<>li BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



the external parts, but in the walls twigs of spruce, bits of lichens 

 and dried leaves are mixed with the grass and all are woven into 

 a solid mass, very firm and strong. The lining is formed by a layer 

 of fine grass interwoven with pieces of a black, vine-like root, all 

 neatly laid; over these, at the bottom, is a layer of skeleton leaves. 

 The measurements are : Depth, inside, If inches ; width at mouth, 

 2f inches ; outside, the diameter is irregular, varying from 4i to 5 

 inches. Mr. J. W. Banks tells me that of some fifty nests of the 

 Olive-backed Thrush that he has examined all were lined with skele- 

 ton leaves ; but Mr. Harold Gilbert found one in 1878 that was 

 lined with moose hair. This nest was built in a garden, in the 

 suburbs of St. John, within twenty feet of the house and but an 

 arm's-length from one of the main walks. The moose hair was 

 furnished by a tame animal kept on the grounds." 



Turdus aonalaschkae pallasii (Cab.) 



HERMIT THRUSH. 



Popular synonyms. Eastern Hermit Thrash; Rufous-tailed Thrush ; Swamp Robin, 

 or Ground Swamp Robin (New England); Solitary Thrush. 



Turdus solitarius (not of LINN.) WJLS. Am. Orn. v, 1812, 95 (not pi. 43, fig. 2, which= 



swainsonit.-A.VD. Synop. 1839. 91; B. Am. iii, 1841, 29, pi. 146. 

 Merula solitaria Sw. & RICH. F. B. A. ii, 1831, 184, D!. "35" (=37). 



Turdus minor (not of GM.) NUTT. Man. i. 1832, 346.-A.UD. Orn. Biog. i. 1832, 303, pi. 58. 

 Turdus pallasii CABAN. Wiegm. Archiv. 1847, i. 205. BATED, B. N. Am. 1858, 212; Cat. N. 



Am. B. 1859, No. 149; Review, 1864, 14. COUES, Key, 1872, 72; Check List, 1873, No. 4; 



B. N. W. 1874, 2; B. Col. Val. 1878. 20. B. B. & R. Hist. N. Am. B. i. 1874, 18, pi. i, fig. 6. 

 Turdus aonalaschkcR pallasi RIDGW. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. Vol. iii, March 22, 1830, 1. 

 Hylocichla unalascce pallaxi RIDGW. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. iii, 1880, 166. Norn. N. Am. B. 



1880, No. 5k. 

 Turdus unalascce nanus COUES, 2d Check List, 1882, No. 10. 



HAB. Eastern North America, breeding chiefly north of the United States and win- 

 tering in the more southern States, or from about the parallel of 40 to the Gulf coast. 

 Represented in western North America by the allied races auduboni (Rocky Mountain 

 district) and aonalaschkaz (Pacific coast). 



SP. CH. Second primary shorter than fifth. Tail much more reddish than back. 

 Wing, 3 40-3.90(3.64): tail, 2.55-3.15 (2.88); culmen, .50-. 60 (.54); tarsus, 1.15-1.30 (1.19); middle 

 toe, .65-. 75 (.70).* 



* Extreme and average measurements of 24 adults. The average of 32 adults meas- 

 ured by Mr. Henshaw (cf. Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club) is slightly different, being, wing. 3.61; tail, 

 2.87; culmen, .53; tarsus, 1 15. Though the sexes are not constantly different in dimen- 

 sions, the ? is usually a little the smaller, as the following averages of 16 males and 8 

 females will show: 



