing at every stop.I have seen as many as six in one small willow. They frequent theoak and cabbage palm hammocks and the willows, myrtles andother growth typical of the banks of the drainage canals. Theremight be a stretch of open prairie for miles about such a place, butthere they are! It is certainly one of the typical passerine speciesof this area in mid-winter."Beyond our limits, in Guatemala, Alexander F. Skutch (MS.)considers the gnatcatcher an abundant winter bird at middle alti-tudes?from 2,000 to 7,000 feet above sea level?and states that
"although the records of its occurrence range from the lowlands tothe summit of the Volcan de Agua (12,100 feet), it is not often seenat either extreme; and it seems likely that the birds taken at veryhigh altitudes were migrating rather than settled in their winterhome. But I found it fairly common during the winter months inthe open woods of pine and oak in the lower portions of the high-lands among the orchards and thickets about the shores of LakeAtitl&n and among the shade trees of the great coffee plantationson the Pacific slope down to about 2,000 feet." While he finds that
"the gnatcatchers may at times form small flocks of their own kind,"the habits of these tropical visitors seem to conform to the socialpattern of the birds that winter within our limits, for they "attachthemselves singly to flocks of warblers, the Tennessee warbler in thecoffee-growing districts, the Townsend warbler at higher elevations."But he suspects that "when several of the birds flock together, theyare females or immature individuals, for the adult males do not seemto get along together." Length of sojourn is indicated by Skutch's
"only record which would indicate the date of arrival?one fromHuehuetenango for September 11, 1934," at which time he sawseveral individuals. He also cites Griscom's "extreme dates for theoccurrence of the species in Guatemala as September 7 and March 3."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Southern Canada to Guatemala.Breeding range.?Toward the limits of its range the blue-gray gnat-catcher is rather sporadic in its occurrence, nesting one year andperhaps not appearing again for several years. It has been foundbreeding north to northern California (Covelo, Baird, and probablyYreka); central Nevada (Kingston Creek and Nyala); northern Utah792825?49 24
362 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM(Boulton, Stansbury Island, and the Uinta Valley near Vernal) ; south-western Wyoming (Green River; it has occurred at Torrington in theeastern part of the State); southern Colorado (Cortez and Pueblo;occurrences have been recorded at Two Bar Spring, Moffat County,Grand Junction, and Boulder); western and central Oklahoma (nearKenton, Oklahoma City, and Ponca); eastern Kansas (Wichita, Man-hattan, and Blue Rapids); southeastern Nebraska (Lincoln andOmaha); northern Iowa (Hawarden, one record, Grinnell, and Na-tional); southeastern Minnesota (Minneapolis, Marine, and Fron-tenac); southern Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee; occasionallynorth to New London) ; southern Michigan (Grand Rapids, Lansing,Ann Arbor, and Plymouth); extreme southern Ontario (MitchellsBay, Plover Mills, and Hamilton); western New York (Geneva);southwestern Pennsylvania (Beaver and Harmarville) ; and northernNew Jersey (Somerset and Essex Counties). East to eastern NewJersey (Essex County, Sea Isle City and Cape May) ; and the AtlanticCoast States to central Florida (New Smyrna and Deer Park) ; andthe Bahama Islands (Abaco and New Providence). South to theBahama Islands (New Providence); central Florida (Deer Park andBraden River) ; Cozumel Island, Mexico, and Yucatan (Chichen Itzd)
;
Tabasco (Balancan) ; Chiapas (Palenque) ; Oaxaca (Oaxaca) ; and LowerCalifornia (Cape San Lucas). West to Lower California (Cape SanLucas, Comondu, and the Sierra San Pedro Martir); and westernCalifornia inside the Coast Range (San Diego, Pasadena, Stockton,Napa, and Covelo).In addition there are many records of individuals north of anyknown breeding localities. Many of these are late in summer or infall and suggest the possibility that some may be individuals that havewandered north after the breeding season; some are probably migrat-ing from nesting sites that man has not found. These records extendnorth to Sault Ste. Marie; Mackinac Island and Douglas Lake,Michigan; Goderich and Toronto, Ontario; Montreal and Quebec,Quebec; and the coast of New England as far north as Portland,Maine.Winter range.?The blue-gray gnatcatcher is found in winter northto central California (Muir Beach, Marin County; Kettleman Hills,Death Valley, and Needles); two specimens taken at Ashland, Oreg.,February 4, 1881, are in the British Museum; southern Arizona(Papago Indian Reservation, Tucson, and the Rincon Mountains);Sonora (Punta Penascosa and Tesia); Sinaloa (Caliacan); Jalisco(Ocotlan); Nuevo Le6n (Monterey and Rodriguez); Tamaulipas(Nuevo Laredo and Camargo); southern Texas (Brownsville andrarely San Antonio) ; southern Louisiana (Chenier au Tigre, Lecompte,and New Orleans); Mississippi (Bay St. Louis and Biloxi); northern
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 363Florida (Fensacola and Tallahassee) ; eastern Georgia (Fitzgerald andBlackbeard Island; occasionally Milledgeville and Augusta); and thecoastal region of South Carolina (Charleston). It has been recordedin midwinter at Collington Island, N. C, and Washington, D. C.East to South Carolina (Charleston), the Bahama Islands (Abaco,Caicos, and Great Inagua). South to the Bahamas (Great Inagua);Cuba (Guantanamo and Isle of Pines) ; and Guatemala (Los Amatesand Alotenango). West to Guatemala (Alotenango, Sacapulas, andChanquejelve) ; Oaxaca (Juchitan); Guerrero (Chilpancingo) ; LowerCalifornia (Cape San Lucas, Cedros Island, and San Telmo); andCalifornia (Santa Catalina and Santa Cruz Islands, Santa Barbara,and Muir Beach).The species as outlined has been divided into several subspecies orgeographic races. The eastern blue-gray gnatcatcher (P. c. caerulea)breeds from Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas eastward; thewestern gnatcatcher (P. c. amoenissima) breeds from California toColorado and south to northern Lower California and Sonora; theSan Lucas gnatcatcher (P. c. obscura) breeds in the southern half ofLower California.Migration.?Late dates of spring departure are: Cuba?Habana,May 13. Texas?Somerset, May 5.Some early dates of spring arrival are: North Carolina?Raleigh,March 16. Virginia?Lawrenceville, March 21. West Virginia?Bluefield, March 28. District of Columbia?Washington, March 6.Pennsylvania?Waynesburg, April 6. New York?Brooklyn, April8. Arkansas?Monticello, March 16. Tennessee?Nashville, March12. Kentucky?Madisonville, March 27. Indiana?Bloomington,March 22. Ohio?Cincinnati; March 29. Michigan?Ann Arbor,April 11. Missouri?St. Louis, March 31. Iowa?Keokuk, April 12.Wisconsin?Beloit, April 23. Minnesota?Minneapolis, April 18.Oklahoma?Copan, March 20. Kansas?Independence, March 31.Nebraska?Fairbury, April 6.Some late dates of fall departure are: Minnesota?Minneapolis,September 7. Wisconsin?Madison, September 11. Iowa?Hills-boro, September 15. Missouri?Columbia, September 18. Michi-gan?Grand Rapids, October 5. Illinois?Rantoul, October 15.Ohio?Toledo, October 5. Kentucky?Eubank, September 24.Tennessee?Athens, October 6. Arkansas?Helena, October 28.JSFew York?New York, September 10. Pennsylvania?McKeesport,September 29. District of Columbia?Washington, September 13.West Virginia?Bluefield, September 5. Virginia?Naruna, Septem-ber 22. North Carolina ?Chapel Hill, October 4. South Carolina
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Spartanburg, October 10. Georgia?Athens, October 17. Alabama?Leighton, September 5.
364 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMSome early dates of fall arrival in the winter home are: Cuba
?
Habana, August 13. Guatemala?Remote, Peten, July 30, Panaja-chel, September 7.Egg dates.?Lower California: 12 records, May 8 to July 23; 7records, June 25 to July 19.California: 108 records, April 5 to July 12; 58 records, May 16 toJune 12, indicating the height of the season.South Carolina: 11 records, April 19 to May 22; 7 records, May 7to May 22.Texas: 11 records, April 15 to May 25; 6 records, April 23 and April24. POLIOPTILA CAEKULEA AMOENISSIMA GrinnellWESTERN GNATCATCHERHABITSUnder the name western gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea obscura)Mr. Ridgway (1904) described the blue-gray gnatcatchers of theSouthwestern United States, from the interior of northern Californiato northern Mexico and Lower California, as far south as Cape SanLucas, as "similar to P. c. caerulea, but gray of upper parts slightlyduller and black at base of inner web of outermost rectrix moreextended, usually showing beyond tip of under tail-coverts." Histype came from San Jose del Cabo, and he evidently thought itmight be only a winter visitor, for he said of its occurrence there "inwinter only?". He therefore applied the name obscura to all thewestern gnatcatchers.Subsequently, Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1926) discovered that "thematerials now accessible in sufficient amount show that there is aseparately recognizable race of Blue-gray Gnatcatcher resident in therestricted faunal area known as the Cape San Lucas district of LowerCalifornia." He therefore restricted the name obscura to the LowerCalifornia race and proposed the name amoenissima for the birds ofthe west outside of the southern tip of Lower California. He charac-terized amoenissima as "similar to P. c. obscura Ridgway, of the CapeSan Lucas region, but wing and tail (especially the tail) longer, billslightly slenderer, and median lower surface less clearly white, moreimbued with very pale gray."The 1931 Check-list gives the breeding range of this form as "fromnorthern interior California (Shasta County), southern Nevada,southern Utah, and Colorado (El Paso County) south to northernLower California, Chihuahua, Sonora, and Colima."In California the favorite haunts of the western gnatcatcher arethe warm, dry foothills covered with chaparral, small oaks, and othersmall trees and underbrush, as well as the groves of cottonwoods in
WESTERN GNATCATCHER 365the river valleys. In the Lassen Peak region, according to Grinnell,Dixon, and Linsdale (1930), "willow, valley oak, manzanita, diggerpine, blue oak, and buckbrush are all plants in which individulgnatcatchers were seen. However, the portion of the section mostfavorable for this bird, as indicated by concentration of breeding birdsto cover practically the whole of such area, was the tract of blue-oak-covered hills north of Red Bluff and west of the SacramentoRiver. There the park-like arrangement of the trees, each with manyslender branches covered with copious foliage, and with the inter-vening spaces between the trees of a uniformly short distance, seemedideally to fulfill the requirements of this bud for nesting and foragingactivities."In Arizona we found this gnatcatcher only fairly common in thefoothills of the Huachuca and Dragoon Mountains and in the wider,lower portions of some of the larger canyons, mainly between 5,000and 6,000 feet, but never out on the lower plains or at higher eleva-tions in the mountains among the coniferous forests. Some of thefoothills where we found the gnatcatchers were dotted with smallblack-jack oaks, with more or less even, open spaces between them,covered with mountain-misery and various other shrubs. A typicalcanyon haunt was in Miller Canyon in the Huachucas. This washeavily wooded along the stream with a row of big sycamores, ashes,walnuts, maples, and cedars; at its wide mouth was an open, parklikeforest of large black-jack oaks in which numerous Arizona jays werenesting; farther up the canyon were smaller oaks of various kinds,madrones, manzanitas, and thickets of various kinds of shrubs. Thegnatcatchers seemed to prefer the smaller oaks.Territory.?In densely populated areas western gnatcatchers seemto establish and maintain fairly definite breeding territories. Grin-nell and Storer (1924) write:During the early spring immediately after their arrival from the south, thegnatcatchers are to be seen in pairs, the male in close attendance upon the female.When the latter engages in the work of nest construction her mate remains inthe vicinity, part of the time accompanying her on trips for building material oron foraging sorties. Otherwise he guards the nesting precincts against invasionof any rival male. All the while, in the heat of mid-afternoon as well as at otherhours of the day, the male gnatcatcher utters his fine wheezy song at frequentintervals, and the female answers from time to time in similar tone of voice withsingle notes.When settled for nesting each pair of gnatcatchers is strongly localized. Eachkeeps within a radius of not more than a hundred yards from the nest tree. Thislocalization permits an observer to take a more accurate census of nesting pairsthan is possible with many other birds. At Black's Creek, near Coulterville,our own counts led to an estimate of 64 breeding pairs of the Western Gnatcatcherto each square mile in that immedate district. Carrying these figures further,in consideration of the estimated area of the Upper Sonoran Zone included in our
366 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMYosemite section, we find a total gnatcatcher population just before the appear-ance of the new broods, to consist of 50,000 individuals.Nesting.?The same observers say that "the nests are of deep cup-shape, and are constructed throughout of light-weight materials. A.framework of fine grass stems forms the main wall, and this is coveredboth inside and out with softer substances. The outside is feltedwith lichens such as abound on the bark of blue oaks, with a fewgrass seed hulls, some small oak leaves, and occasionally a feather ortwo, the whole being held together with spider web. The inside ofthe nest is lined almost entirely with feathers, laid flatways of theinner surface. Whatever the purpose of the bird in constructingsuch a nest, the form and outside appearance are usually such thatthe structure might easily be mistaken for a weathered stub or asmall accumulation of debris."They mention a typical nest in a blue oak as "situated about 10)feet above the ground near the periphery of the tree, amid smalltwigs and branchlets, and rested directly on a horizontal branch."'Others were found "in crotches of small blue oaks, and several werefound in greasewood (chamisal) bushes, at a height of not more than3 feet from the ground."It seems to be a characteristic habit of the western gnatcatcher to&change the location of its nest once or twice before being sufficientlysatisfied with the site to finish the structure. Several observers havereported that nesting material has been entirely removed from anunfinished nest and used to build a nest in another location. Thismay be because the birds saw that their nest had been discoveredand was unsafe for eggs or young; some birds are very sensitive tohuman intrusion. Corydon Chamberlin (1901) says: "Of the firstfew nests I saw being built none were finally occupied on their originalsite. One pair near my camping place moved their nest and madeit over three times before being satisfied to deposit eggs in it. Eachtime that the nest was nearly complete, the birds would discover amore suitable site and then the work of tearing down would beginand it would be moved piece-meal to the new place and until scarcelya vestige of the nest remained in the old location. The third andfinal resting place for this nest was in the main crotch of a smallwhite oak bush at such a height that I could just reach the nest bystanding on tip toe."He mentions several other nests, found in Tuolumne County, Calif.,one of which was "in the main crotch of an alder tree 30 feet fromthe ground, the tree being in a creek bed." Another, 6 feet from theground on a small horizontal oak limb, "was made in between thestub of a small twig and a live twig carrying a bunch of leaves thathung over the nest like a parasol.
WESTERN GNATCATCHER 367
"Perhaps the most unique nesting site ever seen of this species wasthe top of a pine cone in a sprawling bull pine. The cone was on alonely limb fully thirty feet above the ground at the butt of the tree,but as the tree hung over a gully the nest was double that distancevertically from the ground."Most nests of the western gnatcatcher are more or less decoratedwith lichens of colors to match their surroundings, though generallynot as thickly covered as the nests of the eastern race. But Mr.Chamberlin mentions two nests that were entirely devoid of lichens;these were in oaks that had been killed by fire, as the whole areahad been burned over; as there were no lichens available, the nestswere decorated with bits of burnt bark, which helped to make themmatch their surroundings in the charred trees.Harriet W. Myers (1907) found a nest "near the top of a hollybush that had grown so tall that it was more like a tree than a shrub"and another "on the south side of a tall, straight eucalyptus tree abouttwenty feet from the ground, its only supports being the tiny twigsthat grew out from the side of the tree."California nests of western gnatcatchers have been recorded atheights as low as 3 feet in bushes and as high as 45 feet in oaks.The only nest we found in Arizona was 7 feet from the ground ona horizontal limb of a black-jack oak (pi. 44), in Miller Canyon, inthe Huachuca Mountains.Eggs.?The four or five eggs that make up the usual set for thewestern gnatcatcher are indistinguishable from those of the easternsubspecies. The measurements of 40 eggs average 14.3 by 11.4 milli-meters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 16.2 by 11.5,14.0 by 12.0, 13.5 by 11.5, and 13.7 by 10.7 millimeters.Young.?The incubation, brooding, and care of the young seem tobe performed by this western subspecies in the same manner as bythe eastern blue-gray gnatcatcher. Mrs. Myers (1907) gives the fol-lowing feeding record for one brood:On this same morning from 7:25 to 8:25, the birds fed thirty-five times, lessthan two minutes apart; the male twenty-seven times, the female fourteen. Thenext morning, in the hour from 6:37 to 7:37, the birds fed forty-six times, themale thirty-six and the female twenty-four times. In looking over my notes Ifind that the birds fed more often early in the morning than later in the day.In five hours, 6:30 to 11:30, they fed one hundred and fifty-two times, or anaverage of thirty-eight times an hour. Allowing sixteen hours to their day, wecan estimate that they fed six hundred and eight times. The word "gnatcatcher"proved to be a misnomer, the food brought so often being small white worms.Food.? The food of the western gnatcatcher is not essentiallydifferent from that of its eastern relative. Professor Beal (1907)makes the following general statement on the food of the Californiagnatcatchers: "No complaints have been made that these busy crea-
368 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMtures ever injure fruit or other crops. Their food is composed almostexclusively of insects, which they hunt with untiring energy frommorning till night. Like the titmice and kinglets, gnatcatchers arefitted by nature to perform a service which larger species are unableto accomplish. There are hosts of minute insects, individually insig-nificant but collectively a pest, that are too small to be attacked byordinary birds and are to be combated by man, if at all, only at greatexpense. It is to so deal with such pests that they may not undulyincrease that these tiny birds would seem to be especially designed."
^. The behavior, voice, and general habits are similar to those of theeastern bird. It can be distinguished from the other California gnat-catchers by having the outer tail feathers white for their entire length;there is much less white in the tail of the plumbeous gnatcatcher,and hardly any in the tail of the black-tailed; the gray of the upper-parts is lighter in the western than in either of the others. Californiajays have been known to destroy the nests of this gnatcatcher as wellas to rob them of eggs or young; and Mrs. Myers (1907) has seen thelittle birds drive away a California shrike.Dr. Friedmann (1929) says that the western gnatcatcher is victim-ized by the two western races of the cowbird, artemisiae and obscurus,in much the same way as the blue-gray gnatcatcher is imposed uponby the eastern cowbird.POLIOPTILA CAERULEA OBSCURA RidgwaySAN LUCAS GNATCATCHERHABITSAs explained under the previous subspecies, this race of the blue-gray gnatcatcher has been separated from the other western race onthe slight characters there mentioned. It is found only in southernLower California, from Cape San Lucas north to about latitude 28?,where it is apparently resident. It probably does not differ materiallyin any of its habits from the more northern form. William Brewster(1902) says of it:The Western Gnatcatcher is a rather common resident of the Cape Region,where it appears to be indifferent to conditions of mean temperatures or environ-ment, for it occurs nearly everywhere from the seacoast (La Paz and San Jos6del Cabo) to the summits of the highest mountains (Sierra de la Laguna). Mr.Frazar found it breeding at San Jos6 del Rancho in July. His first nest, dis-covered on the 7th, contained four eggs on the point of hatching, and was notdisturbed. Two others, taken respectively on the 14th and 19th of the month,had full sets of four eggs each, all freshly laid. One of these nests, built in thefork of a bush at a height of about five feet, measures as follows: Greatest externaldiameter, 2.25; greatest external depth, 2.00; internal diameter at top, 1.30;internal depth, 1.10; greatest thickness of walls, .50. The exterior is composedof gray, hemp-like, vegetable fiber and narrow strips of reddish brown bark, and
PLUMBEOUS GNATCATCHER 369
is decorated with a very few lichens, all these materials being over-wrapped andkept in place by a nearly invisible tissue of spider-web. The interior is linedwith fragments of silky cocoons and a few feathers. The other nest, which wasplaced in the fork of a small tree about ten feet above the ground, and which isessentially similar to the specimen just described, save that it has no lichenswhatever, measures externally 2.15 in diameter by 2.10 in depth; internally, 1.40in diameter by 1.50 in depth. Both nests are smaller and more compact thanany nests of P. caerulea in my collection.There is a set of eggs in the Doe collection, taken by J. StuartRowley at Miraflores on May 8, 1933 ; the nest was saddled on a branchof a palo bianco tree, 20 feet above ground. A nest in the Thayercollection, taken by W. W. Brown near La Paz on June 25, 1908, wasplaced between two upright stems of a bush, about 5 feet from theground. The construction of this nest is similar to that of the nestdescribed above; there are no lichens on it, but it has a decidedlygray appearance.The eggs of the San Lucas gnatcatcher are similar to those of thespecies elsewhere. The measurements of 32 eggs average 14.5 by 11.2millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 15.6 by 11.8,14.3 by 11.9, 12.9 by 11.2, and 13.6 by 10.6 millimeters.POLIOPTTLA MELANURA MELANURA LawrencePLUMBEOUS GNATCATCHERHABITSThe type race of this species is the desert form that inhabits thearid and semiarid regions of the southeastern United States andnorthern Mexico. The plumbeous gnatcatcher, like many otherdesert forms, is much paler, especially on the dorsum, than its nearrelative and neighbor, the California black-tailed gnatcatcher, and ithas more white in the tail and usually more on the lores and sides ofthe head.The favorite haunts of this gnatcatcher are in the thorny thickets ofmesquites or in the rank growths of saltbush on the southwesterndeserts. Van Tyne and Sutton (1937) say that, in Brewster County,Tex., both this and the western gnatcatcher are common, "but thePlumbeous is a bird of the river banks and low country, while theWestern Blue-gray is a bird of the mountains. We found the Plum-beous especially abundant in the dense thickets of mesquite in theravines and along the Rio Grande." Mrs. Bailey (1902) says: "Thesmall bluish figure of plumbea is a familiar sight in the brushy canyonmouths of the Guadalupe Mountains in Texas and in the orchard-likejuniper and pifion pine tops of the mountains." We found it fairlycommon in the low, arid valleys and dry brushy washes in southernArizona, nesting in the thorny bushes.
370 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMNesting.?The nests of the plumbeous gnatcatcher are placed inlow trees or small bushes at no great height from the ground, much likethose of the black-tailed gnatcatcher. There are two nests of theformer in the Thayer collection in Cambridge, quite similar in con-struction, but very different in dimensions. One taken by W. W.Brown in Sonora on April 30, 1905, measures l}{ inches in height,2 inches in outer diameter, 1% in inside diameter, and 1 inch ininner depth; it was in a mesquite. The other, a much larger nest,was taken from an Atriplex bush on the desert near Phoenix, Ariz.,by G. F. Brenninger on April 10, 1901 ; it measures 2% inches in height,2% in outside and 1% in inside diameter, and was hollowed to a depthof IK inches. Both nests are very neatly made of various grayishfibers, compactly woven, and are lined with pappus and other plantdown; they are firmly bound with spider web, but no lichens have beenused for outside decoration. Each nest held five eggs.A nest taken by Frank C. Willard near Tombstone, Ariz., on April22, 1897, is described in his notes as 3% feet up in a small bush, in afork and supported by various twigs; it was made of fine bark stripsand grass and was lined with fine grass and cactus fiber, with a fewsmall feathers woven in. A nest found by Van Tyne and Sutton(1937) in Brewster County, Tex., on April 14, 1935, was "situatedabout three feet from the ground in a thickly-leaved thorn bush thatwas growing under a huge cottonwood." Mrs. Bailey (1928) mentionsa nest near Terlingua, Tex., in a fouquieria (ocotillo) bush.J. Stuart Rowley writes to me: "I have found these birds to bevery touchy about the inspection of their nests before the eggs aredeposited. Many nests which I have located in the CoachellaValleyof California in the process of construction were examined withoutbeing actually touched by hand, and upon returning in a week orten days, were found to be utterly destroyed and deserted. Onefemale sat on her eggs so closely that she was approached slowlyand forcibly removed from the nest by being grasped by the bill."Eggs.?The plumbeous gnatcatcher lays three to five eggs to theset, but four is decidedly the commonest number. The eggs of allthe gnatcatchers are practically indistinguishable, though there isperhaps a tendency to be less heavily marked in eggs of this sub-species. The eggs are ovate or short-ovate and have little or nogloss. The ground color in museum specimens is very pale blue,bluish white, or nearly pure white; they are somewhat brighter,greenish blue when fresh in the nest. They are usually rather spar-ingly and more or less evenly covered with small spots or fine dotsof reddish browns; sometimes there are a few very small blotchesof various darker browns; and sometimes the markings are some-what concentrated in an imperfect ring about the large end. Very
PLUMBEOUS GNATCATCHER 371
rarely an egg is almost immaculate. The measurements of 40 eggsaverage 14.1 by 11.1 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremesmeasure 15.2 by 11.2, 14.5 by 11.5, 12.2 by 11.0, and 13.1 by 10.6millimeters.The plumbeous and the black-tailed gnatcatchers are so much alikein all their habits and characteristics, due allowance being made forthe difference in environment, that the excellent life history of thelatter contributed by Mr. Woods will suffice for the former.As the plumbeous and the western gnatcatchers are sometimesboth found in the same region in winter, and as the former does notshow its black cap at that season, there is a chance of confusing thetwo species in their winter haunts. However, Ralph Hoffmann(1927) remarks: "The darker gray of the Plumbeous Gnatcatcherand the small amount of white in the tail when spread are helps toidentification, but the call notes are often the only sure distinctions.The call of the Plumbeous Gnatcatcher is a series of two or threeshort notes, chee chee chee, unlike the single emphatic pee of theWestern. The song of the Plumbeous Gnatcatcher is a slight tsee-dee-dee-dee-dee, suggesting a chickadee."Dr. Friedmann (1929 and 1934) mentions several cases where thisbird has been victimized by cowbirds. And Mr. Rowley tells methat "along the Colorado River area, cowbirds parasitize the nestsof these birds rather abundantly," and he has "found a female sittingon three eggs of a cowbird and none of her own, with many nestscontaining one or two cowbird eggs."DISTRIBUTIONRange.?Southwestern United States and northern Mexico; non-migratory.The gnatcatchers of the melanura group breed north to southernCalifornia (Santa Barbara, Yermo, Daggett, and Resting Spring);southern Nevada (Las Vegas and Bunkerville) ; northern Arizona(Beale Spring, Big Sandy Creek, Fort Whipple, and Keam Canyon)
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western and southeastern New Mexico (Gallup and Fort Wingate;Carlsbad and the Guadalupe Mountains); the western extension ofTexas (Frijoles, Marathon, and Chisos Mountains) and the Rio GrandeValley (Lozier, Laredo, and Brownsville) ; with records of its occurrenceat Corpus Christi and San Antonio. East to extreme southern Texas(Brownsville) and Tamaulipas (Jaumave). South to Tamaulipas(Jaumave) ; central Nuevo Le6n (Monterrey) ; southern Coahuila (SanPedro) ; central Chihuahua (Santa Eulalia and Chihuahua) ; centralSonora (Moctezuma and Guaymas) ; and Lower California (Cape SanLucas). West to the Pacific coast of Lower California (Cape SanLucas, Todos Santos, Santa Margarita Island, San Juanica Bay, and
372 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMSan Quintin); and southwestern California (San Diego, Escondido,Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara).The range as outlined is for the entire species of which several sub-species or geographic races are recognized. The plumbeous gnat-catcher (P. m. melanura) occurs from southeastern California, southernNevada, central Arizona, and the Rio Grande Valley to Chihuahuaand Tamaulipas ; the black-tailed gnatcatcher (P. m. californica) occursin southwestern California and northwestern Lower California; theSan Francisquito gnatcatcher (P. m. pontilis) is found in centralLower California; the Margarita gnatcatcher (P. m. margaritae) isfound in Lower California from about 29? N. latitude southward; theSonora gnatcatcher (P. m. lucida) occurs from southeastern Californiaand southern Arizona to central Sonora.Egg dates.?Arizona: 17 records, April 10 to July 15; 9 records, April10 to May 4.Lower California: 8 records, April 19 to July 5.California: 52 records, March 18 to June 19; 26 records, April 14to May 13, indicating the height of the season.POLIOPTILA MELANURA MARGARITAE RidgwayMARGARITA GNATCATCHERHABITSIn naming this subspecies, Mr. Ridgway (1904, p. 733, footnote)wrote: "The only specimens examined from Margarita Island (two innumber) very likely represent a different form; both have decidedlyshorter wings and longer bills than specimens from the mainland ofLower California; they have the upper parts decidedly darker, the dullslate color of the pileum contrasting abruptly and strongly with thedull white of the loral region; there is, apparently, a distinct whitishcrescentic mark immediately behind the dark grayish auricular region,a feature which I have not been able to find in any specimen of trueP. plumbea. Both specimens were skinned from alcohol; one is animmature male, the other probably an adult female. Should the birdfrom Margarita Island prove to be distinct, I propose for it the namePolioptila margaritae."Santa Margarita Island lies close to the Pacific coast of LowerCalifornia, toward the southern end of the peninsula, but north of theCape region. Although this gnatcatcher was described and namedfrom specimens collected on this island, it seems to be well distributedon the mainland of Lower California between latitudes 24?30 / and 29?.The only published account of its habits that I can find is the fol-lowing from Griffing Bancroft (1930)
:
XANTUS'S GNATCATCHER 373[It is] widely spread and decidedly common. There was no association and noregion where the presence of a pair of these little scolds could not be expected.They were most plentiful west of Jos6 Maria Canon. They seemed equally athome in the thickest brush and on the most open plains. Yet we found only fiveoccupied nests and were able to save but one set of eggs.The nests are cups, rather thin and quite deep. They are so extremely neatand trim and blend so well into the background that it is difficult to see them, thefirst time. They are usually placed in the center of some sage-like bush aboutthree feet from the ground. They rest on both a lateral and a horizontal branch.One exceptional site was the heart of a mistletoe in a mesquite, well hidden by theparasite, at a height of twelve feet.Fresh eggs are most numerous about the middle of May, and the season is ex-ceptionally short. The number in a clutch, within our limited experience, wasthree.There is a set of three eggs in the Doe collection, taken by Mr.Bancroft, near San Ignacio Lagoon, on June 5, 1932; the nest was threefeet above the ground, well concealed near the upper center of a tallshrub, back in the hinterland and well away from the lagoon.The eggs are evidently indistinguishable from those of the northernforms. The measurements of 6 eggs average 15.2 by 11.5 millimeters;the eggs showing the four extremes measure 15.5 by 11.5, 14.8 by 11.9,and 15.0 by 11.0 millimeters.POLIOPTILA MELANURA ABBREVIATA GrinnellXANTUS'S GNATCATCHERHABITSThis local race of the Cape district of Lower California remained forlong unrecognized as distinct from the other races of the species.It remained for Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1926) to describe and name it.He says of it: "In general character similar to Polioptila melanuramelanura (see Ridgway, 1904, p. 731, under Polioptila plumbed) ofsoutheastern California and southern Arizona, but (in both sexes)tail decidedly shorter, bill somewhat larger, leaden hue of dorsumslightly deeper, and lower surface slightly more imbued with gray,not so clearly white."Of its range he says: "So far as now definitely known, only thesouthern end of the Lower Californian peninsula, from San Jose delCabo and Cape San Lucas north to La Paz."Earlier writers referred the birds of the Cape region to plumbea,now known as melanura, but William Brewster (1902) remarks:
"All my Lower California specimens seem to have shorter tails thanthe birds which inhabit Arizona and Texas." Evidently all his birdscame from the Cape region, where Mr. Frazar regarded it as ratherrare.J. Stuart Rowley writes to me: "I met with these birds in the Cape
374 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
region of Lower California in the lowland country. A pair werebuilding a nest in the immediate vicinity of my base camp at Mira-flores in the latter part of May 1933, but they were rather shy aboutdivulging the actual nest site. However, after much watching, thenest was found to be in the extreme top of a tall mahogany tree, andsince the birds were obviously building at this time, it was left undis-turbed. On the day I broke camp, the extension ladder was set up toits fullest length of 28 feet and that distance plus my six feet, plus armreach, fell short of reaching the nest by a good ten feet; so the nest wascut down and lowered to me, only to find it contained but one egg.I have never found a gnatcatcher nesting as high from the ground asthis one did."He took a set of three slightly incubated eggs near San Jose delCabo on May 23, 1933, which is now in the Doe collection at theUniversity of Florida. The nest was placed in a mesquite bush, 4feet from the ground, and was made of fine fibers. These three eggsmeasure 15.3 by 11.9, 15.3 by 11.4, and 14.5 by 11.4 millimeters.Since the above was written, the A. O. U. Committee has ruled inits nineteenth supplement to the Check-list (Auk, vol. 61, p. 457)that this bird is synonymous with P. m. margaritae, but it seems best toinclude the above account as a matter of historical record.POLIOPTILA MELANURA CALIFORNICA BrewsterBLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHERHABITSContributed by Robert S. WoodsAlthough frequenting the environs of some of the most populousdistricts of the West, the black-tailed gnatcatcher remains one of theleast familiar of North American birds. For some reason this speciesis localized and comparatively few in numbers, while the westerngnatcatcher, apparently with no superior endowments, is widespreadand numerous.Formerly classified as a separate species (Polioptila californica) , thisform is now regarded as a subspecies of the plumbeous gnatcatcher,but it is easily distinguishable from the latter in the field by its decidedlydarker body coloration. The dividing line between their respectiveterritories lies across San Gorgonio Pass and along the higher mountainchain of southern California. The range of the present subspeciesextends from Ventura southward into northwestern Lower California.Semidesert valleys and lower slopes covered with a low and oftenscattered growth of shrubs are the home of the black-tailed gnat-catcher, and few land birds confine themselves so rigidly to theircharacteristic habitat. Suitable conditions are found on gravelly
BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER 375
washes along watercourses, as around Azusa and Claremont in LosAngeles County, and in various parts of San Diego, Riverside, andSan Bernardino Counties. A. C. Bent (MS.) and Dr. Louis B.Bishop also encountered this species, together with Bell's sparrow,near Norco, on "low, rolling hills covered with an open growth oflow bushes, chamise, white sage, golden yarrow and wild buckwheat."Even in the most favorable situations the black-tailed gnatcatcheris not abundant, and, as it does not range far in search of food, itmight be looked for in vain through a period of years in any givenlocality.Measurements indicate that this species closely rivals the bushtitfor the distinction of being the smallest North American passerinebird.Nesting.?As its nesting sites, the black-tailed gnatcatcher choosessmall or medium-sized bushes rather than large ones. Eight nestsdiscovered at Azusa by the present writer, during three differentyears, were placed at heights of 2 to 3 feet. Four were in buckthornbushes (Rhamnus crocea), two in laurel sumac (Rhus laurina), onein a clump of cactus and weeds, and the last in a shrubby composite(Ericameria pinifolia). These locations afforded varying degrees ofconcealment, one of the buckthorns being so densely branched thatthe nest could hardly be discerned from any point outside the bush,while those in the sumacs could easily be seen from a distance.Descriptions of nesting sites in other districts differ in minor details.Wilson C. Hanna (1934) mentions a nest 4 feet from the ground, nearthe top of a black sagebush on a dry hillside near Riverside. Mr.Bent (MS.) saw one near Claremont "about 2 feet up in a smallbranching cactus growing in a clump of chamise, on a dry, dustychamise-covered flat." Probably the earliest description of theblack-tailed gnatcatcher's nest is that of Bendire (1888)
:
This gnat-catcher was first described by Mr. William Brewster, from specimenscollected by Mr. F. Stephens near Riverside, * * * Cal., March 28,1878. * * * *The nest of P. Californica, like that of P. plumbea Baird, from ArizonaTerritory, differs radically in structure from that of its eastern relative, P. caerulea(Linn.), wMch is too well known to ornithologists to require description. Itlacks entirely the artistic finish of the lichen-covered structure of the former, andresembles more in shape certain forms of the nest of the Summer Yellow Warbler,Dendroica aestiva (Gml.), and the American Redstart, Setophaga ruticilla(Linn.)The nest is cone-shaped, built in the forks of a small shrub, a species of ma-hogany, Coleogyne ramosessima (Tore.) I think, only 2 feet from the ground,and it is securely fastened to several of the twigs among which it is placed. Itswalls are about half an inch in thickness. The material of which the nest iscomposed, is well quilted together and makes a compact and solid structure.
