SMALL THRL STIES OF CALIFORNIA. 67 



5. Turdus sequoiensis Bei(Vn)<,'. 



Big Tree Thrush. — I should have added to the descrip- 

 tion of this bird, published in these Proceedings, June 11, 

 1889, that its iris is bluish-browu, its mouth and most of 

 the mandible are yellow, the tip of the latter brown. 



The male shot by me June 10, 1888, at close range, as it 

 crossed a path when pursued by a small owl, was badly 

 mutilated. Its wing was 3.80; tail, 3.25: tarsus, 1.16. The 

 female shot June 25, 1883, is very pale and seems to be 

 in faded nesting plumage. The two type specimens are, 

 I think, in the best spring plumage, as tlie largest ovaries 

 of the female were no larger than No. 1 shot. The 

 small spots on the throat and breast appear to be a constant 

 feature of this form, which I am confident is entitled to 

 recognition, but it may prove to be a southern variety of 

 T. aonalaschkce, just as T. a. aiKhihoni may be a southern 

 variety of T. a. jycdlasii, though this is at variance with tlie 

 almost unvarying rule, that the more northern variety of a 

 species is the larger; or it may intergrade with T. a. cwdn- 

 doni, which has been reported from the Sierra Nevada of 

 California by three excellent observers, each of whom got, 

 I believe, but a single specimen, and Mr. Henshaw's July 

 specimen must have been too much faded for positive iden- 

 tification ; and possibly all three were identical with the 

 Big Tree thrush. 



The latter inhabits dense thickets in deep forests and is 

 apt to be overlooked. Sometimes it wanders at a consid- 

 erable height through the foliage of the firs and other coni- 

 ferous trees, w^hen it is followed with much difficulty, even 

 if its brilliant song is often heard. I shot the female type 

 specimen while she was fluttering about seventy-five feet 

 from the ground at the ends of fir twigs and catching in- 

 sects in the manner of the warblers and tyrant flycatchers. 



I spent most of Jul}' 1, 1881, in trying to find, with 

 the assistance of a young hunting dog, the nest of a pair of 

 these birds, w hicli I had good reason to believe w^as in a 

 certain hazel thicket. I failed to find the nest, probably 



