THRUSHES, SOLITAIRES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. 469 



5 . Tail light rufous ; length 7.50-8.25. Rocky Mountain region. 



auduboni. p. 471. 

 4'. Tail not sharply contrasted with hack. 



5. Upper parts olive. Migrant in Colorado and Texas. 



swaiiisoni, p. 470. 

 5 . Upper parts hair brown. Alaska and Rocky Mountains. 



almae. p. 471. 



755. Hylocichla mustelina (GmeL). WOOD THRUSH. 



Adults. Head and back of neck rusty or golden broicn. fading to olive on 

 rump and tail ; under parts white, marked 

 with large blackish wedge-shaped spots. . 

 Young : like adults, but feathers of crown "^^Ifekssi^ <. 

 streaked with buff ; wing- coverts tipped 

 with rusty yellow triangular spots : breast 

 washed with brownish yellow. Length : 

 7.50-8.25. wing 4.10-4.50, tail 3.00-3.30, exposed culmen .B2-.75. 



Distribution. Breeds in the Upper Sonoran and Transition zones of the 

 eastern central United States west to western Kansas ; migrates to Cuba 

 and Guatemala. 



.Xest. Usually saddled on a horizontal branch of a small tree, very 

 compact, composed partly of mud. Egys : 2 to 5. plain greenish blue. 



Food. Parti}' ants, beetles, millipeds, and berries. 



756a. Hylocichla fuscescens salicicola Ridgw. WILLOW 

 THRUSH. 



Upper parts uniform olive brown, chest pale buffy. marked with triangular 

 brown spots ; median under parts white, sides grav. Lenqth : 6.90-7.90, 

 wing 3.80-4.25. tail 2.95-3.40, bill .55-.60. 



Distribution. Breeds in Transition and Canadian zones from Hudson 

 Bay and British Columbia south through the Rocky Mountain region to 

 southern Colorado, east to the Dakotas and Newfoundland, and occa- 

 sionally to Illinois ; winters south to southern Brazil. 



Nest. On or near the ground, made largely of leaves. Eggs : 4, plain 

 greenish blue, very rarely with a few specks of brown. 



Food. Caterpillars, ants, and other insects, with wild berries and 

 fruit. 



In Montana, Mr. Williams says, salicicola is the commonest and 

 most widely distributed of the thrushes, ranging from the lower 

 valleys to the foothills and canyons, but keeping near water in 

 thickets of willow, rose, or box elder, away from the heavy timber. 

 Its notes are the same as those of its eastern representative, the veery, 

 who has the curious bleating call, the quiet whistle ichee-ough, and 

 the tremulous beautiful song. 



757. Hylocichla aliciee (Baird). GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH. 



Upper parts grayish olive ; sides of head gray ; chest buffy, with wedge- 

 shaped spots of brown ; median under parts white ; sides olive gray. 

 Length : 7.00-7.75, wing 3.75-4.40, tail 2.95-3.40, bill .45-.5S. 



Remarks. In general coloration the gray-cheeked resembles the olive- 

 backed, but it lacks the buffy eye ring and tawny wash on sides of head. 



Distribution. Breeds north of the United States from the arctic coast, 

 Siberia, and Alaska, southeast through Hudson Bay region to Labrador ; 



