434 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



757a. Turdus alicise bicknelli ( RIDGW.) [ 3, 



Bicknell's Thrush. 



Hab. In summer, higher mountains of Northeastern United States ( Catskills, White Mountains, 

 etc.), and Nova Scotia. Winter home unknown. 



This Thrush, recently identified in the Catskill and White Moun- 

 tains, and named in honor of its discoverer, Mr. Eugene P. Bicknell. 

 was found breeding by the Rev. J. H. Langille, on Mud and Seal 

 Islands, out at sea off the coast of Nova Scotia and westward from the 

 city of Yarmouth. These are almost entirely covered with a low 

 growth of evergreens black spruce and balsam fir. Except the 

 Robin, Song Sparrow, Snowbird, a few Redstarts and Winter Wrens, 

 almost the only small land-birds breeding here are the Black-poll 

 Warbler and Bicknell's Thrush --the last two being very abundant. 

 Mr. Langille says that its song is similar in tone to that of Wilson's 

 Thrush, but more slender and wiry, and therefore not nearly so grand 

 and musical. The birds were found nesting in the almost impenetra- 

 ble evergreen thickets, beneath which there is a dense carpet of moss. 

 The nests were all nearly alike in location, structure and mater- 

 ials ; placed a few feet from the ground, against the trunk of an ever- 

 green tree. They were composed of various kinds of mosses, a few 

 fine sticks, weed-stems and rootlets, and were lined with fine bleached 

 grasses. The nest on the outside was as green as a bunch of fresh 

 moss. The eggs were of a light bluish-green speckled with brown ; 

 size, .87 x .63. * 



758. Turdus ustulatus (Nuir.) [4.] 



Russet-backed Thrush. 



Hab. Pacific coast region, north to Sitka; south, in winter, through Western Mexico, to Northern 

 Central America. 



The Russet-backed Thrush is a common species in suitable locali- 

 ties along the Pacific coast of California and northward. Mr. A. W. 

 Anthony states that it is not an uncommon summer resident of Wash- 

 ington county, Oregon. The bird frequents the deepest thickets, and 

 when disturbed utters an alarm note like that of the Brown Thrasher, 

 chuck, chuck. It is also a fine songster, and may be heard at dusk and 

 early morning. The nest is built in thickets or bushes, a few feet 

 above the ground. It is composed of twigs, grasses, roots and leaves, 

 and in some cases mosses are used. A set of four eggs taken near San 

 Jose, California, May 18, 1885, gives the following dimensions: .92 x 

 .65, .95 x .66, .97 x .68, .97 x .68. They are greenish-blue spotted with 

 yellowish-brown, chiefly about the larger end. The average size of 

 ten specimens is .94 x .65. 



* Our Birds in their Haunts: A Popular Treatise on the Birds of Eastern North America By Rev. 

 Hibbert Langille, M. A. Boston: S. E. Cassino & Co. 1884. Pp. 511-513. 



