438 



WRENS, THRASHERS, ETC. 



1'. Under parts with dark markings. 

 '2. Strikingly marked with blackish. 



3. Upper parts deep rufous rufum, p. 438. 



3'. Upper parts Avashed with golden brown . . . seniietti, p. 438. 

 2'. Faintly marked with dusky. 



3. Under mandible yellowish at base bendirei, p. 439. 



3 . Under mandible blackish at base. 



4. Wings barred and tail strikingly tipped with white. 



curvirostre, p. 439. 



4 . Wings plain or obsoletely barred, and tail only indistinctly tipped 

 with lighter palmeri. p. 439. 



Subgenus Toxostoma. 

 Tarsus longer than exposed culmen. 



705. Toxostoma rufum (Linn.}. BROWN THRASHER. 



Adults* Upper parts reddish broivn ; wings with two white bars ; under 



parts buffy white, spotted 

 spots on 

 blackish ; 



with 



brown. Young : spots on under 

 parts thicker, blackish ; rump 

 golden brown ; spotting on wing- 

 coverts fawn color. Length : 10.50- 

 12.00. wing 4.10-4.60, tail 5.00- 

 5.75, exposed culmen .90-1.10. 



Distribution. Breeds from Can- 

 ada to the Gulf of Mexico and from 

 the Atlantic to the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. 



Nest. In thorny trees, vines, or 

 bushes, a coarse, bulky structure of 

 sticks, rootlets, leaves, and weed stems, lined with rootlets and horsehair. 

 Eggs : 3 to 5, buffy, or tinged with green, minutely spotted w r ith reddish 

 brown, this sometimes becoming the prevailing color. 



Food. Beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, bugs, and spiders ; small 

 fruits and seeds. 



The eastern brown thrasher is a fairly common resident of the Colo- 

 rado plains, breeding as high as 7500 feet, 



Fig. 500. 



706. Toxostoma longirostre 

 THRASHER. 



sennetti (Eidgw.}. SEKNETT 



jr. 561. 



Uppe r parts golden brown, with two whitish wing bars ; under parts white, 



breast and sides with black wedge- 

 shaped or tear-shaped marks ; bill 

 curved from base. Length: 10.50- 

 12.00. wing 3.80-4.20, tail 4.80-5.45, 

 bill 1.05-l.L'S. 



Distribution. - - Breeds in Lower Sonoran zone in southern Texas from 

 Corpus Christi and Laredo south to northeastern Mexico. 



Nest. In bushes or thickets, made of sticks, vines, and sometimes 

 straws, lined with rootlets. Eggs : 3 or 4. whitish to greenish, closely 

 dotted with reddish brown, often most heavily around larger end. 

 Food. Insects and larvse, and berries. 



The Scnnctt thrasher occurs with r///v//vW/r in southern Texas, 