376 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMExternally the nest is composed principally of hemp-like vegetable fiber mixedwith small curled-up leaves of the white sage, Eurotia lanata, plant-down, andfragments of spiders' webs. Inside the nest is lined with the same hemp-likefiber, only much finer, and a few feathers. The cavity of the nest is cup-shapedand rather deep. Externally the nest measures 214 inches in diameter by 3J4inches in depth. The inner diameter is 1% inches by 1% inches in depth. Com-pared with a nest of Polioptila plumbea Baird, now before me, from ArizonaTerritory, it seems much better constructed and also somewhat larger.The nests at Azusa were deeply cup-shaped, sometimes slightlyconstricted at the top, and were compactly and neatly constructedof small pieces of grass, bark, fiber, paper, cloth, string, etc., and linedwith small feathers, rabbit fur, and soft cottony material. Small bitsof newspaper entered largely into the construction of one of them.The interior measurements of three of these nests were 1% inches indiameter by 1% inches in depth. Ordinarily only the top of the headand the tail of the incubating bird project above the rim.The birds being permanently mated, the nest-building urge some-times seems to develop long before the time for egg-la3^ing. AboutMarch 1, 1921, a pair of black-tailed gnatcatchers started a nestnear the top of a low sumac bush about 2% feet from the ground.The work proceeded rapidly at first, most of it done by the male,and then gradually slowed up. By the middle of the month the nest,which was ready for the lining, seemed to be deserted, and a weeklater was found overturned and partially destroyed. This suggesteda search for a new nest, which was discovered a day or two later about125 feet away in a clump of cactus and weeds, and about 2 feet fromthe ground. It was complete except for part of the lining, which wasadded to from time to time until finished, after which the birdsshowed no further interest in it.On April 22, by following one of the gnatcatchers, I found a thirdnest containing three eggs in a buckthorn about 250 feet from theprevious nest. The site was about 2% feet from the ground in themidst of an unusually dense mass of twiggs. The young having leftthis nest on May 12, an inspection on June 8 showed that a sectionof it had been removed, and it was found that only a small portionof the second unused nest remained. A search revealed a nest withthree eggs, about 50 feet away, and situated very similarly to thelast nest, but less thickly surrounded by foliage. This nest appeareda little looser and bulkier than those built of new materials.In 1927 a nest was discovered in a buckthorn bush, at a height ofabout 3 feet, the set of four eggs being completed April 7, twodays after the male was seen incubating two eggs. On April 26 thefour young, which had hatched within less than 24 hours on April20 or 2 1 , were found dead in and around the nest, though the parentsremained in the vicinity. The next nest was about 200 feet distant,
BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER 377and at a height of about 3 feet in a small laurel sumac. The foureggs were hatched on or about May 21 and the young left on June 5.A third nest with four well-grown young, undoubtedly belonging tothe same pair, was encountered on July 12, about 100 yards from thesecond and at the same height.The duty of incubation is divided between the two parents, theeggs seldom being left uncovered even for a moment; the anxiety ofone of the males to resume his duties would cause him sometimes toalmost shove his mate from the nest. While sitting, this same indi-vidual maintained a vigilant watch, frequently peering over the edgeand closely scrutinizing the ground beneath. In another case it wasfound that the male occupied the nest more than half the time duringthe day, being relieved by his mate at intervals of approximately onehour. Soon after sunset, however, the female would take her placethere and presently, with head tucked in, would be settled for thenight.The male, or less frequently the female, would fiercely attack otherbirds, including gnatcatchers, which strayed within perhaps 50 feetof the nest, darting at them repeatedly with rapidly snapping bill.A flock of bushtits offered greater difficulties, as each one attackedmerely dodged back into the foliage, to emerge serenely as soon asthe assault was transferred to another member of the flock.Eggs.?The normal set of eggs consists of four. Any larger numberis at least very rare, but some nests contain only three. It appearsthat the laying of sets of three may be an individual tendency, as thefemale observed in 1921 laid two sets of three, while that of 1927 laidthree sets of four. Mr. Hanna (1934) gives the average weight of 38eggs as 0.99 gram, with a maximum of 1.11 grams and a minimum of0.82 gram. Comparing the eggs of the black-tailed and western gnat-catchers, Harry H. Dunn (1906) says: "Several writers, and even asgood an authority as Davie, claim that there is a difference in the eggsof the two species, but from a long string of sets which have come undermy observation I am unable to agree to this. To my mind they areabsolutely indistinguishable, especially a few days after being blown,when the eggs of both species fade considerably, becoming a pale,washed-out blue, instead of the deep green they possess when freshlylaid."The measurements of 36 eggs average 14.4 by 11.5; the eggs showingthe four extremes measure 15.1 by 11.5, 14.5 by 12.0, 12.9 by 10.8, and13.0 by 10.6 millimeters.Young.?The incubation period, which I ascertained in only onecase, proved to be rather longer than expected, considering the smallsize of the eggs, being 14 days from the laying of the last egg. Al-though the eggs were laid on successive days and incubation was ap-792825?49 25
378 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMparently begun with the first, or at least the second egg," all four werehatched within less than 24 hours.The food brought to the young consists of a. large variety of smallinsects and spiders, unidentifiable from a distance. Larger insects arethoroughly beaten against a branch before being offered. The largestnoted was a walking-stick nearly as long as one of the young birds, andwas swallowed only after some difficulty. The nest and its surround-ings are kept scrupulously clean at all times.On May 31, 1927, a record was made of visits to the nest by bothparents between 4:12 and 5:55 p. m. During this period of 1 hour and43 minutes, the female brought food 37 times, at intervals ranging fromone to nine minutes, and averaging slightly less than three minutes.The longer intervals occurred previous to 4:46 p. m., but no indicationof periodicity could be detected at any time. The record of the maleduring this time probably was hardly representative: he brought foodonly five times in the first 69 minutes, and nine times in the last 32minutes.Whenever the partly feathered young would otherwise be exposed tobright sunshine in the middle of the day, one of the parents is accus-tomed to stand over them with wings extended sufficiently to shade theinterior of the nest. The same attitude is assumed when incubatingon hot days. With four young in the nest, the quarters become some-what cramped as the brood approaches full growth, and the youngbirds are sometimes disposed in two tiers, with one or both of those inthe lower layer almost concealed from sight. Presumably they changeplaces from time to time, as their rate of development always seemedremarkably uniform, with the birds leaving the nest almost simul-taneously. As with some other passerine birds, the fledging periodshows wide variations. One brood of three left the nest in nine days,and a second in 10 or 11 days, while a family of four, in another year,remained 14 or 15 days.After leaving the nest, the fledglings show little activity for a fewdays, sitting quietly together and moving from bush to bush only atthe urging of the parents. To find their progeny, the old birds mustdepend on their memories, as the young at this stage remain practicallymute. On two occasions I saw a mother bring food to a bush whichthe young had left some time previously, and after searching for awhile and then calling without answer from the young ones which satstolidly in the interior of another bush, she appeared to recollect andflew directly to them. The young are fed for about three weeks afterleaving the nest ; thereafter the birds of the first brood are not allowedto loiter near the scene of the second nesting.Plumages.?The bodies of the young are entirely bare until the pri-maries begin to appear, three or four days after hatching. When
BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER 379feathered, their coloration is similar to that of the adult female, butuntil the fall molt takes place they can be distinguished by the greateramount of white on their tails. The general molt occurs only in thefall, so that by summer the white edgings of the outer tail feathers ofthe adults have by abrasion become much reduced or altogetherlacking.As observed by the present writer, the black cap of the male, aseasonal character, is assumed in February, black patches appearingon the crown and quickly spreading over the entire top of the head.The reverse change in the fall takes place much more slowly, in theform of a gradual obscuring aDd replacing of the glossy black by gray.The first signs of gray could be detected about the middle of July, orearly in August in another year, and it required approximately amonth and a half for all traces of darker color, with the exception of apermanent blackish streak above the eye, to disappear. The changeappeared to be complete before the new tail feathers were entirelygrown out. Concerning variations in the molt, H. S. Swarth (1902)writes:I have taken many specimens between August and March showing no black onthe head, with the exception of the almost invisible black streak over the eye,which is, I believe, always present in the male; and others during March andApril undergoing moult over the entire crown; so I was the more surprised ontaking on December 13, 1901, a male bird with the black cap nearly complete,though not quite as extensive as in most spring specimens, and with the blackfeathers tipped with the blue-gray of the rest of the upper parts, so that the blackwas not apparent unless the feathers were ruffled. It would have taken butlittle abrasion of the tips of these feathers to have rendered this bird indistinguish-able from specimens taken during April and May. On December 19 I securedanother, almost a counterpart of the one described above. * * *The time for the spring moult seems to be extremely variable; I have specimenstaken at the end of February, with no trace of the black crown, and not yetcommencing to moult; while on January 20, 1902 I took one with many pin featherson the head and the black cap nearly complete. Usually, I think that the changeof plumage is not finished before the first week in April. No part of the bird butthe crown seems to be affected by the moult.I am unable to confirm a further statement by Mr. Swarth that thewinter plumage is tinged with brown. However, one female whichwas watched during the nesting season was notable for the decidedlybrown tone of the back and wings, in contrast to the clear gray of themale. I have noticed no brownish tendencies in any other individualsat any time of year.Food.?Prof. F. E. L. Beal (1907) reports as follows on the foodof the gnatcatchers:Only 30 stomachs of P. c. obscura and the same number of P. californica havebeen examined, and their contents were so similar that they may be treated asfrom a single species.
380 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Vegetable food.?Of the 60 stomachs three only contained any vegetable foodwhatever, and in only one did it amount to a respectable percentage. This oneheld 92 percent of seeds of some species of Rhus; another contained 8 percent ofunknown seeds, and the third a few bits of rubbish, which amounted to only 2percent of the whole contents. The total vegetable matter in the 60 stomachsaggregated less than 2 percent of the entire food.Animal food.?The remainder of the food, over 98 percent, is made up of beetles,wasps, bugs, and caterpillars, with a few flies, grasshoppers, and spiders. Bugs(Hemiptera) constitute more than half of the whole food, 64 percent. * * *In one stomach were 20 percent of black olive scales (Saissetia oleae). All ofthese are harmful to trees and other plants. Wasps and a few ants (Hymenop-tera) are next in importance as an element of the gnatcatcher's food, and amountto over 16 percent of the whole. * * * The only decidedly useful insects inany of the stomachs were 2 ladybird beetles {Coccinella t. californica) , which hadbeen eaten by P. californica.Observation of the foraging birds gives the impression that smallmoths (not mentioned in the report) must make up a large portion ofthe food.Behavior.?Though Professor Beal found the food of the two speciesof Polioptila to be essentially the same, their methods of obtaining itare not identical. The aerial activities which have earned for caeruleaits appropriate name "gnatcatcher" were rarely practiced by thevarious individuals of californica which I have watched. If they everobtained any of their food on the wing, it was usually while hovering,like a kinglet, to pick off an insect from a leaf or terminal twig. Asound of the snapping of the bill would occasionally give the impressionof flycatching at other times were the birds not actually in sight.Practically all their foraging consists of systematic search throughthe branches of shrubs. They do not seem to care for water, eitherfor drinking or bathing.A peculiarity of these birds is then reluctance to leave their accus-tomed surroundings. Neither orchard nor garden seems to offerinducement to exploration; when they reach the boundaries of theirarid, brushy habitat, they seldom go farther. Their feeding territorycovers but a few acres, and throughout the year the pair may ordinarilybe found at any time with very little search. However, I have notknown them to remain more than about a year, after which theymoved on to parts unknown.These gnatcatchers showed very noticeable individual differencesin temperament. The 1921 male, notable for his solicitousness andwatchfulness, was also most fearless and trustful in his attitude towardthe spectator and the camera. Others evinced varying degrees oftimidity and suspicion, but none showed any sign of hostility orresentment at these intrusions upon their family affairs, in markedcontrast to their actions toward trespassing birds or toward cats,
BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER 381
which they would scold vigorously whenever encountered at any timeof year. The anxiety of some of the birds increased as the time ap-proached for the young to leave the next, though their fear seemedto be for their offspring rather than for themselves. The female of1921, though sometimes distrustful, occasionally indicated a certaincuriosity by approaching silently to within arm's length or hoveringclose above one's head. In foraging, when not engaged in nesting,a pair usually pursued independent courses through the bushes,though remaining not far apart; one male, however, would alwaysclosely follow his mate from bush to bush.Voice.?The black-tailed gnatcatcher is less inclined to song thanis the western; in fact, I have never heard anything which could bedefinitely so called. The ordinary call note resembles that of caerulea,but it can be recognized by a rather querulous, mewing tone; thatof the female is especially thin and plaintive. On rare occasions, themale has been heard to utter a short, harsh note like that of theplumbeous gnatcatcher.Field marks.?Within the territory of this subspecies, it couldreadily be confused with only two other species, the western gnat-catcher and the bushtit, both of which resemble it in size, length oftail, and gray color. From the former it can be distinguished by itsdarker general coloration and narrower white tail edgings. Fromthe bushtit it differs in its longer bill, more slender form, white tailedgings (except in very worn plumage), and more restless movements.Enemies.?Mr. Hanna (1934) says: "It was not until May 25, 1933,that I found a nest of the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher * * * inthis vicinity parasitized by the Dwarf Cowbird," and adds: "It mustbe that the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher has not suffered from the cow-birds to any great extent in any locality, as Friedmann in his book
'The Cowbirds' fails to mention them as victims. In this localityone of the probable reasons for their escape has been due to theirusual habitat being on the dry bush-covered hillsides or dry washesbetween 700 and 2,000 feet elevation above sea level." On oneoccasion at Azusa I saw a nearly grown cowbird following and beingfed by a black-tailed gnatcatcher.Upon visiting one nest which then held eggs, I found a good-sizedalligator lizard (Gerrhonotus scincicauda) resting immediately besidethe nest while the male bird incubated, apparently unperturbed.The only inference I could draw was that the reptile was waitinguntij the eggs should be left unguarded. Probably with the returnof the female bird, one would have driven the lizard away while theother protected the eggs; however, I removed the intruder to preventany untoward happenings.
382 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMIn one case, three out of a brood of four disappeared within a fewdays after leaving the nest. The presence of a shrike in the vicinityat that time furnished a plausible reason for their disappearance.POLIOPTILA MELANURA LUCIDA van RossemSONORA GNATCATCHERThe gnatcatchers of central Sonora, southern Arizona, and south-eastern California have been given the above name by A. J. vanRossem (1931). In describing it he says: "Compared with Polioptilamelanura melanura of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, lucida is slightlysmaller in all dimensions and the bill is notably smaller; in color it isdecidedly paler below (often nearly white medially) and the flanks arevery much paler and less extensively gray. Females and young malesof lucida also lack much of the brown wash seen in the correspondingplumages of melanura."It is not known to differ in its habits from other races of the species.POLIOPTILA MELANURA PONTILIS van RossemSAN FRANCISQUITO GNATCATCHERThis seems to be an intermediate form, found only in central LowerCalifornia, originally described by Mr. van Rossem (1931) under thename P. m. nelsoni. In his description of it he says: "In color andsize nelsoni is intermediate between margaritae of the Cape Regionand californica of southwestern California and northwestern LowerCalifornia."As the name nelsoni was found to be preoccupied, Mr. van Rossemgave the poor bird the new name pontilis in the Proceedings of theBiological Society of Washington, vol. 44, July 15, 1931, page 99.It would seem to the author of these bulletins that the naming ofwhat appears to be a strictly intermediate form is undesirable andconfusing, as it increases the number of intermediate forms.REGULUS SATRAPA SATRAPA LichtensteinEASTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETHABITSMany years ago, a boy found on the doorstep the body of a tinyfeathered gem. Perhaps the cat had left it there, but, as it was a bit-ter, cold morning in midwinter, it is more likely that it had perishedwith the cold and hunger. He picked it up and was entranced withthe delicate beauty of its soft olive colors and with its crown of bril-liant orange and gold, which glowed like a ball of fire. In his eagernessto preserve it, he attempted to make his first birdskin. It made asorry-looking specimen, but it was the beginning of a life-long interest
EASTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET 383in birds, which has lasted for over a half century. Since then many awinter landscape in southern New England has been enlivened by thecheery little groups of kinglets, wandering through our evergreenwoods, bravely facing winter's storms and cold, for it is only at thatseason that we are likely to see them south of the Canadian Zone.The summer home is in the coniferous forests of the northern tierof States and in the southern Provinces of Canada. Ora W. Knight(1908) says that, in Maine, "pine, fir, spruce and hemlock woods, ormixed growth in which these trees predominate are their preference."Most observers say that they prefer the spruces. William Brewster(1888) found them breeding in Winchendon, Mass., in dense woodsof white pine and spruce. Based on my limited experience, golden-crowned kinglets seem to prefer the more open forests of more or lessscattered, second-growth spruces, rather than the dense forests ofmature growth. In these more open forests there are often a fewbalsam firs or white birches scattered through the spruces, but thepresence of spruces seems to be necessary for nesting purposes.In the Adirondack Mountains of New York, according to Aretas A.Saunders (1929a), this kinglet "lives in the coniferous forests, es-pecially in the tops of tall spruces. Spruce, hemlock, balsam, andtamarack all attract it, and it is seldom seen in summer in the hard-woods, and then only where spruces are near. On the AvalanchePass Trail I found it in second growth spruce, where the trees weredense but only ten or fifteen feet high."The golden-crowned kinglet is found in similar situations in themountains of western Massachusetts, in places where the spruceshave not been cut off. And Prof. Maurice Brooks writes to me:
"This is a permanent resident in the Appalachian spruce forests, themost notable thing about it being its extraordinary abundance, espe-cially late in summer. I recall one 10-day period spent in the CheatMountains when it seemed that kinglets were around us during almostevery daylight minute. The spruce tops swarmed with them, parentbirds and young of the year. In the same area, during subzero Jan-uary weather, the birds were still abundant, although I do not knowthat the same individuals occurred."Referring to northern Minnesota, Dr. Thomas S. Roberts (1932)says: "In nesting-time the Golden-crown makes its home in the densespruce and arbor vitae bogs so numerous in the northern woods."Spring.?As some golden-crowned kinglets spend the winter wellup toward the northern limits of their breeding range, the springmigration is seldom conspicuous and is not easily traced. Robie W.Tufts tells me that it is normally resident throughout the year nearWolfville, Nova Scotia, and begins "nest-building with great regu-larity about April 15th." But in some seasons it seems to be con-
384 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
spicuous by its absence, for he says: "In the spring of 1918 none ofthese birds was seen about their favourite haunts near Wolfville, inspite of the fact that a diligent search was made." On migration inNew England it is not confined to the coniferous woods, but may befound wherever there are trees and bushes, in the undergrowth indeciduous woods, in brushy thickets, in sprout lands, and even inorchards or the shrubbery in our gardens.Milton B. Trautman (1940) records a well-marked migration aroundBuckeye Lake, Ohio, saying: "The first spring arrivals occasionallyappeared in the first week in March, but usually they did not arriveuntil March 15 to 23, and it was not until after March 27 that thespecies could be daily encountered in small numbers. The dailynumbers rapidly increased after April 3, and at the height of springabundance, between April 9 and 21, between 25 and 150 birds wererecorded daily. During migrations the majority of individuals in-habited the brushier portions of woodlands, brushy thickets, weedyfence rows, and thickets of hawthorn and wild plum."Nesting.?Henry D. Minot (1877) was the first ornithologist todiscover the nest of the golden-crowned kinglet, on July 16, 1875, "ina forest of the White Mountains [New Hampshire],' which consistedchiefly of evergreens and white birches." The nest "hung four feetabove the ground, from a spreading hemlock-bough, to the twigs ofwhich it was firmly fastened; it was globular, with an entrance in theupper part, and was composed of hanging moss, ornamented with bitsof dead leaves, and lined chiefly with feathers. It contained sixyoung birds, but much to my regret no eggs."The most elaborate account of the nesting of this species is thatgiven by Mr. Brewster (1888), describing the three nests that hesecured, near Winchendon, Mass., during that season. The firstnest, taken June 29, "was placed in a tall, slender spruce {A. nigra),on the south side, within about two feet from the top of the tree, andat least sixty feet above the ground, suspended among the pendanttwigs about two inches directly below a short horizontal branch, sometwelve inches out from the main stem, and an equal distance from theend of the branch. The tree stood near the upper edge of a narrowstrip of dry, rather open woods bordered on one side by a road, on theother by an extensive sphagnum swamp." Externally, the nest variesin depth from 3.60 to 2.70, and in diameter from 4.20 to 3.00 inches,being irregular in outline.Brewster says:The top of the nest is open, but the rim is slightly contracted or arched on everyside over the deep hollow which contained the eggs. * * * The cavity isoblong, not round. The walls vary in thickness from 1.35 to .40. Outwardlythey are composed chiefly of green mosses [five species of Hypnum and one of
EASTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET 385
Frullania, added in footnote] prettily diversified with grayith lichens and Usnea,the general tone of the coloring, however, matching closely that of the surround-ing spruce foliage. The interior at the bottom is lined with exceedingly delicatestrips of soft inner bark and fine black rootlets similar to, if not identical with,those which invariably form the lining of the nest of the Black-and-yellow Warb-ler. Near the top are rather numerous feathers of the Ruffed Grouse, HermitThrush, and Oven-Bird, arranged with the points of the quills down, the tipsrising to, or slightly above, the rim and arching inward over the cavity, forming ascreen that partially concealed the eggs.The second nest, taken the same day, was in
?
a lonely glen on high land between two ridges. The ridges were covered withyoung white pines. The prevailing growth in the glen was spruce and hemlock,the trees of large size and standing so thickly together as to shut out nearly allsunlight from the ground beneath. The nest was on the west side of a sturdy,heavily limbed spruce (A. nigra) about fifty feet above the ground, twenty feetbelow the top of the tree, six feet out from the trunk, and two and a half feetfrom the end of the branch, in a dense cluster of stiff, radiating (not pendant)twigs, the top of the nest being only an inch below, but the whole structureslightly on one side of the branch from which its supports sprang. Above andon every side it was so perfectly concealed by the dense flakelike masses of sprucefoliage that it was impossible to see it from any direction except by parting thesurrounding twigs with the hand. From directly below, however, a small portionof the bottom was visible, even from the ground. The foliage immediately overthe top was particularly dense, forming a canopy which must have been quiteimpervious to the sun's rays, and a fairly good protection from rain also. Beneaththis canopy there was barely sufficient room for the birds to enter.This nest is similar to the other, though somewhat smaller androunder, and the lining "is wholly of the downy under feathers of theRuffed Grouse. These are used so lavishly that, radiating inwardfrom every side, they nearly fill the interior and almost perfectlyconceal its contents."Referring to the third nest, he says: "The position of the third nestis different from that of either of the others. Placed nearly midwaybetween two stout branches which in reality are forks of the samebranch, one above the other, and at the point in question about sixinches apart, it is attached by the sides and upper edges to the twigswhich depend from the branch above, while its bottom rests firmly ona bristling platform of stems which rise from the branch below."Mr. Brewster's lowest nest, the third, was 30 feet from the ground.Owen Durfee's experience, near Lancaster, N. H., was quite different;he says in his notes on nine nests: "The nests were all, with exceptionof two* in small spruces, most of our hunting being done in what wecalled 'pasture spruces'?really a second growth." Only one of thenests was up in the air, the average of the other eight being only 14feet. His highest nest was 46 feet from the ground, "in a 12 inchspruce, in tall, hard woods growth, with a few scattered evergreens."
386 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMHis lowest nest was only 8 feet from the ground. The only nestthat was not in a spruce was 18 feet up in a balsam fir.Ora W. Knight (1908) mentions a nest found near Bangor, Maine,that was only 6 feet from the ground, and says that most of thoselocated by him in inland localities were "nearer forty to fifty feet inelevation." Miss Cordelia J. Stanwood has sent me some voluminousnotes on the home life of the golden-crowned kinglet, near Ellsworth,Maine, where she finds them nesting in both black and white spruces.They begin nest-building in April, in spite of occasional snowstormsat that season, and she has found a nest about half finished on April 25.It requires about a month to complete the nest, in which the femaleapparently gathers the material and does all the building, while themale accompanies her and encourages her with song. She describesthe building process, as follows: "The kinglets selected for the roof oftheir cradle a heavy spruce limb with a dense tip; and the female,hopping down through the branch from twig to twig, attached herpensile nest to the sprays."The bird wove her spherical structure about herself much as thecaterpillar of the luna or cecropia moth weaves its cocoon aboutitself, except that the kinglet had to gather her materials. Thebird stood on a twig on one side of the space she had chosen for hernest and measured off her length, as far as the situation of the twigswould permit, by attaching bits of spider's silk and moss to the twigs.Thus she laid off the points for the approximate circle for the top ofthe nest. Then she spanned the space through the center of thecircle, roughly speaking from north to south, with spider's silk andmoss, forming a sort of cable, which later assumed the appearance of ahammock. After a time, when the bird came with moss or silk, shewould fly down upon the hammock as if to test its strength andlengthen it. At all times, however, she worked all over the nest fromleft to right, moving her beak back and forth as she secured the silkand moss and stretched the web from one point of attachment toanother. As soon as the hammock would support the bird, she stoodin the center and walked around from left to right. When thehammock was wide enough to admit of her sitting down, she modeledthe center of the suspended band by burrowing against it with herbreast, and making a kicking motion with her feet. Gradually sheembodied some of the twigs in the structure, as if for ribs, and oc-casionally she snipped off a spruce twig to use in shaping the globularnest. At last the bottom, or basketlike part, arose to meet the topof the nest and the industrious gold-crest was hidden from sight asshe labored."The creation was really a silken cocoon, in the walls of which wassuspended enough moss, hair, and feathers to render it a nonconductor
EASTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET 387
of heat, cold, and moisture. This primitive incubator was made ofthe same fine, dark yellow-green moss, Hypnum uncinatum, that seemscharacteristic of the habitations of the golden-crowned kinglet in thislocality, Usnea longissima, a long, fringelike lichen, and animal silk.More of the gray-green Usnea lichen was used in the hammock-likeband around the middle of the nest than in other parts of the well-made structure. The lining consisted of rabbit hair, I think, andpartridge feathers. The wall of the abode was all of an inch and ahalf thick, and the window in the roof measured an inch and a half indiameter."Nest-building starts early in Nova Scotia; Mr. Tufts tells me thathe found two nests just started on April 10, 1921. In order to deter-mine how many nests the kinglets would build and how many eggsthey would lay, if the nests were destroyed, he tried the experimentof taking three nests from each of two pairs in isolated groves. Hetook the three sets from one pair on May 26, June 11, and June 30,1915; and the other pair was robbed on May 27, June 15, and June29, 1917. Each pair laid nine eggs each in the first two nests andeight in the third. The third nest was a flimsy affair. The birdsmust have worked fast to have built these nests and laid the largesets of eggs in such short intervals.S. F. Blake (1916) found an interesting nest, in an unusual situa-tion, near Stoughton, Mass., of which he says:My attention was first attracted by the familiar call-notes of the birds comingfrom the edge of a rather close growth of Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) anddeciduous trees at the base of a low hill close to a little-travelled wood-road.Pushing in among the trees, I soon caught a glimpse of the female Kinglet beingpursued by a Black-and-White Warbler. The male soon came into view, andvery soon the female disappeared in the top of a red cedar about twenty feethigh. After a few minutes' wait I climbed a nearby tree and found her sittingon the nest. This was placed 18 feet 10 inches above the ground on the upperside of a small branch about a foot long, near the trunk and about a foot and ahalf from the top of the tree, rather firmly fastened and requiring some effortto dislodge.Eggs.?The golden-crowned kinglet lays large sets of its tiny eggs,from five to ten in number, perhaps most often eight or nine. Thenest is so small that tbey have to be deposited in two layers, proba-bly five in the lower and four in the upper layer in a set of nine; thatwas the arrangement in one of Mr. Brewster's (1888) nests. Hisdescription of the eggs is so good that I cannot improve upon it; ofthe 18 eggs, he says:The majority are more or less regularly ovate, but several are elliptical-ovatewhile two are very nearly perfectly elliptical-oval. The ground color variesfrom creamy white to exceedingly deep, often somewhat muddy, cream color.Over this light ground are sprinkled numerous markings of pale wood-brown,while at least three specimens have a few spots and blotches of faint lavender.
