THRUSHES, SOLITAIRES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. 469 



5'. Tail light rufous ; length 7.50-8.25. Rocky Mountain region. 



auduboni, p. 471. 

 4'. Tail not sharply contrasted with back. 



5. Upper parts olive. Migrant in Colorado and Texas. 



swainsoni, p. 470. 

 5'. Upper parts hair brown. Alaska and Rocky Mountains. 



almae, p. 471. 



755. Hylocichla mustelina (Gmel). Wood Thrush. 



Adults. — Head and back of neck rusty or golden brown, fading to olive on 

 rump and tail ; under parts white, marked — -^— |.— j- 



with large blackish wedge-shaped spots. ^,^1*^15^2^ *"♦ ^^^^^^'^'SSgig^ 

 Young : like adults, but feathers of crown ^^Ijii^?'^ <^ \. ^^fl^P 

 streaked with buff ; wing coverts tipped ^^^teyi V' ^*-'>Sfci'. ; ^^^^fc 

 with rusty yellow triangular spots ; breast 

 washed with brownish yellow. Length : ^^' 



7.50-S.25, wing 4.10-4..50, tail o.00-;l.o(). exposed culmen .62-.75. 



Distribution. — Breeds in the Upper Sonoran and Transition zones of the 

 eastern central United States west to western Kansas ; migxates to Cuba 

 and Guatemala. 



Nest. — Usually saddled on a horizontal branch of a small tree, very 

 compact, composed partly of mud. Eggs : 2 to 5, plain greenish blue. 



Food. — Partly ants, beetles, millipeds, and berries. 



756a. Hylocichla fuscescens salicicola Ridgw. Wlllow 

 Thkush. 



Upper parts uniform olive brown, chest jxde 6u^. marked with triangular 

 brown spots ; median under parts white, sides gray. Length : 6.U0-7.90, 

 wing ;;.SO-4.25, tail 2.95-;J.40, bill .55-.60. 



Distribution. — Breeds in Transition and Canadian zones from Hudson 

 Bay and British Columbia south through the Rocky Mountain region to 

 southern Colorado, east to the Dakotas and Newfoundland, and occa- 

 sionally to Illinois ; winters south to southern Brazil. 



Nest. — On or near the ground, made largely of leaves. Eggs : 4, plain 

 greenish blue, very rarely with a few specks of brown. 



Food. — Caterpillars, ants, and other insects, with wild berries and 

 fruit. 



In Montana. Mr. Williams says, salicicola is the commonest and 

 most widely distributed of the thrushes, ranging from the lower 

 valleys to the foothills and canyons, but keeping near water in 

 thickets of willow, rose, or box elder, away from the heavy timber. 

 Its notes are the same ns those of its eastern representative, the veery. 

 who has the curious bleating call, the quiet whistle ichee-ough, and 

 the tremulous beautiful song. 



757. Hylocichla aliciae (Baird). Gray-cheeked Thrush. 



Uppur j)artH gr.iyish olive ; sides of head gray ; chest huffy, with wedge- 

 shaped spots of brown ; median under parts wliite ; sides olive grav. 

 Length: 7.00-7.75, wing ;5.75-4.40, tail •J.<t.V;;.40, bill .45-..")S. 



litmarks. — In general coloration flic gray-chfeked resembles the olive- 

 backtMl, but it lacks the bulfy eye ring and tawny wa.sh on sides of head. 



Distribution. — HrtM'<l.s north of the United States from the arctic coast, 

 Siberia, and Alaska, southeast through Hudson Hay region to Labrador ; 



