20 XORTII AMERICAN nillU!<. 



Turdus pallasi, \<\v. nanus, Aui)lb(i.\. 



DWAKF HERMIT THRUSH. 



Turdus nanus, Aud. Oni. Biog. V, 1839, 201, pi. eci. — B.iiiiD, Binls N. A. IS.'iS, 213 ; 

 Rev. Am. B. 1864, 15. — Sclater, P. Z. S. 1859. —1b. Catal. 1861. — Dali, k Ban- 

 NisTEK. — Cooper, Birds Cal., p. 4. Turdiui pallasi, var. nanus, Kidow.w, Rep. 

 King.s E.xjied. V, 1872. .? Turdus aovala.ichk(e, Gmf.lin, S. N. I, 1788, 808. ?! Miis- 

 cieajya guttata, Pallas, Zoog. Rosso-Asiat. II, 1811, 465. 



Sp. Char. Above with the clear dark oHvc oX swainsoni, but this even jmier mid 

 more plumbeous Upper tail-coverts (but not lower part of rump) becoming iiioie rulbu.-i, 

 the tail abruptly darker, richer, and more juwcjDKs/i-rutbu.s, approaching to chestnut. The 

 clear olive of the neck passes into brovvnish-^}/H)Hieo«s along sides; pectoral spot.s more 

 sparse and less pure black than in T. palldsi. The white beneath is of an almost snowy 

 purity, appreciably different from tlic cottony-white of T. pallasi. Wing, 3.30 ; tail, 3.00 ; 

 bill, .36 ; tarsus, 1.07. 



A very tangible and constant character possessed by this bird is the more slender and 

 depressed bill, as compared with that of T. pallasi. Specimens vary only in intensity of 

 colors; these variations very limited, and corresponding with those of 71 pallasi. In nil 

 cases, however, their precise pattern and peculiar distriljution is retained. 



Hab. Western Province of North America, eastward from Kodiak to Cape 8t. Lm-as. 

 Arizona, Coles. 



Habits. Tlii.s small race of tlic Ilcnnit 'I'hnish was first noticfd liy l)r. 

 Pickering, iuul described liy ^Mr. AihIuIkhi from an imperfect skin. It 

 has since been obtained abundantly on tlie I'aciiic slope, and jVIr, Kidgway 

 procured a specimen as far east as the East Humboldt Mountains, which 

 he considers its eastern limit. 



In its liabits it is said to be, like T. imllusi, almost exclusively terrestrial. 

 Dr. Heermann mentions finding it abundant in California, and breeding 

 among the stunted oaks covering the sand-hills of Sail Francisco. Dr. 

 Coues found it in Arizona, but speaks of it as rare and migratory, occurring 

 chiefly in spring and autumn, and as a shy and retiring species. Dr. Cooper, 

 in his Ilejiort on the Ilirds of California, descril)es it as shy and timid, pre- 

 ferring dark and sliady thickets, feeding cliielly on the ground, ruuuiiig 

 rapidly, and searching for insects among the leaves. 



Xear San Diego tiiey began to sing about the 2r)th of April. The song, 

 consisting of a few low ringing notes, resembles that of Wilson's Thrush 

 (T.fi'sccscens), and also that of T. ustnlatux, Ijut is not so loud. Their note 

 of alarm is a loud and ringing chirp, repeated and answered by others at a 

 long distance. 



At Santa Cruz, on the first of June, Dr. Cooper met with several of their 

 nests, which, though proliably erroneously, he sujjposed to belong to the 

 Dwarf Hermit Thrush. Tiiey were all built in thickets under the shade 

 of cottonwood-trees. Each nest was about five feet from the gi-ound, and 

 all contained eggs, from two to four in number, in differing stages of incuba- 

 tion. The nests were built of dry leaves, roots, fibres, grasses, and bark. 