388 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMThe brown markings vary in size from the finest possible dots to rather largeblotches. In most of the specimens they are distributed pretty thickly over theentire shell, but in nearly all they are most numerous about the larger endswhere they form a more or less distinct wreath pattern, while in four or five(and these have the lightest ground color) they are nearly confined to the largerends, the remainder of the egg being sparsely marked. * * * In both setsthe whitest, most sparsely spotted eggs were the freshest, showing that they werethe last ones laid.The measurements of 50 eggs average 13.3 by 10.4 millimeters;the eggs showing the four extremes measure 15.0 by 10.5, 14.4 by10.7, 11.9 by 9.8, and 14.7 by 9.7 millimeters.Young.?Miss Stanwood (MS.) writes: "The young kinglets areabout as large as bumble bees when they come from the shell. Theyare blind and almost naked, save for a few tufts of fine, gray clown.At the approach of the parent birds, they raise their little, palpitatingbodies and open wide their tiny, orange-red mouths for food. Thesemouths are about the color of the meat of a peach around the stone.The veins showing through the thin skin give the bodies much thesame tone. At first the young are fed by regurgitating partly digestedfood; later moths, caterpillars, and other insects furnish their diet.They are very fond of spruce bud moths and caterpillars. A beautifultriple spruce was attacked by these pests and almost denuded of itsfoliage. I noticed the kinglets frequenting this tree a great deal.In a season or two, the foliage was as luxuriant as it had been in thepast. Such are the good offices performed by the golden-crownedkinglets and their young. The feet of the young are large andstrong for the size of their bodies. If a person attempts to lift onefrom the nest, the little fellow will tear the lining out before he willrelease his hold. Just before the feathers appear the young beginto preen, and after that spend much of the remainder of their timein the nest smoothing and oiling their plumage. The parent birdsremove all waste, depositing it far away from the little home, whichis kept clean and sweet.
"I have seen kinglets feeding young in the nest as late as the lastof June, but by the eighteenth or twentieth day of June, goldcrestfamilies are usually foraging in the trees. As late as the middle ofSeptember in 1912, I saw mature kinglets industriously feeding alarge family of young birds in a seedling grove."I can find no reference anywhere to the period of incubation or tothe duration of life in the nest.Plumages.?Miss Stanwood (MS.) says that the small nestlingshave "a few tufts of fine, gray down." The sexes are alike in thejuvenal plumage, which Ridgway (1904) describes as follows:"Pileum brownish gray or grayish olive, margined laterally with arather indistinct line of black; otherwise similar to adults, but hind-
EASTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET 389neck concolor with back, etc., the color more brownish olive, andtexture of plumage much looser." There is no orange or yellow inthe crown of either sex.The first winter plumage is acquired by a partial postjuvenal molt,involving all the contour feathers and the lesser wing coverts, butnot the rest of the wings or the tail. The molt begins early inAugust, and after its completion the young birds are practicallyindistinguishable from the adults of their respective sexes. Theyoung male has acquired the orange and yellow crown, borderedwith black, and the yoimg female has the yellow crown patch.There is apparently no spring molt, and wear is not very conspicuousuntil late in the season. Year-old birds and adults have a completepostnuptial molt beginning in July. The fall and winter plumage ismore brightly colored than the worn summer plumage, the upperpartsbeing more decidedly olivaceous, and the underparts are stronglysuffused with pale buffy-olive.Food.?No comprehensive analysis of the food of the golden-crowned kinglet seems to have been made, but it apparently consistsalmost entirely of insects, their larvae and eggs, and other forms ofminute animal life.These items are obtained in various ways from different sources,but mainly from trees and shrubs. The kinglet feeds largely on barkbeetles, scale insects, and the eggs of injurious moths and plant lice,which it obtains from the trunks, branches, and twigs of trees andbushes, mainly the coniferous trees.Edward H. Forbush (1907) writes: "At Wareham, on Dec. 25, 1905,I watched the Gold-crest hunting its insect food amid the pines. Thebirds were fluttering about among the trees. Each one would hoverfor a moment before a tuft of pine 'needles,' and then either alightupon it and feed, or pass on to another. I examined the 'needles'after the kinglets had left them, and could find nothing on them; butwhen a bird was disturbed before it had finished feeding, the sprayfrom which it had been driven was invariably found to be infestedwith numerous black specks, the eggs of plant lice. Evidently thebirds were cleaning each spray thoroughly, as far as they went."Again, he saw kinglets feeding in the pines near his home, mainlyon the trunks and the larger branches; they were feeding on the eggsof the aphids, which "were deposited in masses on the bark of thepines from a point near the ground up to a height of thirty-five feet.The trees must have been infested with countless thousands of theseeggs, for the band of Kinglets remained there until March 25, almostthree months later, apparently feeding most of the time on these eggs.When they had cleared the branches the little birds fluttered aboutthe trunks, hanging poised on busy wing, like Hummingbirds before
390 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
a flower, meanwhile rapidly pecking the clinging eggs from the bark."W. L. McAtee (1926) says: "If we may apply to eastern conditionsthe findings of a study of the species in California, we may be surethat the Kinglet consumes little if any vegetable food, and that itgets numerous spiders as well as a variety of small insects principallyof the hymenoptera, beetles, bugs, and flies. Moths, caterpillars, andsmall grasshoppers also are devoured. Forest pests taken are leafbeetles, leaf hoppers, plant lice, and scale insects." F. H. King (1883)says of nine specimens examined in Wisconsin, "two had eaten twelvesmall diptera; three, nine small beetles; one, five caterpillars; one asmall chrysalid, and three, very small bits of insects, too fine to beidentified." Junius Henderson (1927) says that it has been "seenfeeding on locusts in Nebraska." Miss Stanwood mentioned in hernotes that the kinglets, old and young, are very fond of the sprucebud moths and caterpillars, which are so destructive to the sprucesin Maine.Kinglets are expert flycatchers, taking small flying insects readilyon the wing. Some observers have expressed surprise at seeing king-lets feeding on the ground, but it is not a rare occurrence. Francis H.Allen tells me that, when feeding on the ground, it progresses bysurprisingly long hops. Miss Stanwood says in her notes that "thekinglet in winter finds considerable of his food on the snow under thetrees; he even went under branches partly submerged by the snowand fed on the melted places close to the base of the trunk."The golden-crowned kinglet has been observed apparently drink-ing the sap that flows from the fresh drillings of sap-sucking wood-peckers, but it may be that the birds are after the insects that arealso attracted to such places. Francis Zirrer, of Hayward, Wis., hassent me the following note on the subject: "During the flow of maplesap the woodpeckers, especially the hairy, occasionally tap a tree.On a warm day, especially toward the end of the flow, sap thickens,ferments, and attracts many insects, mostly flies and small beetles,of which many stick to the syrupy fluid. Noticing a number of smallfluttering forms in front of a tree trunk some 30 feet from the ground,I walked closer to investigate. To my surprise, there was a smallflock of kinglets picking insects from the bark of the tree. In thecourse of the same afternoon and the following days, I found manymore birds taking advantage of the bountiful supply; besides the twokinglets, woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, and a phoebe."Milton P. Skinner (1928), referring to the winter food of this king-let in North Carolina, writes: "Sometimes they hunt the openingblossoms of trees and shrubs to prey on the small insects attractedby the flowers, and quite often they look over the bases of the bunchesof loblolly and long-leaf needles for the tiny insects that hide there.
EASTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET 391In spite of their almost universal insect hunt in winter, I noticed oneGolden-crowned Kinglet fly over and take two bites from each one oftwo persimmon fruits on January 1, 1927."This is the only reference I can find to indicate that either thiskinglet or its westera race ever eats any vegetable food; this is strange,as the ruby-crowned kinglet takes a small amount of fruit and seeds.I have often seen golden-crowned kinglets foraging in the Japanesebarberry bushes about my house; the bushes were full of bright redberries, but I could not see that the kinglets ever touched any ofthem. They were probably feeding on some form of insect life, toosmall for me to see. Incidentally, I have noticed that none of thebirds seem to like these barberries, though the common, wild bar-berry is very popular.Behavior.?Golden-crowned kinglets are tame and confiding littlecreatures. They pay but little attention to the close presence ofhumans, and even come flitting about on the low branches or in thebushes near us, with beady little eyes glistening below their glowingcrowns, and frequently opening and closing their little wings withtheir characteristic quivering motion.Two quotations will suffice to illustrate their tameness and friendli-ness. A. H. Wood (1884) relates this experience with them while hewas on a boat in Michigan: "One morning we found our boat invadedby eight or ten of these birds. It was not long before they foundtheir way into the cabin, attracted there by the large number of flies,and at dinner time they caused no little amusement and some annoy-ance by perching on the heads of the passengers and on the variousdishes which covered the table. I caught flies, which they wouldreadily take from my hand with a quick flutter. I caught several,and even when in my hand, they manifested no fear, but lay quietand passive." Cynthia Church (1927) found them very friendly inher garden; she writes: "On October 15, Golden-crowns became sotame that when I followed them quietly they allowed me to approachthem and even to stroke them. Even when I patted and strokedtheir beautiful crest or parted their wings, they showed no fear.They even sat on my hands or lit on my coat. They were incrediblyfriendly."Voice.?The golden-crowned kinglet is no such brilliant singer as theruby-crowned, but it has a pretty little song at times. Aretas A.Saunders has given me the following description of it: "The song of thegolden-crowned kinglet is much less musical and pleasing than that ofthe ruby-crowned, yet it bears a certain resemblance. The song is intwo parts. The first part is a series of rather long, squeaky, very high-pitched notes, either all on the same pitch, or the pitch gradually
392 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
rising. It is similar to the beginning of the ruby-crowned song, buthigher pitched and with longer notes. My records show from two tonine notes in this part of the song. The second part is a series of veryrapid, loud, harsh notes, descending in pitch, so different from the firstpart that it hardly seems to belong to the same song or bird. Thereare from four to nine notes in this part of the song, and the drop inpitch to the last note is sometimes more than an octave. A fairlytypical song would be eeee, teeee, teeee, teeee, teeee, chititdtatiitup. Thepitch of fourteen records in my collection varies from F ' ' ' ' to D ' '
.
Individual songs vary considerably, especially in the last part.
"This song is rather rarely heard in the spring migration in April,but is commonly heard in June, or early July, on the breeding grounds.Twelve of my 14 records come from breeding birds in the Adirondack^,and the other two from migrating birds in Connecticut. In winterthe common call is like the first part of the song, but the notes areshorter and fainter, and so high-pitched that the sound is difficult formany people to hear."Francis H. Allen refers to the song in his notes as "a pleasing per-formance, beginning with a number of fine, high notes and containinga lower-pitched and mellow willy, willy, willy that is quite charming."On April 20, 1900, when my hearing was good, on the coast of Maine,I recorded in my notes a song of nine notes, of which I wrote that
"the first three notes are the same as their winter notes, rather faintand lisping, uttered slowly; the second three are on a higher key,louder and fuller toned; the last three notes are on the descendingscale, with increasing rapidity, but decreasing in volume, suggestingthe last part of the chickadee's song." Miss Stanwood (MS.) putsthe song partly into words, which are rather expressive, "zee, zee, zee,zee, zee, why do you shilly-shally."Her notes record the kinglets in song, occasionally as early as March15, regularly from the middle of April, on through the breeding season,once as late as August 26, and occasionally in fall, September 26 andOctober 12. Professor Brooks tells me that, curiously enough, hehas never heard the golden-crowned kinglet in full song in WestVirginia, in spite of the fact that it breeds there abundantly.Field marks.?The kinglet is one of our smallest birds, a tiny ballof fluffy plumage, olive and buffy-gray in color. The orange-and-yellow crown of the male and the yellow crown of the female, borderedwith black, are quite distinctive. The orange center in the male'screst does not always show, but flashes out under excitement. Youngbirds of both sexes have no orange or yellow in the crown, and mightbe mistaken for ruby-crowned kinglets, but the ruby-crowned has aconspicuous light eye ring which the young golden-crowned lacks.Enemies.?Probably only the smaller hawks and owls, such as the
EASTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET 393
sharp-shinned hawk and the screech owl, would be likely to botherwith such small fry as kinglets. The cowbird does not seem to havefound access to its well-concealed nest but once (Friedmann, 1934),and it has no competitors for its nesting site. Harold S. Peters (1936)lists one louse, Philopterus incisus, and one fly, Ornithoica confiuenta,as externpJ parasites on the eastern golden-crowned kinglet.James G. Needham (1909) shows some photographs of a number ofgolden-crowned kinglets that had become entangled in the hooks ofthe ripening heads on several clumps of burdocks; he says:They were visible in all directions, scores of them sticking to the tops of theclumps on the most exposed clusters of heads. The struggle had ended fatally forall that I saw, and its severity was evidenced by the attitudes of their bodies andthe disheveled condition of their plumage.I examined a number of the burdock heads to determine what attraction hadbrought the Kinglets within range of the hooks, and found insect larvae of twospecies present in considerable abundance. Most abundant were the seed-eatinglarvae of an obscure little moth (Metzgeria lapella), but the larvae of the well-known burdock weevil were also present in some numbers. Doubtless, it was inattempting to get these larvae that the Kinglets (mostly young birds) werecaptured.Winter.?In spite of its diminutive size, the golden-crowned kingletis a hardy little mite and spends the winter in much of its summerrange, though in reduced numbers, even as far north as Maine andNova Scotia. Miss Stanwood says in her notes: "The kinglets wereabundant during the severe winter of 1906 and 1907. When I wentto distribute my food supply for the birds near the boiling spring inthe woods, they followed me to the spring and back, sometimesgleaning from tree to tree, or hopping and running ahead of me overthe snow. Undoubtedly, in very cold weather many of the kingletsperish for lack of sufficient food to keep the vital fires burning. Thewinter of 1906 and 1907 was a cruel winter for the birds."With us, in Massachusetts, these little feathered gems are amongour most charming winter visitors, sometimes abundant but oftenscarce or entirely absent. We usually find them in the evergreenwoods, pines or hemlocks, or in the cedar swamps where they findmore protection from the cold winds. We see them flitting throughthe woods, gleaning from the lower branches, or hovering close to thetree trunks in search of food; sometimes we catch a glimpse of thegolden crown, as the bird forages upon the ground among the pineneedles. Often they form jolly little roving bands, with chickadees,a brown creeper or two, and perhaps a downy woodpecker, addingcheer to the dark and dreary winter woods. But they are not alwaysconfined to the coniferous woods; they frequent mixed woods andopen woods, where birches grow along the woodland paths, and areoften seen in orchards or in the shrubbery of our home grounds and792825?49 26
394 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMgardens. Wherever they are found they are always a welcomeaddition to our winter bird life.DISTRIBUTIONRange.?From southern Alaska and central Canada to Guatemala.Breeding range.?In so far as our present knowledge goes the breed-ing range of the golden-crowned kinglet is discontinuous. The west-ern breeding range is north to southern Alaska (Kodiak, KenaiPeninsula, Montague Island, Chitina Moraine, and Glacier) ; northernBritish Columbia (the Atlin region probably, and Fort Nelson)
;
central Alberta (Grand Prairie and Glenevis; single birds have beenrecorded from 40 miles below Athabaska Landing and Point La Brieon Lake Athabaska). East to central Alberta (Glenevis); westernMontana (Flathead Lake, Anaconda, Mystic Lake, and the mountainsnear Kirby) ; western Wyoming (Yellowstone National Park and SheepMountains); western Colorado (Walden, Montrose, and San JuanCounty); and central northern New Mexico (Cowles and PecosBaldy) . South to northern New Mexico (Pecos Baldy) ; southeasternArizona (White Mountains, Graham Mountains, and Santa CatalinaMountains); and southern California (San Bernardino and SanJacinto Mountains). West to California (San Jacinto Mountains)and north through the Sierra Nevada (Mount Breckenridge, TroutMeadows, and Yosemite Valley) and the Coast Range (Santa CruzMountains, Mount Sanhedrin, and Trinity Mountains); the coastforests of Oregon (Yaquina Bay and Garabaldi) ; Washington (PointChehalis, Ozette Lake, and Neah Bay); coastal region and islands ofBritish Columbia (Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island; Queen CharlotteIslands, and Porcher Island); and the coastal region of southernAlaska (Forrester Island, Sitka, Yakutat Bay, and Kodiak Island).The eastern range is north probably to central or northern Manitoba,since the species is a rare but fairly regular migrant through the RedRiver Valley and southern Manitoba; it has been reported to breedat Aweme, is a regular migrant but not breeding at Lake St. Martin,has been found in August and September at The Pas; a specimen wascollected in June on the lower Echimamish River and it has been foundin June of three different years near Churchill. It breeds north tocentral Ontario (Lake Nipigon, Abitibi Lake, Algonquin Park, andOttawa); southern Quebec (St. Margaret, Kamouraska, EsquimauxPoint, and Anticosti Island), and central Newfoundland (SouthBrook and Brigus). East to Newfoundland (Brigus and Placentia);Nova Scotia (Halifax and Barrington); Maine (Machias and Ells-worth); and rarely eastern Massachusetts (Lynn and Stoughton).South to Massachusetts, rarely (Stoughton); New York (CatskillMountains) ; northern Pennsylvania (Pocono Mountains and Warren)
;
EASTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET 395
southern Ontario (Port Dover and Lucknow); northern Michigan(Mackinac Island, Blaney, and Porcupine Mountains); possiblynorthern Wisconsin (recorded from Door and Vilas Counties in earlyJuly); and central Minnesota (St. Cloud). West to central Minne-sota (St. Cloud, Gull Lake, Cass County, and Island Lake) ; and Mani-toba (Aweme and The Pas, probably).Resident races occur from central Mexico to Guatemala.Winter range.?The golden-crowned kinglet is found in winternorth to southeastern Alaska (Sitka and Juneau); southern BritishColumbia (Comox, Vancouver, and Vernon) ; central Alberta (Glenevisand the Battle River Valley near Camrose) ; southern Saskatchewan(Nipawin); southeastern Wyoming, casually (Cheyenne); easternColorado (Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs); central Iowa(Ames) ; occasionally north to southeastern South Dakota (Yankton)and central eastern Minnesota (Minneapolis and Cambridge) ; south-ern Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee); southern Michigan (AnnArbor and Detroit); rarely southern Ontario (Harlow, Guelph, andToronto); central New York (Rochester and Geneva); easternMassachusetts (Boston); southern Maine (Auburn, Waterville,Dover-Foxcroft, and Calais) ; southern New Brunswick (Scotch Lakeand St. John); and central Newfoundland (Grand Falls). East toNewfoundland (Grand Falls, Brigus, and St. John's); southern NovaScotia (Yarmouth) ; southern Maine (Bath) ; and the Atlantic CoastStates to northern Florida (Jacksonville) . South to northern Florida(Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Apalachicola, and Pensacola); the Gulfcoast of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to southern Texas(Houston, San Antonio, San Angelo, and the Guadalupe Mountains)
;
northern Mexico (Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, and Hermosillo,Sonora); and southern California (Los Angeles and Santa Barbara).West to the valleys and coast of California (Santa Barbara, Fresno,San Francisco, and Seiad Valley) ; Oregon (Fort Klamath, YaquimaBay, and Portland) ; Washington (Grays Harbor, Tacoma, and Seat-tle) ; southwestern British Columbia (Victoria and Comox) and south-eastern Alaska (Craig and Sitka).The breeding ranges as outlined apply to the whole species, whichhas been divided into three subspecies or geographic races. Thetypical race, the eastern golden-crowned kinglet (R. s. satrapa) breedsfrom Manitoba and Minnesota eastward ; the western golden-crownedkinglet (R. s. olivaceus) breeds from Alaska, British Columbia, andAlberta south to southern California, Utah, and Colorado; theArizona golden-crowned kinglet (R. s. apache) breeds in Arizona andNew Mexico.Migration.?Some late dates of spring departure from its winteringgrounds are: Florida?Pensacola, March 30. Alabama?Anniston,
396 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMMarch 26. Georgia?Athens, April 12. South Carolina?Spartan-burg, April 23. Virginia?Lynchburg, April 17. District of Colum-bia?Washington, April 27. Pennsylvania?Pittsburgh, April 28.Massachusetts?Holyoke, May 9. Mississippi?Biloxi, April 5.Louisiana?New Orleans, March 26. Arkansas?Rogers, April 18.Missouri?St. Louis, May 6. Kentucky?Bowling Green, April 21.Illinois?Quincy, May 3. Ohio?Cleveland, May 12.Some early dates of spring arrival are: Vermont?Rutland, March 6.Quebec?Montreal, March 27. Illinois?Chicago, March 21. Michi-gan?Battle Creek, March 7. Minnesota?Northfield, March 20.South Dakota?Brookings, April 5. North Dakota?Argusville,April 4. Manitoba?Winnipeg, April 14. Montana?Columbia Falls,March 21. Washington?Pullman, March 20.Some late dates of fall departure are: Alberta?Belvedere, October22. Washington?Yakima, November 14. Montana?ColumbiaFalls, November 20. Wyoming?Laramie, November 12. Mani-toba?Aweme, November 16. North Dakota?Fargo, November 7.South Dakota?Faulkton, November 1. Nebraska?Lincoln, Novem-ber 27. Minnesota?St. Paul, November 22. Wisconsin?Ripon,November 30. Ontario?Gait, November 21. Quebec?Quebec,November 23. Prince Edward Island?October 25. Newfoundland
?
St. Anthony, October 17. Vermont?Wells River, November 8.Maine?Ellsworth, November 25.Some early dates of fall arrival are: Wyoming?Wheatland, Sep-tember 15. North Dakota?Fargo, September 27. NebraskaOmaha, October 7. Oklahoma?Tulsa, October 29. Texas?CorpusChristi, October 5. Wisconsin?North Freedom, September 19.Michigan?Grand Rapids, September 2. Indiana?Fort Wayne,September 22. Ohio?Columbus, September 27. Kentucky?Lexing-ton, September 13. Tennessee?Nashville, October 7. ArkansasJonesboro, October 4. Louisiana?Covington, October 18. Missis-sippi?Bay St. Louis, October 14. Massachusetts?Danvers, Sep-tember 16. Pennsylvania?Berwyn, September 24. District ofColumbia?Washington, September 6; a casual record, July 25, 1932.Virginia?Lexington, October 10. North Carolina?Louisburg, Octo-ber 10. South Carolina?Charleston, October 14. Georgia?Atlanta,October 9. Florida?New Smyrna, October 18.Few kinglets are banded but one record is available to indicatemigration. A bird banded at Elmhurst, Long Island, N. Y., onNovember 5, 1931, was found dead at Suwanee, Ga., about January 9,1933.Casual records?In the Bermudas, one was collected in the spring of1883; and on November 5, 1928, one was noted on shipboard 140miles east of Cape Charles, Va.
WESTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET 397Egg dates.?California: 8 records, April 9 to June 19.Labrador: 3 records, June 8 to June 18.New Brunswick: 14 records, May 21 to June 17; 9 records, May 21to May 27.Washington: 17 records, April 15 to August 1; 9 records, May 1to May 20, indicating the height of the season.REGULUS SATRAPA OLIVACEUS BairdWESTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETHABITSThis subspecies occupies a wide breeding range, from the RockyMountains to the Pacific coast and from southern Alaska, south ofthe peninsula, to southern California and northern New Mexico. Itdiffers but slightly in appearance from the eastern bird, being morebrightly colored above, more greenish or more olivaceous, and havingshorter wings and tail and a more slender bill. It seems to be con-fined, in the breeding season at least, to the coniferous forests of tallfirs and Douglas spruce. Samuel F. Rathbun tells me that he findsit an abundant bird throughout western Washington, from theCascade Mountains to the Pacific, and "from tidewater up to analtitude of 4,500 feet in the mountains." Farther south it breedsat higher elevations as far south as the Boreal Zone extends, as inthe San Jacinto Mountains in southern California. In northernNew Mexico, according to Mrs. Bailey (1928), it breeds in the Sangredo Cristo Mountains at elevations from 9,800 to 11,500 feet.While out with Mr. Rathbun near South Tacoma, Wash., D. E.Brown showed us some attractive country, where he and J. H. Bowleshad been most successful in finding the nests of the western golden-crowned kinglet. It was smooth, level land, with a fine parklikegrowth of firs and cedars scattered about; the two or three localspecies of firs were the most abundant trees, growing to perfection inthe open, where they were well branched down to the ground; thelargest firs were magnificent specimens, reminding me of our easternNorway spruces with their downward-sweeping branches; it is inthese larger trees that the kinglets prefer to build their nests in thependant sprays.Aretas A. Saunders tells me that in the mountains of Montanathere are three types of forest, spruce, fir, and lodgepole pine, and thatthe golden-crowned kinglets are confined to the spruce forests andthe ruby-crowned kinglets to the Douglas firs.Nesting.?Mr. Rathbun (MS.) writes, referring to the vicinity ofSeattle: "In its time for nesting this kinglet appears to have quite anextended period. We have seen it carrying material for its nest as
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early as April 4 ; on this occasion the bird was gathering bits of greenmoss from a decayed log, which would indicate the earlier stage ofconstruction; and we have a record of unfledged young in the neston May 17. We also have a record of a nest with eggs as late asAugust 1; but we are of the opinion that the great majority of thebirds nest, in this locality, between the middle of May and the middleof July ; and there is little doubt that many raise two broods of youngduring the season.
"It is partial to certain types of coniferous trees in which to placeits nest, those whose limbs have a decidedly drooping foliage ; evidentlythis is not only for concealment, but it affords protection from theelements. The nest may be located at various heights, the neststhat I have found ranging from 9 to 45 feet above ground; and wehave no doubt that many are placed even higher, in which case theywould be difficult to detect. In the larger trees the nest will beplaced quite near the extremity of the limb, making it very difficultto secure; but on occasions a nest is found in some tree of small size,not far from the trunk and at but little height above ground."He describes a nest found on June 8, 1912: "This nest was at aheight of 14 feet, on the under side and near the extremity of one ofthe lower limbs of a good-sized fir tree, situated on the edge of alarge open space in the forest. It was attached to four very smalldrooping twigs that grew from one of the laterals of the main branch,the sides of the nest being firmly bound thereto. In shape it issomewhat round, excepting its upper surface, and is made outwardlyof small pieces of green moss and lichens, much of the latter beingused in the bottom; with both of these materials are interwovenbits of fine dead grasses and fir and hemlock needles, all firmly boundby plant fibers of a soft character and some spider webs; the wallsare three-quarters of an inch in thickness; the top of the nest at theopening is somewhat arched over or constricted, as if its edges weredrawn together. The interior has a thick lining of the softest ofvegetable .fibers, into which- are neatly woven many downy feathersof small size. Outside height 3 inches, outside diameter 3K inches;inside diameter 1% inches, diameter at the opening 1 inch, and depthinside 1% inches."Nests described by others were, in the main, similar to the above.They have been found at lesser and at greater heights from the groundthan the figures given by Mr. Rathbun; Dawson and Bowles (1909)say "from eye-level to fifty feet." What few nests I have seen areless globular than those of the eastern bird, flatter on top and moreopen at the top. Some nests are lined with cow's or deer's hair,or with the feathers of various small birds or of grouse or even poultry.Eggs.?The set of eggs laid by the western golden-crowned kinglet
ARIZONA GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET 399may consist of anywhere from five to eleven, but eight and nine arethe commonest numbers; sets of four are probably incomplete, andany numbers larger than nine are uncommon or very rare. Theeggs have very frail shells. They are indistinguishable from thoseof the eastern race. The measurements of 40 eggs average 13.5 by10.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 14.8by 11.0, 14.5 by 11.4, and 12.5 by 10.0 millimeters.Food.?Professor Beal (1907) has this to say about the food of thewestern golden-crowned kinglet in California: "Only 9 stomachs havebeen examined, but these in the nature of their contents are so similarto those of the ruby-crown that statements applicable to the latterare almost certain to apply as well to this species. No vegetablematter was found in any of the 9 stomachs, and the insects belongto the same orders and were taken in essentially the same proportionsas by the other species."The behavior, voice, and other habits of the western bird seem to besimilar to those of the eastern golden-crowned kinglet. Mr. Rathbuntells me that, in western Washington, after the breeding season haspassed, the adults with their broods wander over almost the entireregion. During the autumn months there is a movement from thehigher altitudes to the lower, and the birds become very commonthroughout the lowlands, always found associated with individualsof their own species, and occasionally with some of the small arborealspecies that likewise are winter residents.REGULUS SATRAPA APACHE JenksARIZONA GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETHABITSRandolph Jenks (1936) has given the above name to the kingletsthat breed in the White Mountains and adjacent ranges in east-central Arizona. After considerable discussion of its distribution andhabitat, and a detailed description of it, he sums up its characters asfollows:
"It differs from R. r. olivaceus, its closest geographical counterpart,by being a grayer bird, having a noticeable, wide gray, dorsal nuchalband, having decidedly longer wings, tail, and bill, and having adeeper and more richly colored central pileum. It differs from R. r.satrapa in having a wide gray dorsal nuchal band, a much longer,more slender bill, and a much more deeply colored central pileum.Finally, it differs from R. r. clarus by being a considerably grayerbird, having a wide gray dorsal nuchal band, and having longer wings,tail, and bill."Probably it does not differ materially in its haunts and habits fromother adjacent races of the species.
