442 WRENS, THRASHERS, ETC. 



wing, if they do not get out of sight before the horse gets started, 

 though they have many advantages in a country where a horse is 

 liable to fall into badger holes and kangaroo rat dens or come to 

 deep washouts too wide for a jump. Vernon Bailey. 



712. Toxostoma crissale Henry. Crissal Thrasher. 



Adults. — Bill long-, sharply curved ; upper parts dark grayish brown ; 



wing's without bars ; tail faintly tipped 



with rufous ; throat and malar stripe 



white, in contrast to dark fawn or 



g-rayish under parts ; under tail coverts 



dark rufous. Young: similar, but 



Fig. 567. more rusty above, especially on rump 



and tips of tail feathers ; lower parts 



more fulvous. Length : 11.40-12.60', wing- 3.90-4.10, tail 4.80-6.40, exposed 



culmen 1.20-1.50. 



Distribution. — Breeds in the southAvestern United States from western 

 Texas to California, and from Utah and Nevada to Lower California. 



Nest. — In bushes or desert willow, made of coarse twigs, lined with 

 strips of plant bark. £!ggs : 3, plain pale bluish green. 



The crissal, or red-vented thrasher, lives on the rough sides of 

 rocky canyons, where there are junipers and low mesquites. In 

 fall he is said to eat juniper berries and other small fruits, and then, 

 food being plentiful, has a distinct revival of his powerful song. 

 Though ordinarily shy, individuals come about ranches and become 

 quite tame. (See The Auk, iii. 292.) 



GENUS HEIiEODYTES. 



General Characters. — Length about 8 ; tail broad, with wide feathers ; 

 tarsus scaled behind ; rietal bristles obsolete or very indistinct. 



KEY TO ADULTS. 



1. Belly Hghtly marked with linear spots . brunneicapillus, p. 442. 

 1'. Belly heavily marked with ovate spots bryanti, p. 443. 



713. Heleodytes brunneicapillus (Lafr.). Cactus Wren.i 



Adults. — Throat and breast white, heavily marked with black roundish 



^rt^.v;r^^s=^, spots, in sharp contrast to buff y brown 



/^^l^^^^^ '*^'M;i««%*t-- -'"«» belly, which is sparsely marked with 



•"^'"'^^iS^^^^^^''^^^^^^*'''*^^^ ' li^^s^r spots; superciliary white; upper 



parts brown, streaked on back with 



^'^•^^^- black and white; tail with middle 



feathers brownish, spotted with black, the rest black, only outside feather 



barred with white for whole length. Young : similar, but streaks on back 



1 Heleodytes brunneicapillus couesi (Sharpe). Texan Cactus Wren. 



Coloration dark, throat mainly black, back narrowly striped with white. 



Distribution. — Rio Grande region of Texas, south over Mexican tableland. {The Auk, 

 xix. 143.) 



Heleodytes brunneicapillus anthonyi Mearns. Desert Cactus Wren. 



Coloration pallid, tail mostly black. 



Di.stribution. — Interior deserts of southwestern United States south to Chihuahua, 

 Sonora, and northeastern California. {The Auk, xix. 143.) 



