484 Birds of Colorado 



Gale found several nests in Boulder co., generally in 

 low cotton trees along the creeks. He gives the following 

 description : " Nest about eight feet from the ground 

 and very large, constructed outside of very coarse branches 

 and twigs, middle structure of rather finer material and 

 a few dead leaves, hning of fine roots. The nest was 

 placed among thick twigs and close to the stem of an 

 aspen tree. The eggs, four in number, were greenish- 

 white, speckled thickly and uniformly with small 

 brownish-reddish markings ; they were rather small for 

 the size of the bird." This nest, in which the eggs were 

 quite fresh, was taken on June 25th, a rather later date 

 than the average. The eggs measure I'OS x '80. 



Bendires Thrasher. Toxostoma bendirei. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 708 — Colorado Records — Allen & Brewster 

 83, pp. 57, 153 ; Cooke 97, pp. 120, 109 ; Cooke 97a, p. 7. 



Description. — Adult — Above pale greyLsh-brown, wing with indistinct 

 bars ; tail darker, and the outer feathers tipped with white ; below 

 brownish-white, mdistinctly spotted with brown ; flanks brownish ; 

 iris yellow, bill dusky, paler at the base of the lower mandible, legs 

 brownish, dull blueish in life. Length 9-5 ; wing 4-20 ; tail 4-30 ; 

 culmen -90 ; tarsus 1 -30. 



The sexes are alike ; the yovmg bird has a tawny-buff wash on wings, 

 and the under-parts are paler and have narrower streaks. 



Distribution. — The desert districts of Arizona, south-east California 

 and Sonora, extending north to southern Colorado ; in winter to 

 southern Sonora and Sinaloa in Mexico. 



Bendire's Thrasher was first recorded from Colorado by Allen & 

 Brewster, who obtained a single female example at Austins Bluffs, 

 near Colorado Springs, on May 8th, 1882, after heavy storms, which 

 had driven many birds towards the foothills for shelter. The occur- 

 rence was doubtless accidental. It has since been found by N. R. 

 Christie (Cooke) at Rouse Junction, in Huerfano co., at 6,000 feet, 

 where it breeds. Christie took four nests with eggs or young ones 

 between Jvme 6th and 13th, 1896, while in the following year he observed 

 a pair of birds, but found no nest. 



Bendire's Thrasher must be regarded as a rare resident in the southern 

 part of the State. 