400 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMKEGULUS CALENDULA^CALENDULA (Linnaeus)EASTERN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETHABITSThe ruby-crowned kinglet is not brilliantly colored, for it is cladin soft olive and gray, but it is a dainty little bird with attractivemanners; only when it shows its red crown-patch under excitement isthere any brilliancy in its plumage, but when it bursts into its mar-velous song it ranks as one of our most brilliant songsters. What itlacks in color it makes up for in music.It ranges much farther north in summer and goes farther south inwinter than the golden-crowned kinglet, breeding from northwesternAlaska down through the Rocky Mountains to Arizona and NewMexico, and in eastern Canada as far south as Nova Scotia. Thereare also breeding records for Michigan and Maine and indicatedbreeding in Massachusetts.I found the ruby-crowned kinglet breeding in some very attractivehillside woods back of Bay of Islands, Newfoundland. It was ratheran open tract of mixed woods consisting mostly of fir balsams, withsome red and white spruces, larches, and white pines and a sprinklingof canoe birches, black birches, and mountain-ash. Amelanchierand Rhodora were in bloom, and the blossoms on the Arbutus werelarger and whiter than we see them at home. The kinglets were infull song, adding much to the beauty of their surroundings.Dr. Paul Harrington writes to me that, in the vicinity of Toronto,Ontario, "the ruby-crowned kinglet is a typical bird of the blackspruce bogs, and it is only on rare occasions that this bud is foimd outof these regions in the breeding season."Bagg and Eliot (1937) record the almost certain breeding of thiskinglet at Savoy, Mass. William J. Cartwright had seen the kingletsfeeding their young in a grove of spruce at the top of a hill on July 5,1915; there was a flock of about 20, including old and young, evidentlytwo families. On July 19, 1920, he again found six in the same groveof spruces. And Mr. Bagg adds: "Visiting this hill-top with Mr.Cartwright early on July 3, 1932, Mr. H. E. Woods and I both had thethrill of seeing a Ruby-top feed an out-of-the-nest fledgling and in theact erect its crown-spot. None, however, could be found on June 11,1933, and the old spruces are dying and fast being removed by theState Forest authorities." (See also Bagg, 1932, p. 486.)The ruby-crowned kinglet undoubtedly breeds more or less rarelyin Maine, where the dense woods of mixed spruces and fir balsamoften extend quite down to the coast. Ora W. Knight (1908) mentionswatching a pair building a nest in deep woods of this type nearOrono.
EASTERN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET 401Aretas A. Saunders tells me that, in Montana, the ruby-crownedkinglet is confined to the forests of Douglas fir, while the golden-crowned kinglet inhabits the spruce forests.Spring.?The spring migration of the ruby-crowned is more con-spicuous than that of the golden-crowned kinglet. It has muchfarther to go, as it winters farther south and breeds farther north. Itsings on migration, not the full, rich song that one hears on its northernbreeding grounds, but pleasing enough to attract attention. Ittravels singly or in small groups, sometimes as many as 20 or more,and is often associated with migrating warblers. Throughout most ofthe United States it occurs mainly as a migrant in spring and fall. InMassachusetts it passes through in April and the first half of May.Then we need not look for it in coniferous woods only, for it is likelyto be found almost anywhere; its favorite haunts are the swampythickets along streams, or around ponds or bogs; but it is sometimesseen in the trees and shrubbery about our houses and gardens; andwhen we see it pouring out its charming song among the apple blossomsin the orchard, then we enjoy one of the greatest delights of the springmigration.In Ohio the first arrivals come early in April, but Milton B. Traut-man (1940) says that, at Buckeye Lake, "the species remained un-common until mid-April, when the numbers rapidly increased, andfrom April 20 to May 10 the greatest daily numbers, 15 to 40, wereattained. As many as 60 a day were noted during large flights. Thelast transients were seen between May 14 and 18. * * * As withthe Golden-crowned Kinglet, this species chiefly inhabited woodlands,thickets, and brushy fence rows, and in such situations was foundmost frequently where there were dense clumps of hawthorn, wildplum, honey locust, and osage orange. The bird appeared to be lessnumerous in this area than it was in other localities of similar size incentral Ohio; it was decidedly less numerous than it was in localitieswhich contained many conifers."Courtship.?This seems to consist mainly of the display betweenrival males of the flaming red crest, which is usually partially con-cealed or at least restricted by the surrounding dull feathers of thecrown, but which can be uncovered or perhaps erected in the ardor ofcourtship or in the anger of combat. John Burroughs (Far and Near,pp. 178-179) thus describes such rivalry between two males: "Theybehaved exactly as if they were comparing crowns, and each extollinghis own. Their heads were bent forward, the red crown patch un-covered and showing as a large, brilliant cap, their tails spread out,and the side feathers below the wings were fluffed out. They did notcome to blows, but followed each other about amid the branches,
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uttering their thin, shrill notes, and displaying their ruby crowns tothe utmost."It would not be surprising if rivalry in song were also one of the fea-tures in the contest for supremacy.Nesting.?So far as I can learn, the nests of the ruby-crowned king-let are always built in coniferous trees, generally in spruces, sometimesin firs, and more rarely in some of the western pines. They are placedat various heights from the ground, from 2 to 100 feet; a number ofnests have been found at 50 or 60 feet, many between 15 and 30, andcomparatively few below 15 feet. Winton Weydemeyer (1923)reports a Montana nest in an unusual location; it "was about fiftyfeet from the base of a partly fallen spruce, * * * fourteen feetfrom the ground, and eighteen inches from the end of a seven-footbranch extending downward from the trunk."Most of the nests reported have been attached to the pendant twigsbeneath the branch of a spruce, wTell concealed among the twigs,partially or wholly pensile, and usually near the end of the branchwhere the foliage is thickest; but very rarely the nest may be placedon a branch; W. L. Sclater (1912) states, probably on the authority ofDenis Gale, who found a number of nests in the mountains of Colorado,that the nests are'"sometimes simply saddled on a horizontal bough."The nest that I found in Newfoundland was only 8 feet from theground in a spruce, suspended between two drooping branches, orrather large twigs; the tree stood in a rather open situation; it con-tained no eggs on June 5, but Edward Arnold collected a set from itlater. The lowest nest reported was found by Maj. Allan Brooks(1903) in the Cariboo District of British Columbia; it was "in a smallspruce not four feet high; the nest was close to the stem and abouttwo feet from the ground; it was a very deep cup, almost a verticalcylinder." And at the other extreme, Dr. Mearns (1890) records anest in the Mogollon Mountains in Arizona that was "attached tothe end of a horizontal branch upwards of a hundred feet above theground," in a spruce. John Swinburne (1890) found a nest in theWhite Mountains of Arizona, at an altitude of "about 8500 to 9000feet," that "was placed in a bunch of cones at the end of a smallbranch, in a spruce-fir tree, at an altitude of about sixty or seventyfeet from the ground. * * * The nest was completely hidden by thefir cones surrounding it, and was placed about four feet out from thestem of the tree."Dr. Paul Harrington, of Toronto, writes to me that he found a nestof the ruby-crowned kinglet, at Chapleau on June 10, 1937, 30 feetfrom the ground in a black spruce on the border of a bog, and says:"I was first attracted to the spot by the agitated male, which sangfrom close range. Whenever I came near the nesting tree the bird
EASTERN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET 403became agitated, even at a distance of 100 yards. I found the bird toact in this manner near another nest, which contained nine incubatedeggs. On numerous occasions I have observed the male to act inthis manner and believe that it is a regular nesting characteristic.The nest found June 10 was a perfect example of the utmost in birdarchitecture, a compact structure of moss, lined thickly with rabbitfur and feathers, and, although globular in shape, was in no way semi-pensile, but really a deep, cup-shaped structure. All the nests I haveseen have been placed near the top clump of needles, straddled onsmall branches adjoining the trunk and exceptionally well concealedfrom the ground."Most descriptions of nests give the impression (and what few nestsI have seen confirm it) that they are made mainly of green mosses,such as Cladonia, Hypnum, and Parmelia, gathered from fallen logsand trees, mixed with the long, green tree-lichen, Usnea longissima.But careful studies of nests have shown that much other materialis often, if not regularly, used. Mr. Weydemeyer (1923), for examplegives the following good description of a nest in Montana:In color, the nest looked much like the surrounding spruce foliage. In generalappearance, it resembled an elongated Wright Flycatcher's nest constricted atthe top. The cup was between four and four and one-half inches deep, and twoand one-half inches wide at the center, narrowing toward the top to form a circularopening not more than an inch and a quarter in diameter.* * * Thistle down, cotton from the catkins of the aspen, and small feathersmade up a large part of the body of the nest. The outside was thickly coveredwith finely shredded inner bark of aspen, a few blades of dry grass, and groundand tree mosses, with a surface covering of grayish lichens and a few smallspruce twigs.The interior of the nest was thickly lined with feathers. The sides were coveredwith body feathers of the Canadian Ruffed Grouse, arranged with the points ofthe quills down and covered by the tips of the feathers below. The tips of theuppermost feathers curved slightly inward just below the opening of the nest. Atthe bottom was a thick covering of breast feathers of the female mallard.With the exception of the feathers forming the inner lining, the various materialscomposing the nest were strongly bound together by an intricate and extensivenetwork of extremely fine fibers from insect cocoons. The coarser material on theoutside of the nest was also held together by stiff porcupine hairs, while the bottomwas further strengthened with several long horsehairs. Thus, though the nestwas unusually soft and quite yielding to the touch, it was nevertheless stronglyheld in shape.The nests are almost always pensile, or semipensile, and usuallypartly attached to surrounding twigs. They are generally roughlyglobular in shape, though somewhat flattened on the top, measuring3 or 4 inches in both height and diameter, but sometimes elongateddownward to 5 or 6 inches. The opening above seems to vary from1% to 2 inches in diameter; the internal depth varies from 1% to 3 or 4
404 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMinches, but the cavity is usually deep enough completely to concealthe incubating bird.A. D. Henderson tells me that the ruby-crowned kinglet is an abun-dant breeder at Belvedere, Alberta, "building its nest usually in a slimspruce in a muskeg. The nest is very difficult to see, and is usuallyfound by watching the birds go back to it, when the female comes offto feed. If the exact location of the nest is not seen, but its presenceis suspected, every nearby spruce is rapped with a stick; and when theone with the nest is struck, the sitting female drops like a bullet towithin a few feet from the ground. I have seen one nest of the ruby-crowned kinglet only 5 feet from the ground and another 45 feet up;ten other nests ranged from 7 to 25 feet up."Eggs.?The ruby-crowned kinglet lays 5 to 11 tiny eggs, closelypacked in its little nest; sets of four are probably incomplete, fromseven to nine are the commonest numbers found, and any larger num-bers are uncommon or very rare. The eggs are so much like those ofthe golden-crowned kinglet that the two are practically indistinguish-able. They vary in shape from ovate to oval or rounded oval. Theground color is pale buffy white, dirty white, or clear white. The eggis more or less evenly covered with very fine dots or small spots ofreddish brown or dull brown; sometimes these markings are concen-trated around the larger end, and sometimes they are so faint that theeggs appear immaculate. The measurements of 40 eggs average 13.7by 10.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 14.8by 10.9, 14.0 by 11.4, 11.9 by 10.6, and 13.5 by 9.8 millimeters.Young.?The period of incubation does not seem to have beenlearned, but it is probably the same as that of the European goldcrest,12 days, and the young probably remain in the nest for about the samelength of time under normal circumstances. Incubation is apparentlyperformed wholly by the female, but both parents feed the young inthe nest, and for some time after they leave it. J. Dewey Soper (1920)watched a pair of these kinglets feeding their young, while he was inthe tree near the nest and again from the top of a ladder within 3 feetof it; he writes:During the half hour which I clung to the tree the male visited the nest with foodthree times and the female twice. The former upon deposition of the food vacatedthe nest promptly but the female on the contrary, often remained with the younguntil the return of her mate, when she then slipped quietly away. In this mannerthe young were left alone for certain periods but sheltered again for longer oneswhen the female returned. * * *The detention of the female at the nest I observed, was due to her habit ofregularly cleaning the nest of all the sac-like excrement; due to the rapid digestionof the hungry infants, her obligations in this respect seemed never to cease. Thematter was probed for with scrupulous care, some consumed by her, and theremainder dropped overboard at some distance from the nest. In this the male
EASTERN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET 405
never assisted. Candor bids me remark however, that his tireless assiduity inharvesting for the young more than offset this disparity. * * *With my face only a couple of feet distant from the nest the pair continuedtheir work scarcely conscious of my presence. True, at first they hovered aboveme with sweet queries in their throats and entered the nest from the oppositeside of the bough but soon this discretion was forsaken for perfect freedom.Twice, the male warbling an undertone alighted within two feet of my hand onthe supporting guy rope of the ladder. A pretty performance and employedonly by the male was to flit from the nest and become suspended on whirring wingsbefore me, like a hummingbird before a flower.Plumages.?Young ruby-crowned kinglets, in juvenal plumage,look very much like young goldencrowns, but their coloration isdarker and they show the light eye ring instead of the superciliarystripes. Ridgway (1904) described the young bird, in first plumage,as "similar to the adult female, but upper parts browner (nearly hairbrown), wing-bands tinged with brownish buffy, under parts lessyellowish, and texture of plumage more lax."The postjuvenal molt, accomplished before the bird migrates, isincomplete, involving the contour plumage and the wing coverts,but not the rest of the wings or the tail. This produces a first winterplumage which is practically indistinguishable from that of the adultin each sex. The young males usually assume the scarlet vermilioncrown patch, but in some cases it is more nearly orange in color. Somemales in full song in spring have no vestige of the crown patch.The spring plumage is acquired by wear, with sometimes the renewalof a few feathers. A complete postnuptial molt occurs late in summer.Fall birds, in fresh plumage, are more brightly colored than springbirds, more olive above and more buffy below.There has been some discussion in the past as to whether the femaleever has a red or an orange crown patch, but I believe it is now agreedthat she does not. Specimens labeled as females may have beenwrongly sexed. But it may be that, as in some other species, a veryold female may assume, at least partially the plumage of the male.The reported orange or yellow crown patch in the young maleseems to be very rare, and it has been suggested that this color maychange later to the usual bright red, this suggestion is strengthenedby the fact that the specimens showing this yellowish crown weretaken in fall; however, this matter still remains to be settled.Food.?Professor BeaPs (1907) analysis of the contents of the stom-achs of 294 ruby-crowned kinglets, although taken in California, willprobably give a very fair idea of the food of the species elsewhere.The food consisted of 94 percent animal matter, "insects, spiders, andpseudoscorpions?minute creatures resembling microscopic lobsters,"and 6 percent vegetable matter, fruit and seeds. "Hymenoptera, inthe shape of wasps, and a few ants appear to be the favorite food, as
406 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMthey aggregate over 32 percent of the whole." Hemiptera make up26 percent of the diet, including assassin bugs, lace bugs, leafbugs,leafhoppers, jumping plant-lice, plant-lice, and scale insects. Beetleswere eaten to the extent of 13 percent, only 2 percent of which werethe useful ladybirds and the remainder all more or less harmful.Butterflies, moths, and caterpillars were eaten rather sparingly,aggregating only 3 percent of the whole. Flies amounted to 17percent, and spiders and pseudoscorpions made up an additional2 percent.The small amount of vegetable food was divided as follows: Fruit,principally elderberries, less than 1 percent, weed seeds 0.01 percent,and miscellaneous matter, including seeds of poison-oak and leaf galls,over 4 percent.Dr. George F. Knowlton (MS.) lists the ruby-crowned kinglet amongthe birds that eat the beet leafhopper in Utah; five birds examinedhad eaten two nymphs and two adults.Milton P. Skinner (1928) gives the following account of the feedinghabits of this kinglet in North Carolina in winter:During the winter, they depend largely on small insects for food. At timesthey are on the ground amid the fallen leaves, searching herbaceous plants lessthan a foot high, or on the twigs of low bushes or shrub oaks, but often on thethree species of pines searching the trunks, limbs, twigs, and the bunches ofneedles. When hunting the clusters of pine needles, the kinglets search carefullyat the base of each needle and in the pockets between the needles, frequentlyswinging back down below the clusters, and sometimes hovering in mid-air onfast-beating wings before the clusters. One kinglet that searched the tufts ofneedles appeared to catch an insect every five or six seconds as long as I watchedit, and another one found something to eat on every four inches of pine limb thatit searched. Sometimes the Ruby-crowned Kinglets hunt insects in the cedars,hollies, gums and dogwoods. In this limb and twig hunting, they depend chieflyon picking insects from the bark, or on catching those that fly from the bark.But many of these birds perch on limbs and dart on insects that attempt to flypast them. Sometimes the Ruby-crowns collect dogwood berries from theground and eat them, but reject the seeds probably, and occasionally they take afew sumac berries. More often they consume cedar berries, both pulp and seeds,and some of the pulp from wild persimmons.Behavior.?The above account of the feeding habits of this kingletby Mr. Skinner gives a good idea of its behavior anywhere, for theconstant search for food is always the main activity of this busy littlebird. Mr. Skinner adds: "When they fly, these kinglets show apeculiar, jerky, undulating flight that is more or less characteristicof them."Except during the breeding season, the ruby-crowned kinglet is asociable bird, being seen on migrations and in winter loosely associatedwith various other birds, such as warblers, bluebirds, titmice, nut-hatches, creepers, golden-crowned kinglets, as well as with individuals
EASTERN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET 407
of its own species. It is probably some community of interest or somesimilarity in foraging ground, rather than any special attachment foreach other or desire for company, that brings together these looseassociations of very different birds. There is no apparent flockinginstinct among them; each species, and in fact each individual, actsindependently in pursuit of its special line of activity. This kingletis also a tame and unsuspicious little bird, not easily frightened andeasily approached.W. E. Clyde Todd (1940) calls attention to certain differences inthe behavior of our two kinglets: "The Ruby-crown is by all odds themore active, nervous, and irascible of the two, as it is also the moremusical. It does not manifest the same partiality for conifers, and italso tends to keep nearer the ground. It has a characteristic way offlirting its wings with a sudden jerking motion; otherwise its actionswhile exploring the trees and bushes for its minute insect food arewarbler-like."Voice.?For its remarkable song the ruby-crowned kinglet is justlyfamous. Those who have not heard it in its full richness on thebreeding grounds cannot appreciate it, for we seldom hear the full songon migration even in spring. The remarkable part of the song is thegreat volume of sound that issues from the tiny throat in the latterpart of the performance, much greater than would seem possible fromsuch a small bird. Much has been written in praise of it. BradfordTorrey (1885) says: "The song is marvelous,?a prolonged and variedwarble, introduced and often broken into, with delightful effect, by awrennish chatter. For fluency, smoothness, and ease, and especiallyfor purity and sweetness of tone, I have never heard any bird-songthat seemed to me more nearly perfect."Aretas A. Saunders has sent me the following description of thesong: "The song of the ruby-crowned kinglet is of three distinctparts. It begins with four to eight high-pitched, rather squeaky notes.This is followed by a rapid chatter of five to ten notes, often a fulloctave lower than the first notes, and usually rising slightly in pitch.The third part is loudest and most musical. It consists of a 3- or4-note phrase repeated two to seven (commonly three or four) times.In this phrase the last note is highest, loudest, and strongly accented.The whole song then is like eee-tee-tee-tee-too-too-tu-tu-ti-ta-tidaweet-tidaweet-tidaweet.
"1 have 22 records of this song. In 16 of them the drop between thefirst and second parts is exactly one octave. Most of the songs beginon C " ", but some on B " ' or C# " ". The complete range inpitch is from C# ' ' ' ' to B ' ', one tone more than an octave.
408 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
"It is quite common to hear the bird sing this song through two orthree times without a pause. At other times it may sing the last partof the song only."He says that all the breeding birds of this species that he heard inMontana sang a somewhat different song from that of the easternbirds: "The songs of eastern and western birds are alike in the firsttwo parts, but in the third and loudest part they are very different, thewestern bird singing whdytay, whdtay, whdytay, whdtay, with the accentstrongly on the first note, rather than the last. I have heard songslike those of the eastern bird from migrating individuals in Montana,and Weydemeyer has reported a number in northwestern Montanawith the eastern song."Weydemeyer (1923) describes a very elaborate and probably avery unusual song, as follows:The first two parts were the same as in the usual song, but the final notes werequite different and much more pleasing. The song sounded something like this:Kezee kezee, zeek, zeek, eek, eek, eek, eek, chiva, chiva, chiva, chiva, chiva, chiva,chiva, chiva-lete! te-telete! te-telete! te-telete! te-telete! Nearly every day thatsummer and fall, except during the molting season, this song, or a portion of it,was heard in the flat. As the nesting season approached, the song was not sooften heard, and usually when it was, only the last part was given. During Aug-ust it was seldom heard; by September, the last part was heard occasionally;and by the middle of that month the song was again given as in the spring.In 1909 in southern Labrador, and again in 1912 in Newfoundland,when my hearing was only fairly good, I evidently missed the high-pitched first part of the song, and wrote down the other, louder partsas toot, toot, toot, peabody, peabody, peabody, or the latter part as liberty,liberty, liberty, the phrases often repeated more than three times;again I wrote the latter part in French as toute suite, toute suite,toute suite! I also recorded an alarm note, a loud pen, peu, almost asloud as the similar note of some thrushes.Dr. Harrison F. Lewis (1920) recorded five types of song-endings,as heard from migrating birds near Quebec during the season of 1920,which he classified as follows:1. wud-a-wee't, wud-a-weit, etc. (3 syllables, accent on third), 1 record.2. pul-4-cho, pul-6-cho, etc. (3 syllables, accent on second), 2 records.3. jim-in-y, jim-in-y, etc. (3 syllables, accent on first), 50 records.4. you-eit, you-e4t, etc. (2 syllables, accent on second), 1 record.5. p6-to, pS-lo, etc. (2 syllables, accent on first), 9 records.The third song-ending seems to have been by far the commonest,and agrees very closely with what I heard on the breeding grounds.The fifth is much like the common call of the tufted titmouse. FrancisH. Allen's notes for August 17, 1928, at Matamek, Quebec, state:
"I heard a puzzling incoherent song which I soon traced to a youngruby-crowned kinglet. The song was a long-continued succession of
EASTERN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET 409
short phrases, resembling somewhat the fall song of a young songsparrow, but having a suggestion of the full song of its own species."The ruby-crowned kinglet's song period is spread out, more or lesscontinuously, from early in spring until quite late in fall, with somecessation during the period of greatest nesting activity and during themolting season. It sings during both migrations, but much morefrequently and more fully in spring; the fall songs are not so regularlyheard and are more fragmentary. In Frederic H. Kennard's notes, Ifind records of the song as early as March 27 and as late as October16 in Massachusetts. Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says that the songperiod in South Carolina begins early in April, and that "when engagedin singing, the males display the vermilion patch on the crown."Mr. Saunders tells me that he has heard the song from migratingbirds only in April or early May, or more rarely in October or Novem-ber. Mr. Todd (1940) says, referring to western Pennsylvania:
"After the first few days of May this song is seldom heard, since thelater migrants are all females. These have only an odd chattering,snapping, scolding note, which, once learned, will always serve todistinguish this kinglet from the Golden-crowned species."Field marks,?If the bright-red crown patch of the male can beseen, it is a positive field mark; but it is often partially, or wholly,concealed by the surrounding plumage; and it is not present at allon the female or the young bird. If no crown patch is seen, and thebird is a kinglet, it is a ruby crown, for the crown patch shows con-spicuously in both adult sexes of the golden-crowned kinglet. More-over, the ruby-crowned kinglet has a conspicuous white eye ring,which the other species lacks. An eye ring is somewhat in evidencein some of the small flycatchers, but these are mostly larger thankinglets and behave differently. If a bird is seen sitting quietly in anupright position, it is a flycatcher and not a kinglet ; if flitting activelyabout, almost constantly in motion, it is more likely to be a kinglet;kinglets are tiny, plump little birds clad in olive and buffy gray plum-Enemies.?The ruby-crowned kinglet is a very rare victim of thecowbird; Dr. Friedmann (1929) could find but one record. Harold S.Peters (1936) records one fly, Ornithomyia confluenta Say, and one tick,Haemaphysalis leporis-palustris Packard, as external parasites on theeastern ruby-crowned kinglet.Winter.?Although most of the ruby-crowned kinglets go far southin winter, ranging as far as Mexico and Guatemala, some spend thewinter as far north as southern British Columbia, Iowa, and Virginiamore or less regularly; there are a number of records for Massachu-setts, and Mr. Tufts tells me that several came to a feeding station atDigby, Nova Scotia, in January 1941.792825?49 27
410 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMThis kinglet winters abundantly all through the Southern States,where it is much commoner than the goldencrown. C. J. Maynard(1896) writes:The Ruby-crowned Kinglets are the most common birds of Florida duringwinter, arriving from the North about the first of December, scattering throughthe hammocks all over the state, even as far south as Key West, and they mayoccasionally be found in company with other birds, but are generally independent;indeed, I think they seldom pay any attention to the movements of even theirown companions; each pursues a course agreeable to itself. They can thereforehardly be called gregarious at this season, being equally numerous in everywooded locality, unless we choose to consider all which are in Florida as constitut-ing one vast flock. They move about among the luxuriant growth of trees andshrubs in a manner which plainly indicates that they are at home. They seem tobe always busily engaged in searching for insects upon the branches, yet willpause to gaze inquisitively at a stranger. They are not noisy at such times, andalthough very abundant, one who is not a naturalist would scarcely notice them,for they come without bustle, remain in the seclusion offered by the hammocks,quietly pursuing their avocations, then, by the middle of March, retire northwardas silently as they came. DISTRIBUTIONRange.?North America from northern Canada to southern Mexico;occasionally to Guatemala.Breeding range.?The ruby-crowned kinglet breeds north to north-ern Alaska (Kobuk River; reported to breed to the edge of the willowsa few miles south of Point Barrow; specimens from Point Barrow andCape Halkett); northwestern Mackenzie (Mackenzie River, 100miles below Fort Good Hope; Grandin River, and Fort Resolution);northern Saskatchewan (north shore of Lake Athabaska, 8 milesnortheast of Moose Island, and the Churchill River) ; northern Mani-toba (Reindeer Lake, Oxford House, and Churchill) ; northern Ontario(Moose Factory); central Quebec (Fort George, Lake Mistassini,Mingan, and Little Mecatina); and eastern Labrador (Makkovik).East to eastern Labrador (Makkovik, Rigolet, and Paradise River)
;
Newfoundland (St. Anthony, Twillingate, and White Bear River);and Nova Scotia (Baddeck). South to Nova Scotia (Baddeck,Halifax, and Yarmouth) ; Maine (Calais, possibly Ship Harbor, andScarboro Beach) ; possibly New Hampshire (Holderness) ; north-western Massachusetts (Savoy) ; probably northern New York(Mount Whiteface); southern Ontario (Guelph, Sault Ste. Marie,Port Arthur, and Kenora) ; northern Michigan (Mackinac Island,Newberry, and Iron County); southern Manitoba (Winnipeg andAweme) ; central Saskatchewan (Hudson Bay Junction and BigRiver); central southern Montana (Fort Custer and the Big HornMountains) ; central Wyoming (Sheridan, Parco, and Laramie) ; theeastern slope of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado (Estes Park,
EASTERN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET 411Idaho Springs, and Fort Garland) ; central northern and southwesternNew Mexico (Lost Trail Creek, Pecos Baldy, and Black Range)
;
southeastern to central northern Arizona (Tombstone, Santa CatalinaMountains, Mogollon Mountains, San Francisco Mountain, and thenorth rim of Grand Canyon) ; southwestern Utah (Cedar Breaks) ;southern Nevada (Charleston Mountains) ; and the mountains ofsouthern California (San Jacinto Mountains, San Bernardino Moun-tains, and Mount Wilson) . West to southern California and the SierraNevada (Mount Wilson, Yosemite Valley, Pyramid Peak, and MountShasta) ; western Oregon (Fort Klamath, Coos Bay, Corvallis, andNewport) ; the Cascades of Washington (Mount Rainier and BumpingLake); western British Columbia (Cape Scott, Vancouver Island;Bella Coola, and Grahaoi Island, Queen Charlotte Islands); andwestern Alaska (Sitka, Yakutat Bay, Kenai, Nushagak, Nulato,and Kobuk River).Winter range.?The ruby-crowned kinglet is found in winternorth to southwestern British Columbia (Comox and Victoria,Vancouver Island, and occasionally at Okanagan Lake); westernWashington (Bellingham, Everett, and Mount Rainier NationalPark); western Oregon (Portland, Salem, and Corvallis); easternCalifornia (Susanville, Yosemite Valley, and Death Valley) ; southernNevada (Colorado River opposite Fort Mojave); occasionally to theOgden Valley of Utah; central Arizona (Prescott, Camp Verde, andthe Salt River Wildlife Refuge) ; southern New Mexico (Silver City,San Antonio, Tularosa, and Carlsbad) ; central to northeastern Texas(San Angelo, Gainesville, and Texarkana); central Arkansas (HotSprings and Little Rock) ; southern Missouri (Ozark Region and oc-casionally St. Louis) ; southern Illinois (Odin and Mount Carmel, oc-casionally to Chicago) ; southern Indiana (Bicknell and Richmond)
;
and southern Virginia (Blacksburg and Lynchburg) ; rare or occasionalnorth to North Platte, Nebr.; Washington, D. C; Easton, Pa.;Demarest, N. J.; Hartford, Conn., and Falmouth, Maine. East tosouthern Maine (Falmouth) ; Connecticut (Hartford and New Haven) ;Long Island (Orient) ; eastern Pennsylvania (Easton) ; District ofColumbia (Washington); the Atlantic coast from North Carolina(Cape Hatteras) to southern Florida (Royal Palm State Park).South to southern Florida (Royal Palm Hammock) and the Gulfcoast of Alabama (Mobile); Mississippi (Biloxi and Gulfport);Louisiana (New Orleans, New Iberia, and Chenier au Tigre); andTexas (Houston and Brownsville) ; through Tamaulipas (Camargo andVictoria); Puebla (Tziutlan and Puebla); to Oaxaca (Parada); oc-casionally to Guatemala, since specimens are in existence from thatcountry taken, probably, in the Department of Vera Paz previousto 1859. South to Oaxaca and occasionally to Guatemala. West
412 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
to Oaxaca (Parada) ; Guerrero (Chalpancingo and Taxco) ; Michoac&n(Nahuatzen) ; Durango (Chacala) ; Lower California (Victoria Moun-tains, Cape Region, San Telma, and Las Cruces, and formerly resi-dent on Guadalupe Island); the Pacific Coast of California (SantaCatalina and Santa Cruz Islands, Santa Barbara, Watsonville, andSan Francisco); Oregon (Coos Bay); Washington (Cape Disappoint-ment and Tacoma) ; and southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia(Victoria and Comox).The ranges as outlined apply to the species as a whole, of whichfour subspecies or geographic races are recognized. The easternruby-crowned kinglet (R. c. calendula) breeds from northwesternMackenzie, Alberta, and central southern Montana eastward; thewestern ruby-crowned kinglet (R. c. cinerasceus) breeds from north-western Alaska, Yukon, and northeastern British Columbia, souththrough the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico, Arizona, and southernCalifornia, and west to the Cascade Mountains; the Sitka kinglet(R. c. grinnelli) breeds in the coastal belt from Kenai, Alaska, toWashington; the dusky kinglet (R. c. obscurus) was resident onGuadalupe [sland, Lower California, but is probably now extinct.Migration.?Some late dates of spring departure are : Nuevo Le6n
?
