472 THRUSHES, SOLITAIRES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. 



in the bush of sunset, when the western sky is aglow and the deep 

 voice rises from its chantry in slow, soul-stirring cadences, Mgh-up- 

 high-up, look-up, look-up. 



759c. H. g". nana {Aud.). Dwarf Hermit Thrush. 



Like guttata, but color darker and richer ; upper parts brownish oliva- 

 ceous, tending toward raw umber ; top of head and rump browner than 

 back ; upper tail coverts and tail burnt umber ; under parts more bufpy 

 than in guttata. Wing : o.25, tail 2.7'i), bill .50, tarsus 1.12. 



Distribution. — Pacific coast region, from Washington southward, breed- 

 ing south to Sierra Nevada region; east in migrations to Nevada and Ari- 

 zona, and south to Lower California and western Mexico. 



GENUS MERULA.l 



General Characters. — Bill slender and compressed, 

 O^ notched near end ; nostrils wholly exposed ; tail more than 

 3 three times as long as tarsus ; under parts spotted in 

 Fig. 599. young. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Outer tail feather with distinct white spot at tip of inner web ; colors 



darker migratoria, p. 472. 



1'. Outer tail feather without distinct white tip to inner web ; colors paler. 



propinqua, p. 472. 



761. Merula migratoria [Linn.). Robin. 



Like M. m. propinqua, but outer tail feather with a distinct white spot 



at tip of inner web ; 

 anterior portion of 

 back usually some- 

 what clouded with 

 black in fully adult 

 birds. Length : 9-10, 

 wing 4.90-.5.40, tail 

 4.10-4.50,bill.85-.92. 

 Di s tribution. — 

 Breeds from Alaska 

 and the arctic coasts 



^_ southeast through 



~ "'^5i-^_ . — ~~ Hudson Bay region 



'"'''-^'~:--^ - ~ and the Rockv Moun- 



From Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. ^^^^^ ^^ Kansas, Vir- 



Fig. 600. ginia, and the Atlan- 



tic coast ; winters from southern Canada southward. 



Nest and eggs. — Like those of M. 771. propinqua. 



Food. — Crickets, grasshoppers, and other noxious insects, seeds, wild 

 fruit, and berries. 



761a. M. m. propinqua Ridgw. Western Robin. 

 Adults. — Head, wings, and tail blackish ; rest of upper parts slaty 



' A specimen of 3ferula confinis was taken by Mr. Emerson at Haywards, Cal., in Janu- 

 ary, 1882. {Zoe, i. 46.) 



