Thraslier WESTERN BIRDS 



GENUS TOXOSTOMA: 

 SUBGENUS HARPORHYNCHUS. 



CALIFORNIA THRASHER 



California Thrasher: Toxostoma redivivum. 

 FAMILY— THRASHERS, MOCKINGBIRDS, ETC. 



Probably the best known of the western Thrashers 

 and the one most nearly resembling it in habits, though 

 quite different in plumage, is the California Thrasher 

 which is found in the valleys and foothills of the State 

 whose name it bears west of the Sierra Nevada, breed- 

 ing from Shasta County to Lower California. 



It is from eleven to thirteen inches long and the pre- 

 vailing color is a dull brown which is lighter below and 

 tawny under tail. There are no wing bars. The tail is 

 long and carried well up as is the habit of this family; 

 the legs are long and stout and the bird runs, rather 

 than hops. But the distinguishing thing about these 

 birds, which are similar, is the long, much-curved bill 

 which is unlike anything else. 



In color and habit of keeping much to the ground, 

 one might mistake the California Towhee for this bird 

 as it flits through the underbrush, but one glimpse of the 

 bill forever settles the identity. 



Like its eastern cousin it is fond of moist places and 

 dense thickets in canyons and along streams, but fre- 

 quents gardens when they are near its chosen haunts, 

 running about under the trees and shrubbery unmindful 

 of the proximity of mankind. 



The novice might easily mistake the song of the 

 Thrasher for that of the Mockingbird, but its tones are 

 richer and sweeter. It is something of a mocker, the 

 three-note falsetto call of the Valley Quail being one of 



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