San Pedro Mines, May 8. Florida?Gainesville, April 29. GeorgiaAthens, May 10. South Carolina?Columbia, May 8. North Caro-lina?Raleigh, May 10. District (of Columbia?Washington, May17. Pennsylvania?Beaver, May 11. New York?Watertown, May14. Massachusetts?Northampton, May 21. Mississippi?Rodney,April 13. Louisiana?Lobdell, April 25. Arkansas?Helena, April19. Kentucky?Bardstown, May 4. Ohio?Columbus, May 23.Illinois?Lake Forest, May 12. Texas?Corpus Christi, May 10.Oklahoma?Norman, May 6. South Dakota?Sioux Falls, May 21.Some early dates of spring arrival are: West Virginia?FrenchCreek, March 26. New York?Rochester, March 29. Massachu-setts?Boston, April 8. Vermont?Bennington, March 31. MaineAuburn, April 5. Nova Scotia?Wolfville, April 21, New Bruns-wick?Scotch Lake, April 18. Quebec?Kamouraska, April 22.Newfoundland?St. John's, April 16. Ohio?Columbus, March 8.Michigan?Grand Rapids, March 31. Ontario?London, April 8.Missouri?Kansas City, March 24. Iowa?Keokuk, March 24.Wisconsin?Milwaukee, March 18. Minnesota?Redwing, March21. South Dakota?Brookings, April 5. North Dakota?Fargo,April 5. Manitoba?Pilot Mound, April 11. Saskatchewan?Re-gina, April 25. Colorado?Grand Junction, April 18. WyomingLaramie, April 16. Montana?Fortine, March 30. Alberta?Banff,April 16. Mackenzie?Willow River, near Providence, May 2. Utah
WESTERN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET 413Corrine, April 3, Idaho?Coeur d'Alene, April 7. Alaska?Craig,April 13.Some late dates of fall departure are: Yukon, Carcross, September24. Alberta?Glenevis, October 6. Idaho?Meridian, December 23.Montana?Columbia Falls, October 12. Wyoming?Cheyenne, Octo-ber 25. Colorado?Yuma, October 29. Saskatchewan?Eastend,October 24. Manitoba?Aweme, October 14. North Dakota
?
Fargo, October 27. South Dakota?Faulkton, November 1. Minne-sota?Minneapolis, November 1. Iowa?Sigourney, November 10.Wisconsin?Unity, October 25. Michigan?Ann Arbor, November13. Ontario?Ottawa, November 10. Ohio?Oberlin, November23. Indiana?Notre Dame, November 14. Kentucky?BowlingGreen, November 14. Newfoundland?St. Anthony, October 3.Quebec?Montreal, November 3. New Brunswick?Scotch Lake,October 29. Nova Scotia?Yarmouth, October 12. Maine?Phillips,October 22. New Hampshire?Jefferson, October 16. Massachu-setts?Harvard, December 11. New York?Brooklyn, November 13.Pennsylvania?Pittsburgh, November 2. West Virginia?FrenchCreek, November 4.Banding records.?In the banding files are several records of thereturn of ruby-crowned kinglets to the station where banded one ortwo years after banding. One banded at Waukegan, 111., on April18, 1937, was found 10 days later at Green Lake, Wis.Casual records.?In 1852 an individual was found at Loch Lomond,Scotland; a specimen was collected at Nenortalik, Greenland, in 1859;and one was recorded April 13 and 24, 1909, in the Bermudas.Egg dates.?Alberta: 13 records, June 2 to June 24.California: 65 records, May 30 to July 17; 40 records, June 11 toJune 25, indicating the height of the season.Colorado: 10 records, June 3 to July 9.New Brunswick: 5 records, June 14 to July 5.REGULUS CALENDULA CINERACEUS GrinnellWESTERN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETHABITSIn the mountain ranges of California, we find this larger race of theruby-crowned kinglet, paler and grayer, less yellowish, throughoutthan the eastern form.Like the eastern subspecies, this kinglet seems to be confined inthe breeding season to the coniferous forests of the higher mountains,mainly above 5,000 feet in the Lassen Peak region, and from 7,000 to8,500 feet in the San Bernardinos. Referring to the former region,Grinnell, Dixon, and Linsdale (1930) write: "In the summer when the
414 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMkinglets were in the mountains they lived among the tops of the conif-erous trees, especially white fir, lodgepole pine, red fir, and hemlock.On June 14, 1925, a kinglet was watched as it foraged about the endsof the branches close to the summit of a fir fully fifty meters tall."Courtship.?Howard L. Cogswell sends me the following note:
"In the spring, of course, the males often sing and display before thefemales, but twice during the fall of 1942, late October and November,I saw a male with red crest raised to its fullest extent over the top ofhis head, posturing before a female and singing a somewhat wheezyand subdued song, though of characteristic ruby-crown pattern."Nesting.?J. Stuart Kowley (1939) found three nests of the westernruby-crowned kinglet in Mono County, Calif., of which he says:Around Virginia Lakes, the breeding range of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet islimited to lodgepole pine stands, above 8,500 feet elevation. Over the five seasonsof search for nests, only three were found. The first was some sixty feet up in alodgepole pine, well concealed in the needles. This nest, on July 7, 1927, con-tained only one fresh egg although the female was flushed from the nest in midday.A second nest was found the next day, containing six heavily-incubated eggs; itwas placed not more than twenty feet from the ground. The third nest found onJuly 6, 1930, was about forty feet up in a lodgepole pine and contained sevenheavily-incubated eggs.Each was discovered by patiently watching and following females at feedingtime early in the morning or late in the evening. At each location, the male kepta vigilant guard against intruding birds of other species, making furious darts atcasual passing robins, warblers, and the like. By locating a singing male, onecould assume that a nest was near, but to find it was another matter.All three nests were made of lichens and pieces of bark, tied together withcobwebs. The linings were chiefly of feathers. The persistence of incubatingfemales in remaining on the nest is quite remarkable for such a shy nester. Inour experience, the females left the nest reluctantly, one remaining until I was afoot or so from the nest. None of the three females flew farther away from theirnests than twenty feet when inspection was going on.Most other observers have reported nests in spruces, which proba-bly are the trees most often chosen for nesting sites. Grinnell andStorer (1924) mention a nest in an incense cedar, near the SentinelHotel Annex in Yosemite Valley, Calif.Eggs.?The eggs of the western ruby-crowned kinglet are, apparent-ly, indistinguishable in every way from those of the eastern race.The measurements of 30 eggs in the United States National Museumaverage 14.0 to 10.9 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremesmeasure 14.7 by 13.2, 12.7 by 11.4, and 14.2 by 10.2 millimeters.Food.?Professor Beal's (1907) report on the food of this species isquoted under the eastern race, as it is the only comprehensive analysiswe have for the species; but, as it was based mainly on specimenscollected in California, it might just as well have been included here.
WESTERN RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET 415Behavior.?Grinnell and Storer (1924) give such a good account ofthe activities of this species that it is worth quoting here:Both of our kinglets are busy birds at all times, but the Ruby-crown showseven more activity than does its relative. Its temperament is of the high-strungor nervous sort, which keeps the bird constantly on the go?in decided contrast tothe phlegmatic behavior of, for instance, the Hutton Vireo. The kinglet hasrelatively long legs, and standing up on these its body is kept well clear of anyperch so that the bird can hop or turn readily in any direction. Such twists andjumps are often assisted by fluttering movements of the wings. Not infrequentlya Ruby-crowned Kinglet will poise on rapidly moving wings while it picks off aninsect from some leaf not to be reached from a foothold. In routine foraging thebird moves through the foliage rapidly, peering this way and that as it goes,spending but a moment in any one spot or pose.The Ruby-crowned Kinglet lacks the sociable attribute of the Golden-crown.During the nesting season the pairs give close attention to the rearing of theirbroods, but as soon as the young are able to live independently the families breakup and each individual takes up a separate existence. While in the foothill andvalley country, the Ruby-crowns are to be seen singly, each keeping to a particularforage area and usually resisting approach by another of the same species. Whensomething excites one of their kind, however, other individuals are quick to gatherand all unite in a community of effort until the object of their concern has disap-peared. Then each kinglet goes its way alone once more. * * *At about nine o'clock in the morning one of our party noticed a remarkableassemblage of Ruby-crowned Kinglets about the foliage of a certain tree. Fifteenor more of the birds were buzzing about as actively and excitedly as bees, andeach kinglet was uttering its "ratchet cr IP' with vigorous persistence. A coupleof Plain Titmouses joined the group while it was being watched. The cause ofthe excitement became apparent when a pigmy owl flew out from the foliage ofthe tree. As the owl made off the crowd of excited kinglets followed in his wake.In the nesting season Ruby-crowned Kinglets often give warning of the insidiousactivities of Blue-fronted Jays. On one occasion, at Chinquapin, on June 14,1915, one of our party followed up a kinglet which was giving its yer-rup, yer-rup,over and over again in low but insistent tones. The cause of concern proved tobe a pair of silent jays one of which was shot?to the seeming satisfaction of thekinglet, which immediately sang.The voice of the western bird seems to be similar to that of theeastern race, with the same variations and with equal charm. It canbe recognized by the same field marks and by similar behavior andvoice as its eastern relative. Mr. Cogswell has sent me the followingnote on this subject:
"I find beginning students in field identification have difficultyseparating ruby-crowned kinglets from Hutton's vireos, unless a veryclose view is obtained. To me, however, the chief distinguishingfeature is the much slenderer head and especially the thinner bill ofthe rubycrown, as opposed to the thicker-billed, bull-headed appear-ance of the Hutton's. Call notes are more positive yet, when oneknows them; the short, grating jzidit, or tchidit, of the kinglet is abso-lutely distinctive. The wing-flitting habit of the kinglet, given by
416 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMsome as an identification aid, is also indulged in by the vireo to someextent, though the kinglet, nearly always once a second or oftener,opens his wings and shuts them again all in a flash, whereas the vireodoes it only occasionally, or at the most once every 2 or 3 seconds."Kalph Hoffmann (1927) adds to the comparison: "The Vireo is astockier bird and much more deliberate in its movements. It dropslazily from one twig to the next, and often stays for some secondsmotionless or with only a slight movement of the head."Winter.?In the fall these kinglets move down from their breedinggrounds in the mountains and spread out in scattering groups over thefoothills and valleys. Mr. Cogswell tells me that it is common, attimes exceedingly so, throughout the lower areas in winter, from lateSeptember to early April. "In the oak regions of the foothills andthe willow regions along the lowland streams, as many as 35 to 40individual kinglets can be counted on a forenoon's bird walk of 3 or4 miles."Referring to the Lassen Peak region, Grinnell, Dixon, and Linsdale(1930) write: "During the winter, ruby-crowned kinglets foragedamong the branches and foliage of tall shrubs and trees. Individualswere observed, at that season, about the following kinds of plants:digger pine, yellow pine, live oak, blue oak, buck-brush, clumps ofmistletoe in cottonwood, willow, and cat-tail. Almost any sort oftwiggery, whether leafy or not, where small insects might be foundseemed to be a suitable winter forage place."REGULUS CALENDULA GRINNELLI PalmerSITKA KINGLETHABITSThe type of this dark-colored race of the ruby-crowned kinglet wascollected by Dr. Joseph Grinnell, at Sitka, Alaska, on June 23, 1896,and named in his honor by William Palmer (1897), who says: "TheSitkan Kinglet is a smaller and darker bird than its near relativeR. calendula, approaching closer, except in the coloring of its crownpatch, to R. obscurus of Gnadalupe Island. It lacks the graynessand paleness above and on the sides of the head and neck character-istic of calendula. The bill is larger and differently shaped. Thewing is much darker, nearly black in places, and the anterior barespecially is narrower."Its breeding range is on the humid Northwest coast, from PrinceWilliam Sound and Skagway, Alaska, to British Columbia. As thisregion has produced so many dark-colored subspecies, it is interestingto consider the type of gloomy and humid weather that has helped
DUSKY KINGLET 417to produce them. Mr. Palmer quotes the following from a circularof the United States Weather Bureau
:
The fringe of islands that separates the mainland from the Pacific Ocean fromDixon Sound northward, and also a strip of the mainland for possibly 20 milesback from the sea, following the sweep of the coast as it curves to the northwest-ward to the western extremity of Alaska, form a distinct climatic division whichmay be termed temperate Alaska. The temperature rarely falls to zero; winterdoes not set in until about December 1, and by the last of May the snow hasdisappeared except on the mountains. The mean winter temperature of Sitkais 32.50, but little less than that of Washington, D. C. * * * The rainfallof temperate Alaska is notorious the world over not only as regards the quantitythat falls, but also as to the manner of its falling, viz.: In long and incessantrains and drizzles. Cloud and fog naturally abound, there being on an averagebut 66 clear days in the year.The nesting and all other habits of the Sitka kinglet seem to besimilar to those of the species elsewhere, and need not be referred tofurther here. I have been unable to locate any eggs of this sub-species.Richard C. Harlow has sent me a nest of this kinglet, taken by C.DeB. Greene on Porcher Island, one of the Queen Charlottes, in June1921. At the time it held broken eggshells. It was apparentlylocated like the nests of other kinglets, in the pendant twigs ofsome species of fir or spruce, pieces of such twigs still adhering to it.But no further data are available. In its present condition it is arather large, cup-shaped ball, open at the top, measuring about 4by 5 inches in outside diameter and about 2 inches in height; theinner cavity probably measured less than 2 inches in diameter andabout an inch and a half in depth. It is composed mainly of a massof mosses and lichens, much of which was probably green when used,reinforced with many fine strips of shredded weed stems and manyfine, white, threadlike fibers. It was originally lined with feathers,but these have been eaten out by moths and no trace of them remains.REGULUS CALENDULA OBSCURUS RidgwayDUSKY KINGLETHABITSThis kinglet, found only on Guadalupe Island, is darker than eventhe Sitka kinglet, with a shorter wing and larger bill and feet, andthe crown patch is more pinkish red. In fact, all the birds peculiarto Guadalupe Island are darker than their nearest relatives on themainland and have shorter wings and larger bills and feet.Practically all we know about this insular form of the ruby-crownedkinglet, which was originally described as a full species, comes fromWalter E. Bryant's (1887) report on the birds of that remote island.Of the haunts of these birds, he says: "Frequenting more numerously
418 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMthe large cypress grove, they are nevertheless found in the smallergrove, and also among the pines. In the former and latter placesthey are positively known to breed, and there is but little doubt thatthey also nest in the small grove."They were evidently very numerous on the island, for he collecteda series of ten males and three females.Nesting.?Bryant says: "As early as the middle of February nest-building was in order, the birds selecting the topmost foliage of acypress, and sometimes the very outer extremity of a horizontalbranch," and continues:As the result of many days' diligent search, three nests came under my ob-servation, and these were detected only by watching the birds as they collectedbuilding material, or by tracing to its source a peculiar, low song, which the malesometimes sings when close to the nest.These nests were all found over twenty feet high, and only one could be seenfrom the ground, and that merely during the intervals when the wind partedthe branches. They were placed in the midst of a thick bunch of foliage, andbut lightly secured to the twigs. Compact, though not very smooth in structure,they were composed of soft strips of bark intermingled with feathers, bits ofmoss, fine grass and cocoons. Additional warmth is secured by a quantity eitherof goat's hair or feathers, and, lastly, a thin lining of goat's hair. Their externalmeasurement is about 70 mm. in height by 90 mm. in diameter, while the internaldepth is about 45 mm., and diameter from 35 mm. to 45 mm. The mouth ofthe opening is smaller than immediately below.Eggs.?Quoting furtherlfrom Mr. Bryant's account:In color the eggs are white, with a dense wreath of pale yellowish-brownspots encircling the larger end. In some places, these spots appear to be laidover a pale lavender washing, and in one specimen, these fine, almost indistinctdots extend sparingly over the entire surface. They measure in millimeters14 x 11 and 15 x 11.T. E. McMullen has sent me the following measurements o*five eggs of the dusky kinglet in his collection: 14.7 by 11.4, 15.2by 11.4, 14.7 by 11.2, 14.5 by 11.2, and 15.2 by 11.4 millimeters.Voice.?Mr. Bryant continues:In December I found them in full song and as common as in April. * * *Their song is indescribably sweet and musical, and of wonderful power for sosmall a bird, commencing with a few low, quick notes, as though the singerwere merely trying his voice, then bursting into a full animated warble, it endsin a dissyllabic measure, accented on the first syllable, and usually repeatedfrom three to six times. One remarkably fine songster repeated the final dis-syllable eight or ten times. Only once did I hear the metallic click, so commonwith the Oakland birds in winter, but even then it flowed immediately into song.
LITERATURE CITEDAbel, Arthur R.1914. Notes on a northern robin roost. Wilson Bull., vol. 26, pp. 165-172.Adair, Ward W.1920. A railroad robin. Bird-Lore, vol. 22, pp. 289-290.Aiken, Charles Edward Howard, and Warren, Edward Royal.1914. Birds of El Paso County, Colorado. Colorado College Publ., gen.ser., No. 74 (sci. ser., vol. 12, No. 13, pt. 2), pp. 497-603.Aldrich, John Warren.1939. Geographic variation of the veery. Auk, vol. 56, pp. 338-340.1945. Additional breeding and migration records of the black-backed robin.Auk, vol. 62, pp. 310-311.Aldrich, John Warren, and Nutt, David Clark.1939. Birds of eastern Newfoundland. Sci. Publ. Cleveland Mus. Nat.Hist., vol. 4, pp. 13-42.Alexander, Boyd.1908. The'Victoria history of the county of Kent. Birds, pp. 267-301.Alexander, Horace Gundry.1927. A list of the birds of Latium, Italy, between June 1911 and February1916. Compiled from the notes and letters of the late C. J. Alexander.Ibis, ser. 12, vol. 3, pp. 659-691.Allen, Arthur Augustus.1929. Blue-gray gnatcatcher. Bird-Lore, vol. 31, p. 222.1934. The veery and some of his family. Bird-Lore, vol. 36, pp. 68-78.Allen, Joel Asaph.1879. Odd behavior of a robin and a yellow warbler. Bull. Nuttall Orn.Club, vol. 4, pp. 178-182.Allen, Francis Henry.1913. More notes on the morning awakening. Auk, vol. 30, pp. 229-235.Allen, Glover Morrill.1902. The birds of New Hampshire. Proc. Manchester Inst. Sci., vol. 4,pp. 23-205.American Ornithologists' Union.1931. Check-list of North American birds, ed. 4.Andresen, C.1942. Townsend solitaire uses camp table for nest site. Condor, vol. 44,p. 284.Anthony, Alfred Webster.1889. New birds from Lower California, Mexico. Proc. California Acad.Sci., ser. 2, vol. 2, pp. 73-82.1903. Nesting of the Townsend solitaire. Condor, vol. 5, pp. 10-12.Antonius, Otto.1937. Begattung der Amsel. Beitr. Fortpflanzungsbiologie Vogel, Jahrg. 13,p. 150.Aplin, Oliver Vernon.1903. Letter to the Ibis, pp. 132-133. 419
420 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMArnold, Clarence M.1907. Robins and sparrows. Bird-Lore, vol. 9, p. 84.Arrigoni deoli Oddi, Ettore.1929. Ornitologia Italiana.Audubon, John James.1840. The birds of America, vol. 1.1841. The birds of America, vol. 3.Austin, Oliver Luther, Jr.1932. The birds of Newfoundland Labrador. Mem. Nuttall Orn. Club, No 7Bagg, Aaron Clark.1932. Ruby-crowned kinglet feeding young in Massachusetts. Auk, vol.49, p. 486.Bagg, A. C, and Eliot, Samuel Atkins, Jr.1937. Birds of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts.Bailey, Alfred Marshall.1926. A report on the birds of northwestern Alaska and regions adjacentto Bering Strait, pt. 10. Condor, vol. 28, pp. 165-170.1927. Notes on the birds of southeastern Alaska. Auk, vol. 44, pp. 351-367.Bailey, A. M., and Niedrach, Robert James.1936. Community nesting of western robins and house finches. Condor,vol. 38, p. 214.Bailey, Florence Merriam.1902. Handbook of birds of the western United States.1928. Birds of New Mexico.Baird, Spencer Fullerton.1864. Review of American birds, in the museum of the Smithsonian Insti-tution, pt. 1: North and Middle America. Smithsonian Misc.Coll., No. 181, vol. 12.Baird, S. F.; Brewer, Thomas Mayo; and Ridgway, Robert.1874. A history of North American birds: Land birds, vol. 1.Bancroft, Griffing.1930. The breeding birds of central Lower California. Condor, vol. 32,pp. 20-49.Bangs, Outram.1898. Some new races of birds from eastern North America. Auk, vol. 15,pp. 173-183.Bangs, Outram, and Penard, Thomas Gilbert.1921. The name of the eastern hermit thrush. Auk, vol. 38, pp. 432-434.Batchelder, Charles Foster.1900. An undescribed robin. Proc. New England Zool. Club, vol. 1, pp.103-106.Baxter, Evelyn Vida, and Rintoul, Leonora Jeffrey.1914. Birds singing while on migration. Scottish Nat., 1914, pp. 188-189.Beal, Foster Ellenborough Lascelles.1907. Birds of California in relation to the fruit industry, pt. 1. Biol.Surv. Bull. 30.1915a. Food of the robins and bluebirds of the United States. U. S. Dept.Agr. Dept. Bull. 171.1915b. Food habits of the thrushes of the United States. U. S. Dept. Agr.Dept. Bull. 280.
LITERATURE CITED 421Bean, Tarleton Hoffman.1883. Notes on birds collected during the summer of 1880 in Alaska andSiberia. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 5, pp. 143-173.Beck, Rollo Howard.1900. An unusually high nest of Audubon's hermit thrush. Condor, vol. 2,p. 19.Belding, Lyman.1884. Second catalogue of a collection of birds made near the southernextremity of Lower California. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 6, pp.344-352.1889a. Description of a new thrush from Calaveras County, California.Proc. California Acad. Sci., ser. 2, vol. 2, pp. 18-19.1889b. The small thrushes of California. Proc. California Acad. Sci., ser. 2,vol. 2, pp. 57-72.Bendire, Charles Emil.1888. Description of the nest and eggs of the California black-capped gnat-catcher (Polioptila californica Brewster). Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.,vol. 10, pp. 549-550.Bergman, Sten.1935. Zur Kenntnis nordostasiatischer Vogel.Bicknell, Eugene Pintard.1884. A study of the singing of our birds. Auk, vol. 1, pp. 126-140.Binger, Harrt F.1932. A robin and snake story. Bird-Lore, vol. 34, pp. 390-391.Bird, Charles Godfrey, and Bird, Edward Godfrey.1941. The birds of North-east Greenland. Ibis, 1941, pp. 118-161.Bishop, Louis Bennett.1900. Birds of the Yukon region. North American Fauna, No. 19.Blair, Helen.1935. Key for identifying birds' nests, Pittsburg, Pa.Blair, Hugh Movay Sutherland.1936. On the birds of east Finmark. Ibis, 1936, pp. 280-308, 429-459,651-674.Blair, Richard Henry, and Tucker, Bernard William.1941. Nest sanitation, by R. H. Blair. With additions from publishedsources, by B. W. Tucker. British Birds, vol. 34, pp. 206-215,226-235, 250-255.Blake, Sidney Fay.1916. Breeding of the golden-crowned kinglet in Norfolk County, Massa-chusetts. Auk, vol. 33, pp. 326-327.Blincoe, Benedict Joseph.1923. Gnatcatchers attacked cowbird. Bird-Lore, vol. 25, pp. 253-254.Bolander, L. Ph., Jr.1932. A robin roost in Oakland, California. Condor, vol. 34, pp. 142-143.Bolles, Frank.1891. Land of the lingering snow.Bond, Frank.1889. Myiadestes townsendii apparently wintering in Wyoming. Auk, vol.6, pp. 193-194.Boraston, John Maclair.1905. Nature tones and undertones.
422 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMBowdish, Beecher Scoville.1890. Sialia-Mus. Oologist, vol. 7, p. 140.Bowles John Hooper.1927. Nesting of the western robin. Murrelet, vol. 8, p. 74.Boyd, Arnold Whitworth.1941. Display of blackbirds. British Birds, vol. 35, p. 157.Brackbill, Hervey.
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LITERATURE CITED 423Burleigh, Thomas Dearborn.1923. Notes on the breeding birds of Clark's Fork, Bonner County, Idaho.Auk, vol. 40, pp. 653-665.1931. Notes on the breeding birds of State College, Centre County, Pennsyl-vania. Wilson Bull., vol. 43, pp. 37-54.1941. Bird life on Mt. Mitchell. Auk, vol. 58, pp. 334-345.Burns, Franklin Lorenzo.1915. Comparative periods of deposition and incubation of some NorthAmerican birds. Wilson Bull., vol. 27, pp. 275-286.1919. The ornithology of Chester County, Pennsylvania.1921. Comparative periods of nestling life of some North American nidicolae.Wilson Bull., vol. 33, pp. 4-15.Burroughs, John.1880. Wake-robin.1894. Riverby.Butler, Amos William.1898. The birds of Indiana. Indiana Dept. Geol. and Nat. Resources, 22dAnn. Rep., 1897, pp. 515-1197, pis. 21-25.Cameron, Ewen Somerled.1908. The birds of Custer and Dawson Counties, Montana. Auk, vol. 25,pp. 39-56.Carey, Henry Reginald.1925. How a family of hermit thrushes came to camp. Bird-Lore, vol. 27,pp. 225-228.Chamberlain, Montague.1882. The wood thrushes (Hylocichla) of New Brunswick. Ornithologist andOologist, vol. 7, pp. 185-187.1889. Some accounts of the birds of southern Greenland, from the manu-scripts of A. Hagerup. Auk, vol. 6, pp. 291-297.Chamberlin, Corydon.1901. Some architectural traits of the western gnatcatcher. Condor, vol. 3,pp. 33-36.Childs, John Lewis.1913. Destruction of robins in a storm. Auk, vol. 30, p. 590.Chislett, Ralph.1933. Northward Ho!?for birds.Church, Cynthia.1927. Friendly kinglets. Bird-Lore, vol. 29, p. 342.Clark, Austin Hobart.1910. The birds collected and observed during the cruise of the UnitedStates Fisheries steamer Albatross in the North Pacific Ocean, and inthe Bering, Okhotsk, Japan, and eastern seas, from April toDecember, 1906. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 38, pp. 25-74.1945. Animal life of the Aleutian Islands. Smithsonian Inst. War Back-ground Studies No. 21, pp. 31-61.Clarke, Mrs. J. Frederick.1930. A robin roost close to a house. Wilson Bull., vol. 42, p. 291.Cleveland, Lotta A.1923. Robins and cicadas. Bird-Lore, vol. 25, p. 254.Cochran, Mrs. Arch.1935. Two migrating returns of olive-backed thrushes. Bird-Banding,vol. 6, p. 66.
424 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMCOKER, CoiT M.1931. Hermit thrush feeding on salamanders. Auk, vol. 48, p. 277.Collett, Robert.1877. On Phylloscopus borealis and its occurrence in Norway. Proc. Zool.Soc. London, 1877, pp. 43-47.1886. Further notes on Phylloscopus borealis in Norway. Ibis, 1886, pp.217-223.Collinge, Walter Edward.1927. The food of some British wild birds, 2d rev. ed.Comeau, Napoleon Alexander.1890. Additional notes on the probable breeding of Saxicola oenanthe nearGodbout, Province of Quebec, Canada. Auk, vol. 7, p. 294.1891. The robin wintering at Godbout, Quebec. Auk, vol. 8, pp. 317-318.Cooke, May Thacher.1937. Some longevity records of wild birds. Bird-Banding, vol. 8, pp. 52-65.Cooke, Wells Woodbridge.1914. Some winter birds of Oklahoma. Auk, vol. 31, pp. 473-493.CORRINGTON, JULIAN DANA.1922. The winter birds of Biloxi, Mississippi, region. Auk, vol. 39, pp.530-556.Cottam, Clarence, and Knappen, Phoebe.1939. Food of some uncommon North American birds. Auk, vol. 56, pp.138-169.Coues, Elliott.1874. Birds of the Northwest.Cowan, Ian McTaggart.1942. Termite-eating birds in British Columbia. Auk, vol. 59, p. 451.Coward, Thomas Alfred.1920. The birds of the British Isles and their eggs.Criddle, Norman.1922. A calendar of bird migration. Auk, vol. 39, pp. 41-49.1927. Habits of the mountain bluebird in Manitoba. Can. Field Nat., vol.41, pp. 40-44.Dall, William Healey, and Bannister, Henry Martyn.1869. List of the birds of Alaska, with biographical notes. Trans. ChicagoAcad. Sci., vol. 1, pp. 267-310, pis. 27-34.Darctjs, S. J.1930. Notes on birds of the northern part of the Queen Charlotte Islands in1927. Can. Field Nat., vol. 44, pp. 45-49.Daukes, A. H.1932. Breeding of the redwing in Scotland. British Birds, vol. 26, pp. 132-134.David, Armand, and Oustalet, Emile.1877. Les oiseaux de la Chine.Dawson, William Leon.1923. The birds of California, vol. 2.Dawson, W. L., and Bowles, John Hooper.1909. The birds of Washington, vol. 1.Deane, Ruthven.1878. Deadly combat between an albino robin and a mole. Bull. NuttallOrn. Club, vol. 3, p. 104.
