no. 3637 HERMIT THRUSH — ALDRICH 21 



59-67 (64.1), culmen 12.5-15.5 (14.2), tarsus 27-28.5 (27.7), midtoe 

 14.5-16 (15.1); 9 (6 specimens), wing 78-84 (81.7), tail 57-63.5 

 (60.4), culmen 14.5-16 (14.9), tarsus 26-28 (26.9), midtoe 15.5-16 

 (15.6). 



Shorter wing, longer bill, paler above and more sparsely spotted 

 below than oromelus, vaccinius, nannus, and guttatus; much smaller 

 wing and tarsus than sequoiensis, but color and bill length similar; 

 smaller wing and tarsus and longer bill than euborius. 



Breeds locally in coastal areas of California, Oregon, and Wash- 

 ington State. 



Winters in Baja California (Mt. Miraflores, El Sauz, Laguna, and 

 Cape San Lucas); probably also in other portions of southwestern 

 United States and northwestern Mexico (Phillips et al., 1964). East- 

 ward in migration to Texas (Leon Springs, El Paso, and San Antonio). 



GrinnelFs (1901) original description accurately portrays the 

 characters of this very small, pale coastal subspecies although the 

 distribution he gave is more limited than is actually the case. McCabe 

 and McCabe (1933, map, p. 123) seem to have been the first to 

 suggest the northward extension of the range of slevini from Cali- 

 fornia along the Pacific coastal mountains of Oregon and Washington. 

 Examination of specimens in the present study shows this to be 

 correct. The birds with characters of slevini, although not in typical 

 form, range northward to the west of the Cascade Mountains as 

 far as the Olympic Peninsula of northwestern Washington, but the 

 breeding distribution appears to be interrupted considerably in 

 Oregon and Washington. Specimens from the west slopes of the 

 Cascades in this general area are intermediate between slevini and 

 oromelus. They are lighter and more rufescent above than typical 

 oromelus of the eastern slopes of the Cascades, northern Idaho, and 

 southern British Columbia, and in this respect are like slevini. The 

 specimens are intermediate in size and ventral spotting between 

 these two races. 



The abrupt transition from the pale, Light Brownish Olive slevini- 

 type of coloration found on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington 

 to the dark, Brownish Olive vaccinius on Vancouver Island across 

 the Straits of Juan de Fuca is rather surprising and, together with 

 the very disrupted range in coastal areas of Oregon and Washington, 

 suggests a relatively recent occupation of the Olympic Peninsula by 

 extension of the range from the south. 



The hermit thrush population of the Olympic Peninsula has been 

 described as a distinct subspecies (jewetti) by Phillips (1962) on the 

 basis of darker and more reddish brown coloration above and heavier 

 spotting below than slevini of California. The present study has 

 verified the difference from both slevini and oromelus of specimens 



