TURDIDjE — THE THRUSHES. 33 



its food in tliis position. General Couch speaks of it as Sparrow-like in its 

 habits. 



Mr. Xuttall describes its song as cheering, and the notes of which it is 

 composed as decidedly resembling those of the Brown Thrush {Ilarpo- 

 rhyiichus rvfus). He claims for it some of the imitative powers of the 

 Mocking-Bird {Mimus poli/ylottus), but in this he is not supported by the 

 observations of others. He met with its nest in a wormwood (Artrmisia) 

 bush on the border of a ravine ; it contained four eggs of emerald green, 

 spotted witli dark olive, the spots being large, roundish, and more numerous 

 at the larger end. The nest was composed of small twigs and rough stalks, 

 and lined with strips of bark and bison-wool. The female flew off to a short 

 distance, and looked at her unwelcome visitors witliout uttering any com- 

 plaint. 



The nests of tliis bird, so far as I have seen tliem, are all flat, sliallow 

 structures, with very sliglit depression, and loosely and rudely constructed 

 of an intermingling of strips of bark with rootlets and the finer stems of her- 

 baceous plants. Their eggs, usually four in number, do not vary essentially 

 in size, shape, or marking. They measure 1 inch in length, and from .73 to 

 .75 in breadth. Their ground color is a bright greenish-blue, marked with 

 deep olive-brown spots, intermingled with blotches of a light lilac. There 

 are slight variations in the ju-oportion of green in the shade of the ground 

 color, and also in the number and size of the spots, but these variations are 

 unimportant. 



Tlie following are ]Mr. lJidg\\-ay's observations upon the habits of this 

 species. Tliey are full, valuable, and very carefully made : — 



The Orcoacoptes moitianus is a bird peculiar to the artemisia wastes of the 

 Great Basin, being a characteristic species of the region between the Sien-a 

 Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. It is exclusively an inhabitant of the 

 " sage brush," and is partial to the lower portions of the country, though 

 it is not unfrequent on the open slope of the mountains. A more unappro- 

 priate term than " Mountain Blocking-Bird " could hardly have been chosen 

 for this species, as its predilection for the valleys, and the fact tliat its song 

 is cntirrh/ its own, will show. In my opinion, the term "Sage Thrasher" 

 would he, more appropriate. 



In tlie neighborhood of Carson City, Xevada, these birds arrived aliout the 

 24th of ilarch, and immediately upon their arrival began singing. At this 

 time, with the Sttirndia myleda and Pon>tpi~a hc/li, they made sweet music 

 in the afternoon and early morning, in the open wastes of " sage brush," 

 around the citji- The birds when singing were generally seen sitting upon 

 the summit of a " sage " bush, faintly warbling, in the course of tlie song 

 turning the head from side to side in a watchful manner. Upon being 

 approached, they would dart downward, seemingly diving into the bush upon 

 wliich they had perched, but upon a close searcli the bird could not lie 

 found, until ifc was heard again singing a hundred yards or more in the 

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