LITERATURE CITED 425DeMerittb, Edwin.1920. Peculiar nesting of hermit thrushes. Auk, vol. 37, pp. 138-140.Dickey, Donald Ryder, and van Rossem, Adriaan Joseph.1938. The birds of El Salvador. Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., zool. ser.,vol. 23, pp. 1-635.Dixon, Joseph Scattergood.1938. Birds and mammals of Mount McKinley National Park, Alaska.Nat. Park Serv. Faunal Ser., No. 3.Dombrowski, Robert Ritter von.1903. Materialen zu einer Ornis Riimaniens. Bull. Soc. Sci. Bucharest,Ann. 12, Nos. 3, 4.Dresser, Henry Eeles.1902. A manual of Palaearctic birds.Drew, Frank Mayo.1881. Field notes on the birds of San Juan County, Colorado. Bull. NuttallOrn. Club, vol. 6, pp. 85-91Dunn, Harry H.1906. The gnatcatchers of southern California. Warbler, ser. 2, vol. 2,pp. 60-61.Dwight, Jonathan Jr.1900. The sequence of plumages and moults of the passerine birds of NewYork. Ann. New York Acad. Sci., vol. 13, pp. 73-360, pis. 1-7.Dybowski, BJsnoIt.1883. Remarques sur les oiseaux du Kamtschatka et des iles ComandoresBull. Soc. Zool. France, vol. 8, pp. 351-370.Fleming, James Henry.1907. Birds of Toronto, Canada. Auk, vol. 24, pp. 71-89.Forbes, John Ripley.1938. Recent observations on the Greenland wheatear. Auk, vol. 55, pp.492-495.Forbes, Stephen Alfred.1880. The food-habits of thrushes. Amer. Ent., new ser., vol. 1, pp. 12-13.Forbt/sh, Edward Howe.1907. Useful birds and their protection.1929. Birds of Massachusetts and other New England States, vol. 3. Landbirds from sparrows to thrushes.Friedmann, Herbert.1929. The cowbirds: A study in the biology of social parasitism.1934. Further additions to the list of birds victimized by the cowbird.Wilson Bull., vol. 46, pp. 25-36.1937. Further additions to the known avifauna of St. Lawrence Island,Alaska. Condor, vol. 39, p. 91.1938. Additional hosts of the parasitic cowbirds. Auk, vol. 55, pp. 41-50.Gatke, Heinrich.1895. Heligoland as an ornithological observatory.Garnier, E.1934. Zu "Paarung bei Turdus merula." Orn. Monatsb., vol. 42, pp. 54-55.Geyr, H. Baron.1933. Paarung bei Turdus merula. Orn. Monatsb., vol. 41, p. 119.Gillespie, John Arthur.1927. Singing by migrant gray-cheeked thrush. Auk, vol. 44, p. 112.Goss, Nathaniel Stickney.1891. History of the birds of Kansas.792825?49 28
426 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMGrimes, Samuel Andrew.1928. The blue-gray gnatcatcher. Florida Nat., new ser., vol. 2, pp. 25-27.1932. Notes on the 1931 nesting season in the Jacksonville region.?III.Florida Nat., vol. 6, pp. 8-13.Grinnell, Joseph.1898. Summer birds of Sitka, Alaska. Auk, vol. 15, pp. 122-131.1900. Birds of the Kotzebue Sound region, Alaska. Pacific Coast Avifauna,No. 1.1901. Two races of the varied thrush. Auk, vol. 18, pp. 142-145.1904. Midwinter birds at Palm Springs, California. Condor, vol. 6, p. 44.1908. The biota of the San Bernardino Mountains. Univ. California Publ.Zool., vol. 5, pp. 1-170.1909. Birds and mammals of the 1907 Alexander expedition to southeasternAlaska. The birds. Univ. California Publ. Zool., vol. 5, pp. 181-244.1918. Seven new or noteworthy birds from east-central California. Condor,vol. 20, pp. 86-90.1926. A critical inspection of the gnatcatchers of the Californias. Proc.California Acad. Sci., ser. 4, vol. 15, pp. 493-500.Grinnell, Joseph; Dixon, Joseph; and Linsdale, Jean Myron.1930. Vertebrate natural history of a section of northern California throughthe Lassen Peak region. Univ. California Publ. Zool., vol. 35.Grinnell, Joseph, and Linsdale, Jean Myron.1936. Vertebrate animals of Point Lobos Reserve, 1934-35. Carnegie Inst.Washington Publ. No. 481.Grinnell, Joseph, and Storer, Tracy Irwin.1924. Animal life in the Yosemite.Grinnell, Joseph, and Wythe, Margaret Wilhelmina.1927. Directory to the bird-life of the San Francisco Bay region. PacificCoast Avifauna, No. 18.Griscom, Ludlow.1926. Notes on the summer birds of the west coast of Newfoundland. Ibis,1926, pp. 656-684.1932. The distribution of bird-life in Guatemala. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat.Hist., vol. 64.Hamilton, William John, Jr.1935. Notes on nestling robins. Wilson Bull., vol. 47, pp. 109-111.1943. Spring food of the robin in central New York. Auk, vol. 60, p. 273.Hanford, Forrest S.1917. The Townsend solitaire. Condor, vol. 19, pp. 13-15.Hanna, Wilson Creal.1934. The black-tailed gnatcatcher and the dwarf cowbird. Condor, vol. 36,p. 89.Hantzsch, Bernhard.1905. Beitrag zur kenntnis der vogelwelt Islands.Harbaum, Frank.1921. A family of wood thrushes. Bird-Lore, vol. 23, pp. 140-141.Hargrave, Lyndon L.1933. The western gnatcatcher also moves its nest. Wilson Bull., vol. 45,pp. 30-31.Harper, W. T.1926. A bluebird's nest. Bird-Lore, vol. 28, pp. 187-190.
LITERATURE CITED 427Hartert, Ernst.1910. Die Vogel der palaarktischen Fauna, vol. 1.Hartert, Ernst, and Steinbacher, Friedrich.1938. Die Vogel der palaarktischen Fauna. Erganzungsband.Haskin, Leslie L.1919. Townsend's solitaire. Bird-Lore, vol. 21, pp. 242-243.Hazen, Henry Honeyman.1928. Nocturnal song of migrants. Auk, vol. 45, p. 230.Heinroth, Oscar and Magdalena.1926. Die Vogel Mitteleuropas, vol. 1.Helms, Otto.1926. The birds of Angmagsalik. Medd. om Gr0nland, vol. 58, pp. 205-274.Helms, Otto, and Schi0ler, Eiler Theodor Lehn.1917. Om nogle for Gr0nlands 0st og Westkyst nye og sjaeldeme Arter.Dansk Orn. Foren. Tidsskr., Aarg. 11, pp. 172-175.Henderson, Junius.1927. The practical value of birds.Henshaw, Henry Wetherbee.1875. Report upon ornithological collections made in portions of Nevada,Utah, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona during theyears 1871, 1872, 1873, and 1874. (Wheeler Survey.)Hodge, Clifton Fremont.1904. A summer with the bluebirds. Bird-Lore, vol. 6, pp. 41-46.Hoffmann, Ralph.1927. Birds of the Pacific States.Howe, Reginald Heber, Jr.1898. Breeding habits of the American robin (Merula migratoria) in easternMassachusetts. Auk, vol. 15, pp. 162-167.1900. A new subspecies of the genus Hylocichla. Auk, vol. 17, pp. 270-271.Howell, Arthur Holmes.1924. Birds of Alabama.1932. Florida bird life.Howell, Joseph Corwin.1940. Spring roosts of the robin. Wilson Bull., vol. 52, pp. 19-23.Howes, Paul Griswold.1914. The migration of the olive-backed thrush, 1912. Oologist, vol. 31,pp. 162-166.Ivor, Hance Roy.1941. Observations on "anting" by birds. Auk, vol. 58, pp. 415-416.1943. Further studies of anting by birds. Auk, vol. 60, pp. 51-55.Jenks, Randolph.1936. A new race of golden-crowned kinglet from Arizona. Condor, vol. 38,pp. 239-244.Jensen, Jens Knudson.1923. Notes on the nesting birds of northern Santa Fe County, New Mexico.Auk, vol. 40, pp. 452-469.1925. English sparrows and robins. Auk, vol. 42, p. 591.Jewett, Stanley Gordon.1928. Assistant parentage among birds. Condor, vol. 30, pp. 127-128.Johnston, Verna Ruth.1943. An ecological study of nesting birds in the vicinity of Boulder, Colo-rado. Condor, vol. 45, pp. 61-68.
428 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMJones, Lynds.1910. The birds of Cedar Point and vicinity. Wilson Bull., vol. 22, pp.172-182.Jourdain, Francis Charles Robert.1938. The handbook of British birds, vols. 1, 2. (By H. F. Witherby, F. C.R. Jourdain, Norman F. Ticehurst, and Bernard W. Tucker.)Kalmbach, Edwin Richard.1914. Birds in relation to the alfalfa weevil. U. S. Dept. Agr. Dept. Bull.107.Kane, Susan M.1924. Battle between a western robin and Steller's jay, witnessed on thecampus at the University of Washington. Murrelet, vol. 5, No.2, p. 9.Kelly, Berners B.1913. The building of a robin's nest. Bird-Lore, vol. 15, pp. 310-311.Kelso, Leon Hugh.1935. Bird notes from Fall River, Larimer County, Colorado. Oologist,vol. 52, pp. 14-19.King, Franklin Hiram.1883. Economic relations of Wisconsin birds. Geology of Wisconsin, vol.1, pp. 441-610.Kirkman, Frederick Bernuf Bever.1911. The thrush family. In, "The British Bird Book," vol. 1.Knight, Ora Willis.1908. The birds of Maine.Konig, D.1938. Paarung der amsel. Beitr. Fortpflanzungsbiologie Vogel, Jahrg. 14,pp. 69-70.Lack, David.1942. Ecological features of the bird faunas of British small islands. Journ.Animal Ecol., vol. 11, pp. 9-36.1943. The age of the blackbird. British Birds, vol. 36, pp. 166-175.Lack, David, and Light, William.1941. Notes on the spring territory of the blackbird. British Birds, vol.35, pp. 47-53.Lack, H. Lambert.1941. Display in blackbirds. British Birds, vol. 35, pp. 54-57.Laing, Hamilton Mack.1925. Birds collected and observed during the cruise of the Thiepval in theNorth Pacific, 1924. Victoria Mem. Mus. Bull. 40.Langille, James Hibbert.1884. Our birds in their haunts.Laskey, Amelia Rudolph (Mrs. F. C. Laskey).1939. A study of nesting eastern bluebirds. Bird-Banding, vol. 10, pp.23-32.1942. Nesting observations for 1942 a la bird-banding. Migrant, vol. 13,pp. 36-38.La Touche, John David Digues de.1920. Notes on the birds of North-East Chihli, in North China. Ibis, 1920,pp. 629-671.1925. A handbook of the birds of eastern China, vol. 1, pt. 2.1926. A handbook of the birds of eastern China, vol. 1, pt. 3.
LITERATURE CITED 429Lewis, Hakkison Flint.1919. Winter robins in Nova Scotia. Auk, vol. 36, pp. 205-217.1920. The singing of the ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus c. calendula). Auk,vol. 37, pp. 594-596.1928. Notes on the birds of the Labrador peninsula in 1928. Can. FieldNat., vol. 42, pp. 191-194.Lincoln, Frederick Charles.1935. The migration of North American birds. U. S. Dept. Agr. Circ. 363.1939. The migration of American birds.Linsdale, Jean Myron.1938. Environmental responses of vertebrates in the Great Basin. Amer.Midi. Nat., vol. 19, pp. 1-206.Lloyd, Bertram.1933. The courtship and display of wheatears. Trans. Hertfordshire Nat.Hist. Soc, vol. 19, pp. 135-139.Lloyd, Clark K.1932. The blue-gray gnatcatcher moves its nest. Wilson Bull., vol. 44,p. 185.Longstafp, Tom George.1932. An ecologicpl reconnaissance in west Greenland. Journ. Animal Ecol.,vol. 1, pp. 119-142.Low, Seth Haskell.1934. Bluebird studies on Cape Cod. Bird-Banding, vol. 5, pp. 39-41.Lynes, Hubert.1925. On the birds of north and central Darfur with notes on the west-centralKordofan and North Nuba Provinces of British Sudan (part 3).Ibis, 1925, pp. 71-131.Mackay, George Henry.1897. A great flight of robins in Florida. Auk, vol. 14, p. 325.Macottn, John, and Macoun, James Melville.1909. Catalogue of Canadian birds, ed. 2.Mailliard, Joseph.1908. A migration wave of varied thrushes. Condor, vol. 10, pp. 118-119.1930. Happenings in a robin household. Condor, vol. 32, pp. 77-80.Mailliard, Joseph, and Hanna, G. Dallas.1921. New bird records for North America, with notes on the Pribilof Islandlist. Condor, vol. 23, pp. 93-95.Marshall, W. A.1921. Robin and snake. Bird-Lore, vol. 23, p. 304.Maynard, Charles Johnson.1896. The birds of eastern North America, ed. 2.1910. Records of walks and talks with nature, vol. 3.McAtee Waldo Lee.1926. The relation of birds to woodlots in New York State. RooseveltWild-life Bull., vol. 4, pp. 7-152.McClintock, Norman.1910. A hermit thrush study. Auk, vol. 27, pp. 409-418.McIntosh, Franklin Gray.1922. Robin and snake. Bird-Lore, vol. 24, p. 152.McKinnon, Angus.1908. A pair of blue-gray gnatcatchers that moved their nest. Bird-Lore,vol. 10, p. 173.
430 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMMearns, Edgar Alexander.1890. Observations on the avifauna of portions of Arizona. Auk, vol. 7,pp. 251-264.Meiklejohn, M. F. M.1941. In "Additions to the Handbook of British Birds," vol. 3, by Witherby,Jourdain, Ticehurst, and Tucker.Meinertzhagen, Richard.1922. Notes on some birds from the near east and from tropical East Africa.Ibis, 1922, pp. 1-74.1930. In "Birds of Egypt" by Nicoll.Merriam, Clinton Hart.1882. Late breeding of the hermit thrush in northern New York. Orni-thologist and Oologist, vol. 7, p. 171.Michael, Charles Wilson.1934. Unusual behavior of the western robin. Condor, vol. 36, pp. 33-34.Miller, Alden Holmes.1935. Some breeding birds of the Pine Forest Mountains, Nevada. Auk,vol. 52, pp. 467-468.Miller, Waldron DeWitt.1911. The notes of the hermit thrush. Bird-Lore, vol. 13, p. 99.Minot, Henry Davis.1877. The land birds and game birds of New England.1895. The land birds and game birds of New England, ed. 2.Moreau, Reginald Ernest.1937. Migrant birds in Tanganyika Territory. Tanganyika Notes andRecords, No. 4, pp. 1-34.Moreau, R. E., and Moreau, W. M.1928. Some notes on the habits of Palaearctic migrants while in Egypt.Ibis, 1928, pp. 233-252.MORLET, AVERIL.1937. Some activities of resident blackbirds in winter. British Birds, vol. 31,pp. 34-41.1938. (See under Witherby, Jourdain, Ticehurst, and Tucker.)Mounts, Beryl T.1922. A blue-gray gnatcatcher's nest. Wilson Bull., vol. 34, pp. 116-117.Mousley, Henry.1916. Five years personal notes and observations on the birds of Hatley,Stanstead County, Quebec?1911-1915. Auk, vol. 33, pp. 168-186.Murdoch, John.1885. Report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow,Alaska. Part 4, Natural History, pp. 91-135.Murray, Joseph James.1934. The blue-gray gnatcatcher moving its nest. Wilson Bull., vol. 46,p. 128.Musselman, Thomas Edgar.1935. Three years of eastern bluebird banding and study. Bird-Banding,vol. 6, pp. 117-125.1939. The effect of cold snaps upon the nesting of the eastern bluebird(Sialia sialis sialis). Bird-Banding, vol. 10, pp. 33-35.1942. A probable case of parasitism in the starling. Auk, vol. 59, pp.589-590.
LITERATURE CITED 431Myers, Harriet Williams.1907. Nesting ways of the western gnatcatcher. Condor, vol. 9, pp. 48-51.1912. Nesting habits of the western bluebird. Condor, vol. 14, pp. 221-222.Natorp, Otto.1928. Blaukelchens Stern. Beitr. Fortpflanzungsbiologie Vogel, vol. 4,pp. 136-139.Needham, James George.1909. Kinglets captured by burdocks. Bird-Lore, vol. 11, pp. 261-262.Nelson, Edward William.1883. Birds of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. Cruise of the Revenue-Steamer Corwin in Alaska and the N. W. Arctic Ocean in 1881,pp. 56-118.1887. Report upon natural history collections made in Alaska betweenthe years 1877 and 1881. U. S. Signal Service Arctic Ser., No. 3.Nethersole-Thompson, Caroline and Desmond.1942. Egg-shell disposal by birds. British Birds, vol. 35, pp. 162-169,190-200, 214-223, 241-250.1943. Nest-site selection by birds. British Birds, vol. 37, pp. 70-74,88-94, 108-113.Nice, Margaret Morse.1930a. Do birds usually change mates for the second brood? Bird-Banding,vol. 1, pp. 70-72.1930b. A list of the birds of the campus of the University of Oklahoma.Publ. Univ. Oklahoma Biol. Surv., vol. 2, pp. 195-207.1931. The birds of Oklahoma, rev. ed.1932. Observations on the nesting of the blue-gray gnatcatcher. WilsonBull., vol. 44, p. 54.1933. Robins and Carolina chickadees remating. Bird-Banding, vol. 4,p. 157.Nicholson, Edward Max, and Koch, Ludwig.1936. Songs of wild birds.Niethammer, Gunther.1937. Handbuch der deutschen Vogelkunde, vol. 1.Oberholser, Harry Church.1898. Description of a new North American thrush. Auk, vol. 15, pp. 303-306.1917. Description of a new Sialia from Mexico. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washing-ton, vol. 30, pp. 27-28.1938. The bird life of Louisiana. Louisiana Dept. Conserv., Bull. 28.Odum, Eugene Pleasants, and Burleigh, Thomas Dearborn.1946. Southward invasion in Georgia. Auk, vol. 63, pp. 388-401.Oldendow, K.1933. Fugleliv in Gr0nland. Gr0nl. Selsk. Aarsskr., 1932-33, pp. 17-224.Oldys, Henry.1913. A remarkable hermit thrush song. Auk, vol. 30, pp. 538-541.1916. Rhythmical singing of veeries. Auk, vol. 33, pp. 17-21.Ortega, James L.1926. Robin carrying water to young. Condor, vol. 28, p. 244.Osgood, Wilfred Hudson.1904. A biological reconnaissance of the base of the Alaska Peninsula.North Amer. Fauna, No. 24.1909. Biological investigations in Alaska and Yukon Territory. NorthAmer. Fauna, No. 30.
432 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMOwen, Daniel Edward.1897. Notes on a captive hermit thrush. Auk, vol. 14, pp. 1-8.Palmer, William.1897. The Sitkan kinglet. Auk, vol. 14, pp. 399-401.1906. The blue-gray gnatcatcher. Osprey, vol. 5, pp. 86-88.Parker, Harry G.1887. Notes on the eggs of the thrushes and thrashers. Ornithologist andOologist, vol. 12, pp. 69-71.Parsons, Katharine S.1906. Our robin's nest. Bird-Lore, vol. 8, pp. 66-67.Pearson, Thomas Gilbert.1910. The robin. Bird-Lore, vol. 12, pp. 206-209.1916. The veery. Bird-Lore, vol. 18, pp. 270-273.1917. The bird study book.Pederson, Alwin.1930. Fortgesetzte beitrage zur kenntnis der saugetier?und Vogelfauna derOstkiiste Gronlands. Medd. om Gr0nland, vol. 77, pp. 341-507.Peet, Max Minor.1908. Annotated list of the birds of Isle Royale, Michigan. Ecology of IsleRoyale. Michigan Survey, 1908, pp. 337-386.Perrior, A. W.1899. Food of the robin. Auk, vol. 16, p. 284.Perry, George P.1908. Nest of wood thrush into which a cowbird had deposited five eggs.Bird-Lore, vol. 10, pp. 126-127.Peters, Harold Seymore.1933. External parasites collected from banded birds. Bird-Banding, vol. 4,pp. 68-75.1936. A list of external parasites from birds of the eastern part of the UnitedStates. Bird-Banding, vol. 7, pp. 9-27.Pettingill, Olin Sewall, Jr.1930. Observations on the nesting activities of the hermit thrush. Bird-Banding, vol. 1, pp. 72-77.Phillips, John Charles.1927. Catbirds and robins as fish-eaters. Bird-Lore, vol. 29, pp. 342-343.Pitelka, Frank Alois.1941. Foraging behavior in the western bluebird. Condor, vol. 43, pp.198-199.Price, John Basye.1933. Winter behavior of two semi-albino western robins. Condor, vol.35, pp. 52-54.Provost, Maurice W.1939. Altitudinal distribution of birds in the White Mountains and itsapplication. Bull. Audubon Soc. New Hampshire, vol. 14, pp. 3-7.Putnam, F. W. (editor), and Wheatland, H. (secretary).1866. [Note on bluebirds nesting.] Proc. Essex Inst., vol. 4, p. cxlix.Racey, Kenneth.1939. Western bluebird notes. Can. Field-Nat., vol. 53, p. 30.Raney, Edward C.1939. Robin and mourning dove use the same nest. Auk, vol. 56, pp. 337-338.
LITERATURE CITED 433Reinhardt, Johannes.1861. List of the birds hitherto observed in Greenland. Ibis, vol. 3, pp.1-19.Reiser, Otmar.1894, 1896, 1905. Materialen zu einer Ornis Balcanica, vols. 2-3.Ridgwat, Robert.1877. United States geological exploration of the fortieth parallel, pt. 3:Ornithology.1894. On geographic variation in Sialia mexicana Swainson. Auk, vol. 11,pp. 145-160.1904. The birds of North and Middle America. U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 50,pt. 3.1907. The birds of North and Middle America. U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 50,pt. 4.1912. Color standards and color nomenclature.Riley, Joseph Harvey.1918. Annotated catalogue of a collection of birds made by Mr. Copley AmoryJr., in northeastern Siberia. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 54, pp.607-626.Roberts, Thomas Sadler.1936. The birds of Minnesota, ed. 2, vol. 2.Robinson, Herbert Christopher.1927. The birds of the Malay Peninsula, vol. 1.Rohrbach, J. H.1915. Plaster for the robin's nest. Bird-Lore, vol. 17, pp. 212-213.Root, Oscar Mitchell.1942. Wood thrush nesting in the coniferous bogs of Canadian Zone. Auk,vol. 59, pp. 113-114.Rowley, John Stuart.1939. Breeding birds of Mono County, California. Condor, vol. 41, pp.247-254.Ryves, B. H.1943. An investigation into the roles of males in relation to incubation.British Birds, vol. 37, pp. 10-16.Sage, John Hall.1885. Return of robins to the same nesting-places. Auk, vol. 2, p. 304.1886. A partial albino hermit thrush. Auk, vol. 3, p. 282.Salvin, Osbert.1888. A list of the birds of the islands of the coast of Yucatan and of theBay of Honduras. Tbis, 1888, pp. 241-265.Saunders, Aretas Andrews.1916. A note on the food of the western robin. Condor, vol. 18, p. 81.1921a. The song periods of individual birds. Auk, vol. 38, pp. 283-284.1921b. A distributional list of the birds of Montana. Pacific Coast Avifauna,No. 14.1924. Recognizing individual birds by song. Auk, vol. 41, pp. 242-259.1929a. The summer birds of the northern Adirondack Mountains. RooseveltWild Life Bull., vol. 5, pp. 323-499, figs. 93-160.1929b. Bird song. New York State Mus. Handbook, No. 7.1938. Studies of breeding birds in the Allegany State Park. New York StateMus. Bull. No. 318.
434 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMSaundebs, William Edwin.1887. The bluebird as a mimic. Ornithologist and Oologist, vol. 12, pp. 61-62.1907. A migration disaster in western Ontario. Auk, vol. 24, pp. 108-110.Saxby, Henry Linckmyer.1874. The birds of Shetland.Schantz, William Edward.1939. A detailed study of a family of robins. Wilson Bull., vol. 51, pp.157-169.SCHEEL, H.1927. Nathejre, Nycticorax griseus, og sjagger, Turdus pilaris, nue forGr0nland. Dansk Orn. Foren. Tidskr., Aagr. 21, pp. 76-81.Schiller, Eiler Theodor Lehn.1926. Danmarks Fugle.Sclater, William Lutley.1912. A history of the birds of Colorado.Scott, William Earl Dodge.1888. On the avi-fauna of Pinal County, with remarks on some birds ofPima and Gila Counties, Arizona. Auk, vol. 5, pp. 159-168.Seebohm, Henry.1879. Contributions to the ornithology of Siberia (third part). Ibis, 1879,pp. 1-18.1881. Catalogue of the birds in the British Museum, vol. 5.1901. The birds of Siberia.Seebohm, Henry, and Harvie-Brown, John Alexander.1876. Notes on the birds of the Lower Petchora. Ibis, 1876, pp. 105-126.Selous, Edmund.1901. Bird-watching.Seton, Ernest Thompson.1911. The Arctic prairies.Severson, H. P.1921. Robin's nest on a trolley wire. Bird-Lore, vol. 23, p. 249.Shaw, Tsen-Hwang.1936. The birds of Hopei Province. Zoologica Sinica, ser. b. The verte-brates of China, vol. 15, fasc. 2, pp. 529-974, figs. 304-506, pis. 14-25.Sheldon, Harry H.1908. Three nests of note from northern California. Condor, vol. 10, pp.120-124.Shelley, Lewis Orman.1930. Notes on the feeding reactions of some spring birds during a late snowstorm. Auk, vol. 47, pp. 100-101.Sherman, Althea Rosina.1912. Robin (Planesticus migratorius migratorius) . Wilson Bull., vol. 24,pp. 50-51.SlLLOWAY, PERLEY MlLTON.1901. Summer birds of Flathead Lake. Bull. Univ. Montana, No. 3.Simmons, George Finlay.1925. Birds of the Austin region.Skinner, Milton Philo.1928. A guide to the winter birds of the North Carolina sandhills.Smith, Wendell Phillips.1937. Some bluebird observations. Bird-Banding, vol. 8, pp. 25-30.Smith, Wilbur Franklin.1920. Some robins' nests. Bird-Lore, vol. 22, pp. 147-150.
LITERATURE CITED 435Soper, Joseph Dewey.1920. Nesting of the ruby-crowned kinglet at Guelph, Ontario. Can.Field-Nat., vol. 34, pp. 72-73.Spindler, Ethel M.1933. A true snake-story. Bird-Lore, vol. 35, p. 323.Sprot, G. D.1926. Mouse eaten by a robin. Murrelet, vol. 7, No. 3, p. 65.Stanwood, Cordelia Johnson.1910. The hermit thrush; the voice of the northern woods. Bird-Lore, vol.12, pp. 100-103.1913. The olive-backed thrush (Hylocichla ustvlata swainsoni) at his summerhome. Wilson Bull., vol. 25, pp. 118-137.Staton Jack.1941. Display in blackbirds. British Birds, vol. 35, p. 107.Stejneger, Leonhard.1883. Contributions to the history of the Commander Islands. No. 1.
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Notes on the natural history, including descriptions of new cetaceans.Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 6, pp. 58-89.1885. Results of ornithological explorations in the Commander Islands andKamtschatka. U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 29.1901. On the wheatears (Saxicola) occurring in North America. Proc.U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 23, pp. 473-481.Stockard, Charles Rupert.1905. Nesting habits of birds in Mississippi. Auk, vol. 22, pp. 273-285.Stone, D. D.1884. Colorado notes. Ornithologist and Oologist, vol. 9, pp. 20-21.Stoner, Dayton.1932. Ornithology of the Oneida Lake region: With reference to the late springand summer seasons. Roosevelt Wild Life Ann., vol. 2, Nos. 3, 4.Storer, Tracy Irwin.1923. English blackbird in California. Condor, vol. 25, pp. 67-68.1926. Range extensions by the western robin in California. Condor, vol. 28,pp. 264-267.Stover, A. J.1912. A robin's roost. Wilson Bull., vol. 24, pp. 169-171.Strickland, Laura Raymond.1934. A timely intervention. Bird-Lore, vol. 36, p. 239.Suckley, George, and Cooper, James Graham.1860. The natural history of Washington Territory and Oregon.Swainson, William, and Richardson, John.1831. Fauna Boreali-Americana, vol. 2. The birds.Swarth, Harry Schelwald.1902. Winter plumage of the black-tailed gnatcatcher. Condor, vol. 4, pp.86-87.1904. Birds of the Huachuca Mountains, Arizona. Pacific Coast Avifauna,No. 4.1914. A distributional list of the birds of Arizona. Pacific Coast Avifauna,No. 10.1922. Birds and mammals of the Stikine River region of northern BritishColumbia and Southeastern Alaska. Univ. California Publ. Zool.,vol. 24, pp. 125-314.
436 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMSwarth, Harry Schelward?Continued1926. Report on a collection of birds and mammals from the Atlin region,northern British Columbia. Univ. California Publ. Zool., vol. 30,pp. 51-162.1928. Occurrence of some Asiatic birds in Alaska. Proc. California Acad.Sci., ser. 4, vol. 17, pp. 247-251.1934. Birds of Nunivak Island, Alaska. Pacific Coast Avifauna, No. 22.Sweet, Dana W.1906. Bicknell's thrush on Mt. Abraham. Journ. Maine Orn. Soc, vol. 3,pp. 81-84.Swinburne, John.1890. The nest and eggs of Regulus calendula. Auk, vol. 7, pp. 97-98.Taczanowski, Ladislas.1872-1873. Bericht liber die ornithologischen Untersuchungen der Dr.Dybowski in Ost-Siberien. Journ. fur Orn., Jahrg. 20,pp. 340-366, 433-454; Jahrg. 21, pp. 81-119.1882. Liste des oiseaux recueillis par le Dr. Dybowski au Kamtschatka etdans les lies Comandores.1891. Faune ornithologique de la Sibgrie Orientale. M6m. Acad. ImpgrialeSci. St. P6tersbourg, ser. 7, vol. 39.Tate, Ralph C.1926. Some materials used in nest construction by certain birds of theOklahoma Panhandle. Univ. Oklahoma Bull., vol. 5, pp. 103-104.Taverner, Percy Algernon, and Swales, Bradshaw Hall.1908. The birds of Point Pelee. Wilson Bull., vol. 20, pp. 107-129.1940. Fieldfare, an addition to the American list, and some Arctic notes.Auk, vol. 57, p. 119.Taylor, Walter Penn.1912. Field notes on amphibians, reptiles and birds of northern HumboldtCounty, Nevada, with a discussion of some of the faunal features ofthe region. Univ. California Publ. Zool., vol. 7, pp. 319-436.Taylor, W. P., and Shaw, William Thomas.1927. Mammals and birds of Mount Rainier National Park.Tess, Stanley.1926. A plucky robin. Bird-Lore, vol. 28, pp. 202-203.Thayer, John Eliot.1911. Eggs and nest of the San Lucas robin. Oologist, vol. 28, p. 77.Thayer, J. E., and Bangs, Outram.1914. Notes on the birds and mammals of the Arctic coast of east Siberia.Birds. Proc. New England Zool. Club, vol. 5, pp. 1-48.Thomas, Ruth Harris.1946. A study of eastern bluebirds in Arkansas. Wilson Bull., vol. 58pp. 143-183.Thoms, Craig S.1929. A robin's strange nest. Bird-Lore, vol. 31, pp. 118-119.Ticehurst, Claud Buchanan.1925. [Exhibition and remarks on redwings from Iceland.] Bull. BritishOrn. Club, vol. 45, pp. 90-91.1938. A systematic review of the genus Phylloscopus.Ticehurst, Norman Frederic.1938. The handbook of British birds, vol. 1, 2. (By H. F. Witherby, F. C. R.Jourdain, Norman F. Ticehurst, and Bernard W. Tucker.)
