Part 5

HABITS. This species is one of the common birds of New England, and is probably abundant in certain localities throughout all the country east of the Rocky Mountains, as far to the north as the 50th parallel, and possibly as far as the wooded country extends. Mr. Maynard did not meet with it in Northern New Hampshire. Mr. Wm. G. Winton obtained its nest and eggs at Halifax, N. S.; Mr. Boardman found them also on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and at St. Stephen’s, N. B.; Mr. Couper at Quebec; Mr. Krieghoff at Three Rivers, Canada; Donald Gunn at Selkirk and Red River; and Mr. Kumlien and Dr. Hoy in Wisconsin. Mr. McIlwraith also gives it as common at Hamilton, West Canada. It breeds as far south as Pennsylvania, and as far to the west as Utah, and occurs, in the breeding season, throughout Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Canada.

Mr. Ridgway found this thrush very abundant among the thickets in the valleys of the Provo, Weber, and Bear rivers, in Utah, and very characteristic of those portions of the country.

It arrives in Massachusetts early in May, usually with the first blossoms of the pear, ranging from the 5th to the 20th. It is strictly of woodland habits, found almost entirely among clumps of trees, and obtaining its food from among their branches, or on the ground among the fallen leaves. It moves south from the 10th to the 25th of September, rarely remaining till the first week in October.

It is timid, distrustful, and retiring; delighting in shady ravines, the edges of thick close woods, and occasionally the more retired parts of gardens; where, if unmolested, it will frequent the same locality year after year.

The song of this thrush is quaint, but not unmusical; variable in its character, changing from a prolonged and monotonous whistle to quick and almost shrill notes at the close. Their melody is not unfrequently prolonged until quite late in the evening, and, in consequence, in some portions of Massachusetts these birds are distinguished with the name of Nightingale,—a distinction due rather to the season than to the high quality of their song. Yet Mr. Ridgway regards it, as heard by himself in Utah, as superior in some respects to that of all others of the genus, though far surpassed in mellow richness of voice and depth of metallic tone by that of the Wood Thrush (_T. mustelinus_). To his ear there was a solemn harmony and a beautiful expression which combined to make the song of this surpass that of all the other American Wood Thrushes. The beauty of their notes appeared in his ears “really inspiring; their song consisting of an inexpressibly delicate metallic utterance of the syllables _ta-weel´ ah, ta-weel´ ah, twil´ ah, twil´ ah_, accompanied by a fine trill which renders it truly seductive.” The last two notes are said to be uttered in a soft and subdued undertone, producing thereby, in effect, an echo of the others.

The nest is always placed near the ground, generally raised from it by a thick bed of dry leaves or sticks; sometimes among bushes, but never in the fork of a bush or tree, or if so, in very rare and exceptional cases. When incubation has commenced, the female is reluctant to leave her nest. If driven off she utters no complaint, but remains close at hand and returns at the first opportunity.

They construct their nest early in May, and the young are hatched in the latter part of that month, or the first of June. They raise two broods in the season. The nest, even more loosely put together than that of the Ground Swamp Robin (_T. pallasi_), is often with difficulty kept complete. It is about 3 inches in height, 4½ in diameter, with a cavity 1½ inches deep and 3 in width, and composed of dry bark, dead leaves, stems, and woody fibres, intermingled with grasses, caricas, sedges, etc., and lined with soft skeleton leaves. A nest from Wisconsin was composed entirely of a coarse species of _Sparganeum_; the dead stalks and leaves of which were interwoven with a very striking effect.

The eggs, usually four, sometimes five in number, are of a uniform green color, with a slight tinge of blue, and average .94 by .66 of an inch in diameter.

Turdus aliciæ, BAIRD.

GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH; ALICE’S THRUSH.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turdus swainsoni, CABANIS.

OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH; SWAINSON’S THRUSH.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turdus swainsoni, var. ustulatus, NUTTALL.

OREGON THRUSH.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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