270 LAND BIRDS 



can receive it. At first the young Thrashers seem to be 

 all legs and bills, but on the second day the down grows 

 more perceptible on head and back. On the fifth day 

 the eyes are open, the feathers show well, and the food 

 is given to them in a fresh state. Worms and insects 

 of all sorts form the Thrasher's menu, and these he ob- 

 tains mostly on the ground under the bushes, working 

 hard early and late to supply the hungry brood with 

 food. It is not an easy task to raise nestlings in such 

 surroundings. In some localities lizards and snakes rifle 

 the nests of eggs and young, while in others hungry 

 owls make havoc. My observations go to prove that 

 the destruction from various causes outside of human 

 agency is greater among Thrashers than among almost 

 any other wild birds. 



710. CALIFORNIAN THRASHER. — Toxostoma 



redivivum. 



Family : The Wrens, Thrashers, etc. 



Length: 11.50-13.00. 



Adults : Upper parts deep grayish brown, the tail darker and browner ; 

 under parts dull buffy, darker on chest ; under tail-coverts tawny ; 

 ear-coverts dusky, with distinct whitish shaft-streaks. 



Geographical Distrihution : Coast district of California, south to Lower 

 California (F. M. Bailey). 



California Breeding Range : Coast region of California north of lat- 

 itude 35°. 



Breeding Season : March to August. 



Nest : A coarse, rudely constructed platform of sticky, coarse gi-ass and 

 mosses ; placed in bushes. 



Eggs: 3 or 4 ; light greenish blue, spotted with chestnut. Size 1.18 X 

 0.85. 



To the bird-loving tourist or new-comer, accustomed 

 to the one brown thrasher of the East, the five or six 