LITERATURE CITED 437TlMMERMANN, GUNTER.1934. Die rotdrossel (Turdus musicus coburni Sharpe) als Stadtvogel inStidwest-Island. Journ. fur Orn., Jahrg. 82, pp. 319-324.Todd, Walter Edmond Clyde.1940. Birds of western Pennsylvania.Torrey, Bradford.1885. Birds in the bush.1892. The foot-path way.Townsend, Charles Haskins.1887. Notes on the natural history and ethnology of northern Alaska.Report of the cruise of the revenue marine steamer Corwin in theArctic Ocean in the year 1885.Townsend, Charles Wendell.1905. The birds of Essex County, Massachusetts. Mem. Nuttall Orn.Club, No. 3.1909. Robins used same nest six seasons. Journ. Maine Orn. Soc, vol. 11pp. 30-31.1923. Thrush killed by red-squirrel. Auk, vol. 40, p. 135.1924. Mimicry of voice in birds. Auk, vol. 41, pp. 541-552.Townsend, Charles Wendell, and Allen, Glover Morrill.1907. Birds of Labrador. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 33, pp. 277-428.Trafton, Gilbert Haven.1907. Robins nesting in bird-houses. Bird-Lore, vol. 9, p. 270.Trautman, Milton Bernard.1940. The birds of Buckeye Lake, Ohio. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan Misc.Publ. 44.Tucker, Bernard William.1938. The handbook of British birds, vol. 2. (By H. F. Witherby, F. C. R.Jourdain, Norman F. Ticehurst, and B. W. Tucker.)Turner, Emma Louisa.1911. The wheatear. In "The British Bird Book," vol. 1, pp. 398-407.Tyler, John Gripper.1913. Some birds of the Fresno District, California. Pacific Coast Avi-fauna, No. 9.Tyler, Winsor Marrett.1913. A successful pair of robins. Auk. vol, 30, pp. 394-398.1916. The call-notes of some nocturnal migrating birds. Auk, vol. 33,pp. 132-141.Vaiden, Meredith Gordon.1940. Interesting Mississippi birds. Migrant, vol. 11, pp. 66-68.van Rossem, Adriaan Joseph.1931. Concerning some western races of Polioptila melanura. Condor, vol.33, pp. 35-36.1942. A note on the western robin in the Pasadena area. Condor, vol. 44,p. 130.Van Tyne, Josselyn, and Sutton, George Miksch.1937. The birds of Brewster County, Texas. Mus. Zool. Univ. MichiganMisc. Publ. 37.Vaughan, Robert E., and Jones, Kenneth Hurlstone.1913. The birds of Hong Kong, Macao and the West River or Si Kiang inSouth-East China, with special reference to their nidification andseasonal movements. Ibis, ser. 10, vol. 1, pp. 17-76.
438 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMWallace, George John.1939. Bicknell's thrush, its taxonomy, distribution, and life history. Proc.Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 41, pp. 211-402.Walpole-Bond, John.1938. A history of Sussex birds, vol. 2.Walton, Herbert A.1903. Notes on the birds of Peking. Ibis, ser. 8, vol. 3, pp. 19-35.Wayne, Arthur Trezevant.1910. Birds of South Carolina. Contr. Charleston Mus., No. 1.Weston, Francis Marion.1935. Pensacola (Florida) region. The season. Bird-Lore, vol. 37, pp.467-468.Wetmore, Alexander.1936. The number of contour feathers in passeriform and related birds.Auk, vol. 53, pp. 159-169.1937. Observations on the birds of West Virginia. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.,vol. 84, pp. 401-441.1940. Notes on the birds of Kentucky, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 88, pp.529-574.Weydemeyer, Winton.1923. Notes on the song and the nest of the ruby-crowned kinglet. Condor,vol. 25, pp. 117-118.1934a. The song of the mountain bluebird. Condor, vol. 36, p. 164.1934b. Singing of the mountain bluebird and the western bluebird. Condor,vol. 36, pp. 249-251.Wharton, William Pickman.1941. Twelve years of banding at Summerville, S. C. Bird-Banding, vol.12, pp. 137-147.Wheatland, H. (See under F. W. Putnam.)Wheelock, Irene Grosvenor.1904. Birds of California.Wheelwright, Horace William ("An Old Bushman").1871. A spring and summer in Lapland.Whistler, Hugh.1928. Popular handbook of Indian birds.White, Francis Beach.1937. Local notes on the birds at Concord, New Hampshire.White, Stewart Edward.1893. Birds observed on Mackinac Island, Michigan, during the summersof 1889, 1890, and 1891. Auk, vol. 10, pp. 221-230.Whitehead, John.1899. Field-notes on birds collected in the Philippine Islands in 1893-6.Ibis, ser. 7, vol. 5, pp. 81-111.Whittle, Charles Livy.1922. Miscellaneous bird notes from Montana. Condor, vol. 24, pp. 73-81.Widman, Otto.1895. A winter robin roost in Missouri, and other ornithological notes. Auk,vol. 12, pp. 1-11.1907. A preliminary catalogue of the birds of Missouri.Wilson, Alexander, and Bonaparte, Charles Lucian.1832. American ornithology, vol. 1.
LITERATURE CITED 439Witherby, Harry Forbes.1920. A practical handbook of British birds, vol. 1.1938. The handbook of British birds, vols. 1, 2. (By H. F. Witherby,F. C. R. Jourdain, Norman F. Ticehurst, and Bernard W. Tucker.)Wood, A. H.1884. Tameness of the golden-crested kinglet (Regulus satrapa). Ornitholo-gist and Oologist, vol. 9, p. 62.Wood, Harold Bacon.1937. Robin strangled by a grass snake. Bird-Lore, vol. 39, p. 311.Wright, Horace Winslow.1909. Birds of the Boston Public Garden.1912. Morning awakening and even-song. Auk, vol. 29, pp. 307-327.1920. Hermit thrush's nest in unusual location. Auk, vol. 37, p. 138.Yamashina, Marquis Yoshimaro.1931. Die Vogel der Kurilen. Journ. fur Orn., Jahrg. 79, pp. 491-541.Yarrell, William.1874. A history of British birds, ed. 4, vol. 1. Edited by Alfred Newton.Youngworth, William.1929. A city robin roost. Wilson Bull., vol. 41, pp. 105-106.Ziemer, Ewald.1887. Ornithologische Beobachtungen. Monatsschrift deutschen VereinsSchutze Vogelwelt. Vol. 12, pp. 297-300.

NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 1
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 2
Near Toronto, Ontario. H. M. Halliday.Nest Used for 6 Years, Two Broods a YearEastern robin.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 3
Saskatchewan, Canada. H. O. Todd, Jr.Nest of Eastern Robin.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 4
Marthas Vineyard, Mass., May 26, 1901. Owen Durfee.Nest in an Eel Trap.
Fall River, Mass., May 23, 1V00. Owen Durfee.Very Low Nest.Nesting of Eastern Robin.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 5
Toronto, Ontario. H. M Halliday.An Albino Robin and its Mate.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 6
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 7
Mulino, Oreg., May 4, 1912. Alexander Walker.
F. C. Willard.Nests of Western Robins.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE
o
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 9
Duval County, Fla., May 1942.Wood-thrush Nest in poison-ivy Vine. S. A. Grimes.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 10
Hennepin County, Minn., June 12, 1940.Pair of Wood Thrushes. A. D. DuBois.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 11
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 12
U. s. National museum BULLETIN 196 PLATE 13
,.
*
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 14
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 15
BSJ.^SEllsworth, Maine. Cordelia J. Stanwood
Douglas Lake, Mich., June 30, 1928.Nests of Eastern Hermit Thrush.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 16
Mich., July 13, 1928
Brunswick, Maine, May 31, 1920i Eastern Hermit Thrush
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE \1
Douglas Lake, Mich., July 19, 1928.Young Cowbird 7 Days Old; Young Thrush 6 Days Old. A. O. Gross.
Ellsworth, Maine. Eastern Hermit Thrush. Cordelia J. Stanwood.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 19
KB
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 20
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 21FW*f
Ellsworth, Maine Cordelia J. Stanvvood.Olive-backed Thrush.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 22
Ellsworth, Maine. Cordelia J. Stanwond.
Price County. Wis., June 19, l''l A. D. DuBois.Olive-backed Thrush.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 23
Askinuk Mountains, Alaska, June 27, 1924.Nest of gray-cheeked thrush. Herbert Brandt.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 24
Seal Island, Nova Scotia, July 6, 1904.NESTING SITES OF BlCKNELL'S THRUSH. A. C. Bent.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 25
Nest in Blackberrv Bush.
Erie County, N. Y., June 10, 1927. S. A. Grimes.Nest on Ground.VEERY.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 27
Hennepin County, Minn., June 11, 1?^ A. D. DuBois.Willow Thrush.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 23
c\
?3V V^;-"'r""l ;|f?0/5 w/\ ?h :
V5 - mrw n "^f*' *Ti
..1
Nest of Willow Thrush. 4 ft DuBois.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 29
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 30
Logan County, 111., June 19, 1913. A. D. DuBois.Nest in a Fence Post.
Hennepin County, Minn., June 25, 1936. A. D. DuBcNest in a Box.Eastern Bluebird.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 31
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 32
Clinton, Iowa, June 1937. M. L, Miles.Eastern Bluebird and Nesting Box
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 33\ \ v
*?r
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 34
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 35
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 36
San Bernardino Mountains, Calif., June 20, 1916.Nests of Townsends Solitaire. \\ . M. Pierce.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 37
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 38
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 39 6<
w
N\
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 40
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 41
Duval County, Fla., May 12. 1933. S. A. Grimes.
Washington, D. C, May 8, 1938Nests of Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. G. V Petride
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 42
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 43
Near Seneca, Md., June 1941 R. E. Lawrence.Young Blue-gray Gnatcatchers
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 44
Huachuca Mountains, Ariz.. May 14, 1922.Nest of Western Gnatcatcher. A. C. Bent.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 45
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 46
Azusa, Calif., June 30, 1921. Habitat on San Gabriel Wash.
Imperial County, Calif., April 11, 1942.Nesting of Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. E. N. Harrison.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 47
Ellsworth, Maine. Cordelia J. Stanwood.Nest of Eastern Golden-crowned Kinglet.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 48
Ellsworth, Maine. Cordelia J. Stanwood.Young and Nest of Eastern Golden-crowned kinglet.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUMI BULLETIN 196 PLATE 49
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 50
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. H - J- Rust-Nesting Habitat of Western Ruby-crowned kinglet.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 196 PLATE 51

INDEX
abbreviata, Polioptila melanura, 373.Abel, Arthur R., on eastern robin, 33.Acanthopneuste borealis, 332, 334.borealis borealis, 330, 331, 335, 338.borealis kennicotti, 330, 331, 339.achrusterus, Turdus migratorius, 42, 45.Adair, Ward W., on eastern robin, 19.Aiken, C. E. W., and Warren, E. R., onchestnut-backed bluebird, 263.on Townsend's solitaire, 328.Alaska hermit thrush, 123, 128.Alcorn, G. D., viii.Aldrich, J. W., on black-backed robin,64.Aldrich, J. W., and Nutt, D. C, onblack-backed robin, 64.Alexander, Boyd, on European wheat-ear, 289, 292.aliciae, Turdus, 134, 190, 191.Allen, A. A., on blue-gray gnatcatcher,353.on wood thrush, 101, 105, 120.Allen, Amelia S., viii.\llen, Francis H., 117.on blue-gray gnatcatcher, 357.on eastern bluebird, 248, 249.on eastern golden-crowned kinglet,392.on eastern robin, 35.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,408.on mountain bluebird, 283.on veery, 223, 227.Allen, J. A., on yellow warbler, 30.Allin, A. E., viii.almae, Hylocichla, 172, 174.Hylocichla ustulata, 171, 188.Amadon, Dean, ix.amoenissima, Polioptila caerulea, 363,364.Amory, Copley, Jr., 335.anabelae, Sialia mexicana, 263, 265, 274.Anderson, Charles J., 235.Andresen, C, on Townsend's solitaire,319.Anthony, A. W., on San Pedro bluebird,274, 275.on Townsend's solitaire, 319, 320.Antonius, Otto, on European black-bird, 75.apache, Regulus satrapa, 395, 399.Aplin, Oliver V., on red-spotted blue-throat, 306.Arceuthornis musicus, 3.musicus coburni, 1, 3.792825?49- -29
Arizona golden-crowned kinglet, 395,399.Arnold, C. M., 37.Audubon, J. J., on eastern robin, 17, 38.auduboni, Hylocichla guttata, 128, 134,137, 139.Turdus, 134.Audubon's hermit thrush, 128, 139.Austin, Oliver L., 237.Austin, Oliver L., Jr., on black-backedrobin, 65.Azure bluebird, 259, 261.azurea, Sialia sialis, 261.Bagg, A. C, on eastern ruby-crownedkinglet, 400.Bagg, A. C, and Eliot, S. A., Jr., oneastern bluebird, 235, 256.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,400.on olive-backed thrush, 186.Bailey, A. M., on northwestern robin,49, 50.on Pacific varied thrush, 94.on red-spotted bluethroat, 304.Bailey, A. M., and Niedrach, R. J., onwestern robin, 56.Bailey, Florence M., on Audubon'shermit thrush, 140, 141, 142.on mountain bluebird, 276.on northwestern robin, 49, 50.on Pacific varied thrush, 92.on plumbeous gnatcatcher, 369, 370.on Townsend's solitaire, 319.on western robin, 58.Baird, S. F., 342.bairdi, Sialia mexicana, 261, 262, 265.Bancroft, Griffing, on Margarita gnat-catcher, 372, 373.Bangs, Outram, on Florida bluebird,262.(See also under Thayer, J. E.)Bangs, Outram, and Penard, T. E., oneastern hermit thrush, 143.Bannister, H. M. (See under Dall,W. H.)Barnes, Claude T., on mountain blue-bird, 282, 284.on western robin, 58.Barnes, R. M., 24.Batchelder, Charles F., on southernrobin, 45, 46.Baxter, Evelyn V., and Rintoul, Leo-nora J., on European wheatear, 296.441
442 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMBeal, F. E. L., on Alaska hermit thrush,125.on Bicknell's thrush, 207, 209.on black-tailed gnatcatcher, 379,380.on eastern bluebird, 247.on eastern hermit thrush, 152.on eastern robin, 26.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,405.on gray-cheeked thrush, 192.on mountain bluebird, 281.on olive-backed thrush, 181.on Pacific varied thrush, 89.on russet-backed thrush, 165, 166,168.on Townsend's solitaire, 321.on western bluebird, 270.on western gnatcatcher, 367.on western golden-crowned kinglet,399.on western robin, 57, 59.on western ruby-crowned kinglet,414.on willow thrush, 232.Bean, T. H., on European wheatear, 295.Beck, R. H., on Sierra hermit thrush,135.Belding, Lyman, on San Lucas robin, 66.on Sierra hermit thrush, 134, 136.Bendire, C. E., on black-tailed gnat-catcher, 375.Benson, Mary H., on wood thrush, 106.Bent, A. C, 121.on Bicknell's thrush, 209.on black-tailed gnatcatcher, 375.on blue-gray gnatcatcher, 350, 352.on eastern robin, 19, 20, 27, 29.on red-spotted bluethroat, 304, 307.on veery, 218, 220, 221, 222.on wood thrush, 114.Bergman, Sten, on Middendorff's grass-hopper-warbler, 342.Bicknell, E. P., on gray-cheeked thrush,194.bicknelli, Hylocichla minima, 190, 197,199.Bicknell's thrush, 197, 199.Binger, Harry F., on eastern robin, 30.Bird, C. G. and E. G., on Europeanblackbird, 70.on fieldfare, 9.Bishop, L. B., 190, 262, 307.on black-tailed gnatcatcher, 375.on European wheatear, 299.on red-spotted bluethroat, 304.on Townsend's solitaire, 324.Black-backed robin, 64.Black-tailed gnatcatcher, 372, 374.Blackbird, English, 71.European, 70.Blair, H. M. S., on European wheatear,289, 293.Blair, Helen, on fieldfare, 14.on wood thrush, 106.
Blair, R. H., and Tucker, B. W., onEuropean blackbird, 77.on European wheatear, 293.Blake, S. F., on eastern golden-crownedkinglet, 387.Blincoe, B. J., on blue-gray gnatcatcher,358Bluebird, azure, 259, 261.chestnut-backed, 262, 265.eastern, 233, 259, 271.Florida, 259, 262.mountain, 272, 276.San Pedro, 265, 274.Tamaulipas, 259, 262.western, 262, 265, 266.Bluebirds, 1.Blue-gray gnatcatcher, 344.Bluethroat, European white-spotted,308, 312.red-spotted, 303.Bolander, L. Ph., Jr., on western robin,60, 62.Bolles, Frank, on veery, 226.on Townsend's solitaire, 328.Bond, James, viii, ix.Boraston, J. M., on European black-bird, 75.borealis, Acanthopneuste, 332, 334.Acanthopneuste borealis, 330, 331,335, 338.Phylloscopus, 332.Bowdish, B. S., on eastern bluebird, 239.on western robin, 56, 57.Bowles, J. H., 397.(See also under Dawson, W. L.)Bovd, A. W., on European blackbird,75, 82.Brackbill, Hervey, on eastern robin, 20,21 22 29" 34.on wood' thrush," 103, 108, 110, 111,112, 113, 114, 116, 117.Bralliar, Floyd, on eastern robin, 27.Brand, Albert R., on eastern bluebird,251.on eastern hermit thrush, 157.on eastern robin, 35.Brandt, Herbert, on gray-cheekedthrush, 191.on northern varied thrush, 99.Brannon, Peter A., on eastern robin, 15.Braund, F. W., on veery, 220, 224.Brenninger, G. F., 370.Brewer, T. M., on gray-cheeked thrush,191.on olive-backed thrush, 177.on veery, 221.Brewster, William, on Audubon's her-mit thrush, 140.on azure bluebird, 261.on eastern golden-crowned king-let, 383, 384, 385, 387.on eastern robin, 30, 31, 32, 34, 38.on olive-backed thrush, 178.on russet-backed thrush, 163.on San Lucas gnatcatcher, 368.
INDEX 443Brewster, William, on San Lucas robin,67, 69.on veery, 218, 220, 226, 227, 228.on wood thrush, 102.on Xantus's gnatcatcher, 373.Briggs, G. H., on eastern bluebird, 242.Brooks, Allan, on eastern ruby-crownedkinglet, 402.on Pacific varied thrush, 86, 94.Brooks, Earl, on eastern robin, 25.Brooks, Maurice, on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 351, 354.on eastern golden-crowned kinglet,383.on olive-backed thrush, 175.on veery, 224.Brown, D. E., 397.Brown, Nathan C, on eastern robin, 39.Brown, W. A., on eastern robin, 21.Brown, Wilmot W., 68, 69, 369, 370.brunneus, Turdus, 143.Bryant, W. E., 67.on dusky kinglet, 417, 418.Burleigh, T. D., on eastern bluebird,234.on eastern robin, 21.on northern varied thrush, 99.on southern robin, 46.Burns, F. L., on eastern robin, 21.on veery, 222.Burroughs, John, on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 356.on eastern bluebird, 235, 236, 249,251.on eastern golden-crowned king-let, 401.on eastern hermit thrush, 143.on eastern robin, 16, 17.Butler, A. W., on eastern bluebird, 253.on olive-backed thrush, 182.Buxton, E. J. M., on fieldfare, 9.
caerulea, Polioptila, 369, 381.Polioptila caerulea, 344, 363, 364.calendula, Regulus, 416.Regulus calendula, 400, 412.californica, Polioptila, 374, 375, 379,380, 382.Polioptila melanura, 372, 374.Calliope calliope camtschatkensis, 313,317.Cameron, E. S., on Townsend's solitaire,327.Campbell, J. W., on Iceland red-wingedthrush, 4, 7.camtschatkensis, Calliope calliope, 313,317.Luscinia calliope, 342, 343.Carey, H. C, on eastern hermit thrush,145, 154.carolinus, Euphagus, 143.Carrick, W. H., viii.Carter, C. D., viii,Cartwright, W. C, 400.caurinus, Turdus migratorius, 42, 48, 52.
Chamberlain, Montagu, on easternhermit thrush, 156.on Greenland wheatear, 302.Chamberlin, Corydon, on western gnat-catcher, 366, 367.Chestnut-backed bluebird, 262, 265.Childs, John L., on eastern robin, 37.Chislett, Ralph, on red-spotted blue-throat, 308.Church, Cynthia, on eastern golden-crowned kinglet, 391.cinerasceus, Regulus calendula, 412, 413.cirlus, Emberiza, 336.Clark, A. H., on greater Kamchatkanightingale, 313, 316.Clarke, Mrs. J. F., on eastern robin, 33.clarus, Regulus regulus, 399.Cleveland, Lotta A., on eastern robin, 27.coburni, Arceuthornis musicus, 1, 3,Turdus musicus, 1, 8.Cochran, Mrs. Arch, on olive-backedthrush, 177, 186.Cogswell, H. L., viii.on Alaska hermit thrush, 126.on Pacific varied thrush, 92, 95.on western bluebird, 266, 273.on western robin, 59, 63.on western ruby-crowned kinglet,414, 415, 416.Coker, C. M., on eastern hermit thrush,154.Collett, Robert, on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337.Collinge, W. E., on European blackbird,78.Comeau, N. A., on eastern robin, 39.on Greenland wheatear, 302.confinis, Merula, 67.Turdus, 66.Cooke, May T., ix.on eastern robin, 30.Cooke, W. W., on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 357.Cooper, J. G. (See under Suckley,George.)Corrington, J. D., on eastern robin, 39.Cottam Clarence, 208.Coues, Elliott, on Townsend's solitaire,326.on veery, 219.Cowan, I. M., on russet-backed thrush,166.on Townsend's solitaire, 322.Coward, T. A., on European blackbird,74.Criddle, Norman, on mountain blue-bird, 277, 285.Cruttenden, John R., ix.curruca, Sylvia, 338.currucoides, Sialia, 276, 283.cyanecula, Cyanosylvia suecica, 303,308, 312.Cyanecula suecica, 304.Cyanosylvia suecica, 312.suecica cyanecula, 303, 308, 312.suecica robusta, 303, 304, 312.
444 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMDale, E. M. S., on eastern bluebird, 257.on eastern hermit thrush, 161.Dall, W. H., and Bannister, H. M.,on European wheatear, 288, 289, 290.Darcus, S. J., on dwarf hermit thrush,131.Daukes, A. H., on Iceland red-wingedthrush, 3.David, Armand, and Oustalet, Emile,on greater Kamchatka nightingale,316.Dawson, W. L., on Alaska hermitthrush, 125, 131, 132.on mountain bluebird, 283.on Pacific varied thrush, 84, 86, 87,90.on russet-backed thrush, 165.on Sierra hermit thrush, 137.on western bluebird, 269, 271.on western robin, 58.Dawson, W. L., and Bowles, J. H., onmountain bluebird, 277.on Townsend's solitaire, 323.on western golden-crowned kinglet,398.on willow thrush, 232.Deane, Ruthven, on eastern robin, 37.DeMeritte, E., on eastern hermit thrush,146.Dickey, Donald R., 54.Dickey, D. R., and van Rossem, A. J.,on olive-backed thrush, 187.on russet-backed thrush, 168.Dille, F. M., 141.Dingle, E. S., 186.Dixon, Joseph. (See under Grinnell,Joseph.)Dixon, J. S., on European wheatear,288, 299.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 332,333, 334, 337.Doe, Charles E., ix, 369, 373, 374.on San Pedro bluebird, 275.Dresser, H. E., on Middendorff'sgrasshopper-warbler, 342.Drew, F. M., on Townsend's solitaire,327.Du Bois, A. D., on eastern bluebird,238, 244, 248, 251, 252.on eastern robin, 20, 29.on gray-cheeked thrush, 195.on mountain bluebird, 278.on northern varied thrush, 100.on olive-backed thrush, 178, 184,185.on veery, 220.Dunn, H. H., on black-tailed gnat-catcher, 377.Dusky kinglet, 412, 417-Dwarf hermit thrush, 128.Dwight, Jonathan, Jr., on eastern blue-bird, 246.on eastern hermit thursh, 152.on eastern robin, 24.on gray-cheeked thrush, 192.on olive-backed thrush, 180.
Dwight, Jonathan, Jr., on Pacific variedthrush, 88.on veery, 222.Dybowski, Be^noit, on greater Kam-chatka nightingale, 316.on Middendorff's grasshopper-warbler, 341.Eastern bluebird, 233, 259, 271.Eastern golden-crowned kinglet, 382,395.Eastern hermit thrush, 129, 143.Eastern robin, 14.Eastern ruby-crowned kinglet, 400, 412.Eliot, S. A., Jr. (See under Bagg, A. C.)Emberiza cirlus, 336.Emerson, W. O., 67.English blackbird, 71.episcopus, Sialia sialis, 259, 262.Euphagus carolinus, 143.European blackbird, 70.European robin, 309.European wheatear, 288.European white-spotted bluethroat,308, 312.Evenden, Fred, Jr., viii.Eversmann's warbler, 330, 335, 336.Farley, Frank L., on eastern robin, 19.Faxon, Walter, on eastern robin, 37.faxoni, Hvlocichla guttata, 129, 143.Fieldfare/ 9.Fisher, A. K., 261.Fleming, J. H., on eastern hermitthrush, 144.Florida bluebird, 259, 262.Forbes, John R., on Greenlandwheatear, 302.Forbes, S. A., on eastern hermit thrush,153.Forbush, E. H., on eastern bluebird,235, 256.on blue-gray gnatcatcher, 352, 353.on eastern golden-crowned kinglet,389.on eastern hermit thrush, 146.on olive-backed thrush, 175.on veery, 221, 223.on wood thrush, 116, 118.Ford, E. R., on blue-grav gnatcatcher,349.on eastern bluebird, 252.Frazar, M. Abbott, 67, 139, 140, 163,373.on San Lucas robin, 69.Friedmann, Herbert, on Audubon'shermit thrush, 142.on blue-gray gnatcatcher, 358.on eastern bluebird, 252.on eastern golden-crowned kinglet,393.on eastern hermit thrush, 160.on eastern robin, 37.on eastern rubv-crowned kinglet,409.on mountain bluebird, 285.
INDEX 445Friedmann, Herbert, on olive-backedthrush, 185.on plumbeous gnatcatcher, 371.on russet-backed thrush, 167.on veerj% 227.on western gnatcatcher, 368.on willow thrush, 232.on wood thrush, 118.Fuertes, Louis A., on Pacific variedthrush, 92.fuliginosa, Hvlocichla fuscescens, 229,233.fulva, Sialia sialis, 259, 261, 262.fuscescens, Hylocichla fuscescens, 217,229, 233.Gale, Denis, 402.on willow thrush, 232.Gamier, E., on European blackbird, 75.Gatke, Heinrich, on red-spotted blue-throat, 311.Geyr, H. B., on European blackbird, 75.Gilbert, Harold S., on western robin, 60.Gillespie, J. A., on grav-cheeked thrush,195.Gnatcatcher, black-tailed, 372, 374.blue-gray, 344.Margarita, 372.plumbeous, 369, 372.San Francisquito, 372, 382.San Lucas, 363, 368.Sonora, 372, 382.western, 363, 364.Xantus's, 373.Gnatcatchers, 330.Goss, N. S., on blue-gray gnatcatcher,345.on wood thrush, 102.Grasshopper-warbler, Middendorff's,340.grata, Sialia sialis, 259, 262.Grater, R. K., on Audubon's hermitthrush, 140.on chestnut-backed bluebird, 264.on mountain bluebird, 277, 278, 285.on Townsend's solitaire, 318, 326.Gray-cheeked thrush, 188, 197.Greater Kamchatka nightingale, 313.Greenland wheatear, 300.Greene, C. D., 417.Grimes, S. A., on blue-grav gnatcatcher,347, 352, 353, 358, 359. *Grinnell, Joseph, 67.on dwarf hermit thrush, 131.on gray-cheeked thrush, 189, 190.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 331,332.on Mono hermit thrush, 137.on northern varied thrush, 97, 98,99.on northwestern robin, 48.on Pacific varied thrush, 88, 90.on red-spotted bluethroat, 304.on Sierra hermit thrush, 135.on Sitka kinglet, 416.
Grinnell, Joseph, on Townsend's soli-taire, 320.on western bluebird, 271.on western gnatcatcher, 364.on Xantus's gnatcatcher, 373.Grinnell, Joseph, Dixon, Joseph, andLinsdale, J. M., on russet-backedthrush, 136.on Sierra hermit thrush, 135.on Townsend's solitaire, 318.on western bluebird, 266.on western gnatcatcher, 365.on western rubv-crowned kinglet,413, 416.Grinnell, Joseph, and Linsdale, J. M.,on western bluebird, 267.Grinnell, Joseph, and Storer, T. I., onAlaska hermit thrush, 126.on mountain bluebird, 277, 278,282.on northern varied thrush, 100.on Townsend's solitaire, 319, 327.on Sierra hermit thrush, 136.on western bluebird, 266, 267, 271,272, 273.on western gnatcatcher, 365.on western robin, 53, 56, 62.on western ruby-crowned kinglet,414, 415.Grinnell, Joseph, and Wythe, Margaret W.,on dwarf hermit thrush, 131, 132.on Monterey hermit thrush, 132.on russet-backed thrush, 163, 167.grinnelli, Regulus calendula, 412, 416.Griscom, Ludlow, on black-backedrobin, 64, 65.on blue-gray gnatcatcher, 361.on gray-checked thrush, 196.on olive-backed thrush, 187.on russet-backed thrush, 168.Gross, Alfred O., viii.on eastern hermit thrush, 143.guttata, Hylocichla guttata, 123, 130.Halliday, Hugh M., 22, 25.Halliday, Mae, viii.Hallman, R. A., on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 346.Hamilton, W. J., Jr., on eastern robin,26, 27.Hanford, F. S., on Townsend's solitaire,325.Hanna, G. D. (See under Mailliard,Joseph.)Hanna, Wilson C, ix.on black-tailed gnatcatcher, 375,377, 381.on red-spotted bluethroat, 307.Hantzsch, B., on Iceland red-wingedtnrush, 2, 3, 4.Harbaum, Frank, on wood thrush, 112.Harding, Mrs. R. B., on veery, 221, 222.Hargrave, L. L., on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 350.Harlow, R. C, 417.
446 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMHarper, W. T., on eastern bluebird, 240.Harrington, Paul, on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet, 400, 402.on olive-backed thrush, 179.Harris, Wm. George F., ix.Harrison, Ed. N., ix.Harrold, C. G., 194.Hartert, Ernst, on red-spotted blue-throat, 304, 308, 312.Hartert, Ernst, and Steinbacher, Fried-rich, on European wheatear, 299.on Pleske's grasshopper-warbler,340, 342.on red-spotted bluethroat, 303,312.Harvie-Brown, J. H. (See under See-bohm, Henry.)Haskin, L. L., on Townsend's solitaire,322.Hazen, H. H., on wood thrush, 117.Hebard, F. V., viii.Heinroth, Oscar and Magdalena, onEuropean wheatear, 293.Helms, Otto, and Schi0ler, E. T., 70.Henderson, A. D., ix.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,404.on mountain bluebird, 278.Henderson, Junius, on eastern golden-crowned kinglet, 390.Henshaw, H. W., on mountain blue-bird, 270.on Townsend's solitaire, 323, 327.Hersey, F. S., 85.Higman, H. W., viii.Hodge, C. F., on eastern bluebird, 249.Hoffmann, Ralph, on mountain blue-bird, 283, 285.on plumbeous gnatcatcher, 371.on Townsend's solitaire, 324.on western bluebird, 272.on western ruby-crowned kinglet,416.Howe, R. H., Jr., on eastern robin, 18.on Newfoundland veerv, 233.Howell, A. H., 114.on blue-gray gnatcatcher, 353.on eastern hermit thrush, 162.on Florida bluebird, 262.on wood thrush, 120.Howell, Joseph C., on eastern robin, 33.Howes, P. G., on olive-backed thrush,186.Hurlbutt, Catherine A., on mountainbluebird, 279.Hvlocichla, 117, 181, 223.almae, 172, 174.fusccscens fuliginosa, 229, 233.fuscescens fuscescens, 217, 229, 233.fuscescens salicicola, 229, 231, 233.guttata auduboni, 128, 134, 137,139.guttata faxoni, 129, 143.guttata guttata, 123, 130.guttata nana, 143.guttata nanus, 128, 130, 139.
Hylocichla guttata pallasii, 143.guttata polionota, 128, 137, 138.guttata sequoiensis, 128, 134, 137.guttata slevini, 128, 132, 133, 134.minima bicknelli, 190, 197, 199.minima minima, 188, 197.mustelina, 101, 117.swainsoni, 170, 172, 174, 191.ustulata, 131, 168, 170. 174, 188.ustulata almae, 171, 188.ustulata swainsoni, 137, 143, 171,172, 174, 188, 233.ustulata ustulata, 163, 171, 174.Iceland red-winged thrush, 1.Ivor, H. R., on eastern hermit thrush,155.Ixoreus naevius, 93.naevius meruloides, 96, 97.naevius naevius, 84, 96.Jacobs, J. W., 240.Jameson, E. W., Jr., viii.on olive-backed thrush, 182.Jenks, Randolph, on Arizona golden-crowned kinglet, 399.Jensen, J. K., on Townsend's solitaire,320.on western robin, 61.Jewett. S. G., on russet-backed thrush,167.Johnson, F. O., 71.Johnson, J. W., 331.Johnston, Verna R., on eastern hermitthrush, 146.Jones, K. H. (See under Vaughan,R. E.)Jones, Lynds, 119.on olive-backed thrush, 177, 187.Jourdain, F. C. R., on European black-bird, 77, 78.on European wheatear, 293, 294,300.on fieldfare, 11, 13, 14.on Iceland red-winged thrush, 2,3, 4.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 336.on red-spotted bluethroat, 308.Kalmbach, E. R., on western robin, 57.Kane, Susan M., on western robin, 61.Kelly, Berners B., on eastern robin, 20.Kelso, Leon, on Audubon's hermitthrush, 142.Kennard, F. H., 102, 154, 409.kennicotti, Acanthopneuste borealis,330, 331, 339.Kennicott's willow-warbler, 330.Kent, W. A., on Pacific varied thrush,94.King, F. H., on eastern golden-crownedkinglet, 390.Kinglet, Arizona golden-crowned, 395,399dusky, 412, 417.eastern golden-crowned, 382, 395.
INDEX 447Kinglet, eastern ruby-crowned, 400,412.Sitka, 412, 416.western golden-crowned, 395, 397.western ruby-crowned, 412, 413.Kinglets, 330.Kirkman, F. B. B., on European black-bird, 74.Knight, Ora W., on eastern bluebird,241.on eastern golden-crowned kinglet,383, 386.on eastern hermit thrush, 151.on eastern robin, 21.on eastern rubv-crowned kinglet,400.'on olive-backed thrush, 182.on veery, 220, 225.Knowlton, G. F., viii.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,406.on mountain bluebird, 282.on Townsend's solitaire, 322.Knowlton, J. K., on eastern robin, 15.Knudsen, K., 70.Konig, D., on European blackbird, 75.Koren, Johan, 190.Kyllingstad, H. C, viii.on eastern robin, 14.on Pacific varied thrush, 87.on red-spotted bluethroat, 304.Lack, David, on European blackbird,72.Lack, David, and Light, William, onEuropean blackbird, 73-74.Lack, H. L., on European blackbird,81, 82.Laing, H. M., on greater Kamchatkanightingale, 315, 316.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 337.Lamb, C. C, 69.lanceolata, Locustella, 341.Langille, J. H., on Bicknell's thrush, 209.on veery, 225.Laskey, Amelia R., on eastern bluebird,241, 244, 245, 251, 258.La Touche, J. D. D. de, on greaterKamchatka nightingale, 313, 315,316.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 333,337, 338.on Middendorff's grasshopper-war-bler, 340, 344.on red-spotted bluethroat, 312.Lawrence, R. E., viii.leucorhoa, Oenanthe oenanthe, 300.Lewis, H. F., on eastern robin, 39.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,408.on Greenland wheatear, 303.Lincoln, F. C., on gray-cheeked thrush,189.on wood thrush, 120.
Linsdale, J. M., on Mono hermit thrush,138.on mountain bluebird, 278.(See also under Grinnell, Joseph.)Lippincott, J. W., on eastern robin, 30.Llovd, Bertram, on European wheatear,290, 292.Llovd, C. K., on blue-gray gnatcatcher,350.Locustella lanceolata, 341.ochotensis, 340, 342.ochotensis ochotensis, 340, 341,343, 344.ochotensis pleskei, 340, 341, 342,343, 344.Longstaff, T. G., on Greenland wheat-ear, 303.Lord, Fred, on wood thrush, 102.Low, Seth H., on eastern bluebird, 236,244.Lowell, James Russell, on eastern robin,23.lucida, Polioptila melanura, 372, 382.luscinia calliope camtschatkensis, 342,343.Lynes, Hubert, on European wheatear,'299.Mackay, George H., on eastern robin,15.Macoun, John and James M., on Bick-nell's thrush, 215.on mountain bluebird, 279.Magoon, D. J., viii.Mailliard, Joseph, on Pacific variedthrush, 93.on western robin, 55, 59.Mailliard, Joseph, and Hanna, G. D.,on European wheatear, 299.Margarita gnatcatcher, 372.margaritae, Polioptila, 372, 382.Polioptila melanura, 372, 374.Marshall, W. A., on eastern robin, 30.Mason, E. A., on eastern bluebird, 255,256.Maynard, C. J., on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 356.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,410.McAtee, W. L., on Bicknell's thrush,207.on eastern golden-crowned kinglet-390.on eastern robin, 25.on veery, 222.McClintock," Norman, on eastern hermitthrush, 158.Mcintosh, F. G., on eastern robin, 30.McKechnie, F. B., 313.McKinnon, Angus, on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 346.McMullen, Turner E., ix, 418.Mearns, E. A., on Audubon's hermitthrush, 141.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,402.
448 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMMeiklejohn, M. F. M., on Europeanwheatear, 296.Meinertzhagen, Richard, on Europeanwheatear, 289, 299.melanura, Polioptila melanura, 369,372, 373. 382.Melcher, Lotta T., on eastern robin, 39.Merriam, C. H., on eastern hermitthrush, 151.merula, Planesticus, 71.Turdus, 71.Turdus merula, 70.Merula confinis, 67.migratoria propinqua, 71.meruloides, Ixoreus naevius, 96, 97.Orpheus, 97.mexicana, Sialia, 263, 264, 274.Sialia mexicana, 274, 275.Michael, C. W., 100, 273.on western robin, 58.Middendorff's grasshopper-warbler, 340.Migratoria migratoria, 45, 46.migratorius, Planesticus migratorius, 45,48.Turdus, 52.Turdus migratorius, 14, 42, 64.Miller, A. H., viii.on mountain bluebird, 283.Miller, R. F., viii.Miller, W. D., on eastern hermit thrush,159Mills,' R. H., viii.minima, Hylocichla minima, 188, 197.Minot, H. D., on eastern golden-crowned kinglet, 384.on wood thrush, 102, 112.Mono hermit thrush, 128, 137.Montagna, William, 108.Monterey hermit thrush, 128, 132.Moon, H. J., on European wheatear,293.Moore, Tilford, viii.on eastern robin, 28, 33, 36.Moreau, R. E., on European wheatear,290, 299.on red-spotted bluethroat, 311.Morley, Averil, on European blackbird,76, 81.Mountain bluebird, 272, 276.Mounts, B. T., on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 352.Mousley, Henry, on eastern bluebird,241.on eastern robin, 18.on veery, 219.Murdock, James, viii.on western bluebird, 268.Murdock, John, on European wheatear,289.Murray, J. J., on blue-grav gnatcatcher,347.Musgrove, J. W., viii.musicus, Arceuthornis, 3.Musselman, T. E., on eastern bluebird,236, 237, 238, 241, 252, 254.mustelina, Hylocichla, 101, 117.
Myadestes townsendi, 317.Myers, H. R., viii.Mvers, Harriet W., on western bluebird,268.on western gnatcatcher, 367, 368.naevius, Ixoreus, 93.Ixoreus naevius, 84, 96.nana, Hylocichla guttata, 143.nanus, Hylocichla guttata, 128, 130, 139.Natorp, Otto, on red-spotted blue-throat, 306.Needham, J. G., on eastern golden-crowned kinglet, 393.Nelson, E. W., on European wheatear,288, 289.on gray-cheeked thrush, 188, 189,191, 196.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 331.on northern varied thrush, 99.on red-spotted bluethroat, 304, 312.nelsoni, Polioptila melanura, 382.Nethersole-Thompson, C. and D., onEuropean blackbird, 77.on European wheatear, 292, 293.Newfoundland veery, 229, 233.Nice, Margaret M., on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 346, 349, 351.on eastern bluebird, 236.on eastern robin, 30.on olive-backed thrush, 187.on southern robin, 47.Nicholas, L. N., viii.on veery, 226.Nicholson, D. J., on wood thrush, 114.Nicholson, E. M., on European black-bird, 79.Niedrach, R. J. (See under Bailey,A. M.)Niethammer, G., on European black-bird, 74, 76, 81, 84.on European wheatear, 293, 298,299.Nightingale, greater Kamchatka, 313.nigrideus, Turdus migratorius, 42, 45, 64.nivea, Oenanthe oenanthe, 300.Northern varied thrush, 97.Northwestern robin, 48.Nutt, D. C. (See under Aldrich, J. W.)Oberholser, H. C, on blue-gray gnat-catcher. 354.on Tamaulipas bluebird, 262.on western olive-backed thrush,188.obscura, Polioptila caerulea, 363, 364,368, 379.obscurus, Regulus, 416.Regulus calendula, 412, 417.occidentalis, Sialia mexicana, 263, 265,266, 275.ochotensis, Locustella, 340, 342.Locustella ochotensis, 340, 341,343, 344.Odum, E. P., and Burleigh, T. D., onsouthern robin, 48.
INDEX 449
oenanthe, Oenanthe oenanthe, 288.Saxicola, 301.Oenanthe oenanthe leucorhoa, 300.oenanthe nivea, 300.oenanthe oenanthe, 288.Oldendow, K., on fieldfare, 9Oldys, Henry, on eastern hermit thrush,157.on veery, 226.olivaceus, Regulus regulus, 399.Regulus satrapa, 395, 397.Olive-backed thrush, 137, 138, 174.Orpheus meruloides, 97.Orr, Robert T., ix.Ortega, James L., on western robin, 56.Osgood, W. H., on European wheatear,288.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 331.on olive-backed thrush, 184.Oustalet, Emile. (See under David,Armand.)Owen, D. E., on eastern hermit thrush,154.Pacific varied thrush, 84.pallasii, Hylocichla guttata, 143.Turdus, 139.Palmen, J. A., 301.Palmer, William, on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 351.on Sitka kinglet, 417.Parker, H. G., on eastern hermit thrush,146.Parsons, Katharine, on eastern robin,18.Passeriformes, 1.Pearse, Theed, on northwestern robin,51, 52.on Pacific varied thrush, 91.on western bluebird, 266, 270, 273.Pearson, H. J., on red-spotted blue-throat, 307.Pearson, T. G., on eastern bluebird, 236.on eastern robin, 17, 18.on veery, 219.Pedersen, Alwin, on European black-bird, 70.Peet, M. M., on gray-cheeked thrush,196.on olive-backed thrush, 176.Penard, T. E. (See under Bangs, Out-ram.)Pepper, William, 30.Perrett, W. W., 191.Perrior, A. W., on eastern robin, 27.Perry, G. P., on wood thrush, 118.Peters, H. S., on eastern bluebird, 253.on eastern golden-crowned kinglet,393.on eastern hermit thrush, 160.on eastern robin, 37.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,409.on gray-cheeked thrush, 196.on olive-backed thrush, 186.on wood thrush, 119.
Peters, J. L., on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 331.Petersen, K. H., 9.Petrides, G. A., viii.on blue-gray gnatcatcher, 346, 351,352.Phillips, John C., on eastern robin, 27.Phylloscopus borealis, 332.trochilus, 333.Pickens, A. L., viii.on blue-gray gnatcatcher, 357.on eastern bluebird, 239, 257.on southern robin, 46.pilaris, Turdus, 9.Pitelka, F. A., on western bluebird, 270.Planesticus merula, 71.migratorius migratorius, 45, 48.migratorius propinquus, 48.migratorius subsp., 50.pleskei, Locustella ochotensis, 340, 341,342, 343, 344.plumbea, Polioptila, 372, 373, 375, 376.Plumbeous gnatcatcher, 369, 372.polionota, Hylocichla guttata, 128, 137,138.Polioptila caerulea, 369, 381.caerulea amoenissima, 363, 364.caerulea caerulea, 344, 363, 364.caerulea obscura, 363, 364, 368,379.californica, 374, 375, 379, 380, 382.margaritae, 372, 382.melanura abbreviata, 373.melanura californica, 372, 374.melanura lucida, 372, 382.melanura margaritae, 372, 374.melanura melanura, 369, 372, 373,382.melanura nelsoni, 382.melanura pontilis, 372, 382.plumbea, 372, 373, 375, 376.pontilis, Polioptila melanura, 372, 382.Potter, L. B., on willow thrush, 231, 232.Preble, E. A., on eastern bluebird, 249.on eastern hermit thrush, 145.on eastern robin, 20, 21.Preston, J. W., 319, 320.Price, John B., on western robin, 62, 63.Proctor, W. P., on blue-gray gnatcatch-er, 348, 349, 351, 352.propinqua, Merula migratoria, 71.propinquus, Planesticus migratorius,48.Turdus migratorius, 42, 48, 49, 50,51, 52.Provost, M. W., on wood thrush, 102.Purdie, H. A., 220.Putnam, F. W., and Wheatland, H., oneastern bluebird, 239.Racey, Kenneth, on western bluebird,268.Randall, T. E., 285.Raney, E. C., on eastern robin, 20.
450 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMRathbun, S. F., 84, 85.on Alaska hermit thrush, 123, 126.on northwestern robin, 48, 49, 50,51.on Pacific varied thrush, 84, 85, 90,91, 93, 94.on russet-backed thrush, 164, 167,168.on Sierra hermit thrush, 137.on Townsend's solitaire, 322, 324.on western bluebird, 266, 274.on western golden-crowned kinglet,397, 398, 399.on western robin, 54, 55, 58, 59, 60,61.Red-spotted bluethroat, 303.Red-winged thrush, 9, 305.Regulus calendula, 416.calendula calendula, 400, 412.calendula cinerasceus, 412, 413.calendula grinnelli, 412, 416.calendula obscurus, 412, 417.obscurus, 416.regulus clarus, 399.regulus olivaceus, 399.regulus satrapa, 399.satrapa apache, 395, 399.satrapa olivaceus, 395, 397.satrapa satrapa, 382, 395.Richardson, John. (See under Swain-son, William.)Richmond, C. W., 71, 239.Ridgwav, Robert, on azure bluebird,261.on chestnut-backed bluebird, 263.on dwarf hermit thrush, 130.on eastern golden-crowned kinglet,388.on eastern hermit thrush, 143.on eastern robin, 24.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,405.on European wheatear, 289, 300.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 330,331.on Margarita gnatcatcher, 372.on Middendorff's grasshopper-warbler, 341.on mountain bluebird, 276, 280,281.on northern varied thrush, 97.on Pacific varied thrush, 88.on San Pedro bluebird, 274.on Townsend's solitaire, 321, 323.on western bluebird, 269.on western gnatcatcher, 364.on willow thrush, 231.Riley, J. H., on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 335.Rintoul, Leonora J. (See under Baxter,Evelyn V.)Roberts, T. S., on eastern bluebird, 239.on eastern golden-crowned kinglet,383.on willow thrush, 232.on wood thrush, 101, 120.
Robin, black-backed, 64.eastern, 14.European, 309.northwestern, 48.San Lucas, 66.southern, 45.western, 52, 272, 284.Robinson, H. C, on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 338.robusta, Cyanosylvia suecica, 303, 304,312.Rohrbach. J. H., on eastern robin, 18.Root, O. M., on wood thrush, 101.Rowley, J. S., 9, 164, 369.on plumbeous gnatcatcher, 371.on San Lucas robin, 67, 70.on San Pedro bluebird, 275.on Sierra hermit thrush, 134.on western ruby-crowned kinglet,414.on Xantus's gnatcatcher, 373.Russet-backed thrush, 163.ruticilla, Setophaga, 375.Ryves, B. H., on European black-birds, 77.Sage, John H., on eastern hermit thrush,152.on eastern robin, 21.salicicola, Hylocichla fuscescens, 229,231, 233.Salvin, Osbert, on wood thrush, 120.San Francisquito gnatcatcher, 372, 382.San Lucas gnatcatcher, 363, 368.San Lucas robin, 66.San Pedro bluebird, 265, 274.Sanford, W. H., 152.satrapa, Regulus regulus, 399.Regulus satrapa, 382, 395.Saunders, Aretas A., 106.on blue-gray gnatcatcher, 349, 357.on eastern bluebird, 250.on eastern golden-crowned kinglet,383, 391.on eastern hermit thrush, 156, 159,161.on eastern robin, 29, 33.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,401, 407, 409.on mountain bluebird, 277, 283.on olive-backed thrush, 183.on Townsend's solitaire, 324, 325,326.on western golden-crowned kinglet,397.on western robin, 58.on veery, 226.on wood thrush, 115, 117.Saunders, W. E., on eastern bluebird,251.Saxby, H. L., on European wheatear,293, 296.Saxicola, 301, 302.oenanthe, 301.Schantz, W. E., on eastern robin, 23.Scheel, H? 9.
INDEX 451Schi0ler, E. T. (See under Helms, Otto.)Sclater, W. L., on Audubon's hermitthrush, 141.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,402.on willow thrush, 232.Scott, W. E. D., on western robin, 62.Seebohm, Henry, 333.on European wheatear, 300.on fieldfare, 14.on greater Kamchatka nightingale,316.on Iceland red-winged thrush, 2.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 334,335.on red-spotted bluethroat, 310.Seebohm, Henry, and Harvie-Brown, J.H., on red-spotted bluethroat, 310.Selous, Edmund, on European wheatear,291.sequoiensis, Hylocichla guttata, 128,134, 137.Seton, E. T., 20.Setophaga ruticilla, 375.Severson, H. P., on eastern robin, 19.Shaw, Tsen-Hwang, on greater Kam-chatka nightingale, 314.Shaw, W. T., viii.(See also under Taylor, W. P.)Sheldon, H. H., on Monterey hermitthrush, 133.Shelley, L. O., on eastern hermit thrush,153.Sherman, Althea R., on eastern robins,39.Sherman, Franklin, on eastern bluebird,241.Shore, W. E., viii.Sierra hermit thrush, 128, 134.Sialia currucoides, 276, 283.mexicana, 263, 264, 274.mexicana anabelae, 263, 265, 274.mexicana bairdi, 261, 262, 265.mexicana mexicana, 274, 275.mexicana occidentalis, 263, 265,266, 275.sialis, 261, 284.sialis azurea, 261.sialis episcopus, 259, 262.sialis fulva, 259, 261, 262.sialis grata, 259, 262.sialis sialis, 233, 259, 262.sialis, Sialia, 261, 284.Sialia sialis, 233, 259, 262.Silloway, P. M., on olive-backed thrush,178.Simmons, G. F., on mountain bluebird,286.Sitka kinglet, 412, 416.Skinner, M. P., on eastern bluebird, 257.on eastern golden-crowned kinglet,390.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,406.
Skutch, A. F., on blue-gray gnatcatcher,354, 357, 361.on russet-backed thrush, 168.on wood thrush, 120, 121.slevini, Hylocichla guttata, 128, 132,133, 134.Smith, C. F., on Greenland wheatear,303.Smith, L. W., on eastern robin, 39.Smith, W. F., on eastern robin, 19.Smith, W. P., on eastern bluebird, 240,243, 244, 246.Solitaire, Townsend's, 317.Solitaires, 1.solitarius, Turdus, 143.Sonora gnatcatcher, 372, 382.Soper, J. D., on eastern ruby-crownedkinglet, 404.Southern robin, 45.Spindler, Ethel M., on eastern robin, 37.Sprot, G. D., on northwestern robin, 50.Sprunt, Alexander, Jr., on blue-graygnatcatcher, 361.on eastern bluebird, 241.Stanwood, Cordelia J., on easterngolden-crowned kinglet, 386, 388,390, 393.on eastern hermit thrush, 151, 158.on olive-backed thrush, 178, 179,180, 182, 183, 186.Staton, J., on European blackbird, 82.Steinbacher, Friedrich. (See underHartert, Ernst.)Stejneger, Leonhard, 341.on European wheatear, 301.on greater Kamchatka nightingale,313, 315.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 334.on Middendorff's grasshopper-warbler, 342, 343.Stevens, Lawrence, ix.Stimson, L. A., on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 358, 359, 360.Stockard, C. R., on eastern bluebird,239.Stone, D. D., on Audubon's hermitthrush, 141.Stonechat, 302.Stonechats, 1.Stoner, Dayton, on gray-cheeked thrush,194.Storer, T. I., on European blackbird,70-71.on western robin, 53.(See also under Grinnell, Joseph.)Stover, A. J., on eastern robin, 33.Stout, George, on Iceland red-wingedthrush, 6.Strickland, Laura R., on eastern robin,37.Stuart, George H., 3d, ix.Suckley, George, and Cooper, J. G., onPacific varied thrush, 94.suecica, Cyanecula, 304.Cyanosylvia, 312.
452 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMSutton, G. M., 108.(See also under Van Tyne, Jos-selyn.)Swainson, William, and Richardson,John, on northern varied thrush, 97.swainsoni, Hylocichla, 170, 172, 174,191.Hylocichla ustulata, 137, 143, 171,172, 174, 188, 233.Turdus, 191.swainsonii, Turdus ustulatus, 192.Swales, B. H. (See under Taverner,P. A.)Swarth, H. S., 71.on Alaska hermit thrush, 124.on Audubon's hermit thrush, 140.on azure bluebird, 261.on black-tailed gnatcatcher, 379.on chestnut-backed bluebird, 263.on gray-cheeked thrush, 194.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 331.on Middendorff's grasshopper-war-bler, 340.on Monterey hermit thrush, 133.on olive-backed thrush, 174, 176,179.on Townsend's solitaire, 326.Swinburne, John, on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet, 402.Sylvia curruca, 338.Sylviidae, 330.Taber, Wendell, 15.on gray-cheeked thrush, 193.on olive-backed thrush, 175.on eastern robin, 38.Taczanowski, Ladislas, on greater Kam-chatka nightingale, 314.on Middendorff's grasshopper-war-bler, 341.Talmadge, R. R., on Monterey hermitthrush, 133.on Pacific varied thrush, 87.Tamaulipas bluebird, 259, 262.Tate, R. C, on mountain bluebird, 279.Taverner, P. A., on fieldfare, 9.Taverner, P. A., and Swales, B. H., onblue-gray gnatcatcher, 355.on eastern bluebird, 256.on olive-backed thrush, 177, 185,187.Taylor, W. A., on eastern bluebird, 249.Taylor, W. P., on western robin, 55.Taylor, W. P., and Shaw, W. T., onSierra hermit thrush, 136.on mountain bluebird, 280.on western robin, 53.Tess, Stanley, on eastern robin, 19.Thayer, J. E., 307, 369.on San Luca.-> robin, 68, 69.Thayer, J. E., and Bangs, Outram, onEuropean wheatear, 289, 299.on gray-cheeked thrush, 190.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 333.on red-spotted bluethroat, 312.
Thomas, Ruth H., on eastern bluebird,250.Thorns, Craig S., on eastern robin, 20.Thrush, Alaska hermit, 123, 128.Audubon's hermit, 128, 139.Bicknell's, 197, 199.dwarf hermit, 128, 130.eastern hermit, 129, 143.gray-cheeked, 188, 197.Iceland red-winged, 1.Mono hermit, 128, 137.Monterey hermit, 128, 132.northern varied, 97.olive-backed, 137, 138, 174.Pacific varied, 84.Sierra hermit, 128, 134.red-winged, 9, 305.russet-backed, 163.western olive-backed, 188.willow, 229, 231.Wilson's, 229.wood, 101.Thrushes, 1.Ticehurst, C. B., on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 331, 335, 339.Ticehurst, N. F., on European black-bird, 83.on European wheatear, 289, 299.on Iceland red-winged thrush, 2.Timmerman, G., on Iceland red-wingedthrush, 3.Todd, W. E. C., on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 349.on eastern bluebird, 234, 240.on eastern rubv-crowned kinglet,407, 409.Torrey, Bradford, on Bicknell's thrush,209.on eastern robin, 17, 33.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,407.on veery, 225, 226.Townsend, C. H., on Kennicott'swillow-warbler, 332.Townsend, C. W., on mountain blue-bird, 283.on veery, 226.on wood thrush, 117.on eastern robin, 21, 30.on olive-backed thrush, 186.Townsend, C. W., and Allen, G. M., onblack-backed robin, 65.Townsend, J. K., 317.townsendi, Myadestes, 317.Townsend's solitaire, 317.Tracy, J. C, viii.Trafton, Gilbert H., on eastern robin,19.Trautman, M. B., on eastern bluebird,256.on eastern golden-crowned kinglet,384.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,401.on olive-backed thrush, 176.
INDEX 453Trippe, T. M., 326.trochilus, Phylloscopus, 333.Tucker, Bernard W., viii.on European blackbird, 70.on European wheatear, 288, 299,303.on fieldfare, 9.on greater Kamchatka nightingale,314, 316, 317.on Iceland red-winged thrush, 1.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 330.on red-spotted bluethroat, 303.(See also under Blair, R. H., andTyler, W. M.)Tufts, R. W., 178, 409.on eastern bluebird, 255.on eastern golden-crowned kinglet,383, 387.Turdidae, 1, 148.Turdus, 14.aliciae, 134, 190, 191.auduboni, 134.brunneus, 143.confinis, 66.merula, 71.merula merula, 70.migratorius, 52.migratorius achrusterus, 42, 45.migratorius caurinus, 42, 48, 52.migratorius migratorius, 14, 42, 64.migratorius nigrideus, 42, 45, 64.migratorius propinquus, 42, 48, 49,50, 51, 52.musicus coburni, 1, 8.pallasii, 139.pilaris, 9.solitarius, 143.swainsoni, 191.ustulatus, 177, 191.ustulatus swainsonii, 192.Turner, Emma L., on European wheat-ear, 290, 293.Turner, L. M., 64.on gray-cheeked thrush, 190, 194,195.on black-backed robin, 65, 66.Tvler, John G., on dwarf hermit thrush,132.on mountain bluebird, 282.Tyler, Winsor M., viii.on eastern bluebird, 254.on eastern robin, 14.on veery, 217, 228.Tyler, W. M., and Tucker, B. W., onMiddendorff's grasshopper-warbler,340.
ustulata, Hylocichla, 131, 168, 170, 174,188Hylocichla ustulata, 163, 171, 174.ustulatus, Turdus, 177, 191.Vaiden, M. G., on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 358.on eastern bluebird, 238, 257.
Vaiden, M. G., on Mono hermit thrush,138.on southern robin, 46, 47, 48.van Rossem, A. J., on San Francisquitognatcatcher, 382.on Sonora gnatcatcher, 382.on western robin, 54.(See also under Dickey, D. R.)van Someren, V. G. L., 299.Van Tyne, Josselyn, and Sutton, G. M.,on plumbeous gnatcatcher, 369, 370.Vaughan, R. E., and Jones, K. H., ongreater Kamchatka nightingale, 315.Veery, 217, 229.Newfoundland, 229, 233.Wagner, H. O., viii.on Audubon's hermit thrush, 142.on western robin, 63.Wallace, G. J., viii.on Bicknell's thrush, 199, 208, 215.on grav-cheeked thrush, 191, 192,196, 197.Walpole-Bond, John, on Europeanwheatear, 293, 298.Walton, H. A., on greater Kamchatkanightingale, 315.Warbler, Eversmann's, 330, 335, 336.Warblers, 330.Warner, Annie L., 146.Warren, E. R. (See under Aiken,C. E. W.)Wayne, A. T., on blue-gray gnatcatcher,347, 348, 359.on eastern bluebird, 243.on eastern hermit thrush, 162.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,409.Weaver, Florence G., viii.on wood thrush, 101.Welch, G. O., 221.Western bluebird, 262, 265, 266.Western gnatcatcher, 363, 364.Western golden-crowned kinglet, 395.Western olive-backed thrush, 188.Western robin, 52, 272, 284.Western ruby-crowned kinglet, 412, 413.Weston, Francis M., viii.on blue-bray gnatcatcher, 344.on wood thrush, 119.Wetmore, Alexander, 313.on eastern hermit thrush, 152.on southern robin, 46.on wood thrush, 113.Weydemeyer, Winton, 283.on eastern ruby-crowned kinglet,402, 403, 408.on mountain bluebird, 284.on western bluebird, 272.Wharton, W. P., on eastern hermitthrush, 162.Wheatear, European, 288.Greenland, 300.Wheeler, W. C, 256.Wheatland, H. (See under Putnam,F. W.)
454 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUMWheelock, Irene G., on mountain blue-bird, 276, 279, 284.on russet-backed thrush, 165.on Townsend's solitaire, 321.on western robin, 54, 55, 56.Wheelwright, H. W., on Iceland red-winged thrush, 5.Whigham, Mrs. A. L., on blue-gray gnat-catcher, 353.Whistler, Hugh, on red-spotted blue-throat, 312.Whitaker, J. R., 178, 191.White, Francis B., on eastern robin, 38.White, S. E., on olive-backed thrush,184.Whitehead, John, on greater Kamchatkanightingale, 317.Whittle, C. L., on Townsend's solitaire,325, 326.Widmann, Otto, on eastern hermitthrush, 159, 162.on eastern robin, 39.on wood thrush, 101.Willard, F. C, on plumbeous gnat-catcher, 370.Willett, George, viii.on dwarf hermit thrush, 131.on northwestern robin, 49, 50.on Pacific varied thrush, 85, 86, 94.on russet-backed thrush, 164, 168.Willow thrush, 229, 231.Willow-warbler, 333, 335.Kennicott's, 330.Wilson, Alexander, on eastern robin, 30.Wilson's thrush, 229.Witherby, H. F., on European black-birds, 77.on European wheatear, 294, 300.on Eversmann's warbler, 330.
Witherby, H. F., on fieldfare, 11.on Greenland wheatear, 302.on Iceland red-winged thrush, 2, 3,7.on Kennicott's willow-warbler, 335.on red-spotted bluethroat, 308.Wood, A. H., on eastern golden-crownedkinglet, 391.Wood, Harold B., on eastern blue-bird, 256.on eastern robin, 24, 37.Wood thrush, 101.Woods, H. E., 400.Woods, Robert S., viii.on black-tailed gnatcatcher, 374.Wright, Horace W., 102.on eastern hermit thrush, 145, 159.on eastern robin, 35.on veery, 218.on wood thrush, 102.Wythe, Margaret W., ix.(See also under Grinnell, Joseph.)Xantus's gnatcatcher, 373.Yamashina, Yoshimaro, on Pleske'sgrasshopper-warbler, 340, 341, 342,343.Yarrell, William, on European wheat-ear, 298.Youngworth, William, viii.on eastern robin, 33.Ziemer, Ewald, on red-spotted blue-throat, 306.Zirrer, Francis, on eastern golden-crowned kinglet, 390.on gray-cheeked thrush, 193.o





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