240 THE DWARF HERMIT THRUSH. 



"For there I picked up on. the heather, 

 And there I put inside my breast, 

 A moulted feather, an eagle feather! 

 Well, I forget the rest." 



No. 97. 



DWARF HERMIT THRUSH. 



A. O. U. No. 759 c. Hylocichia guttata nana ( Aud.). 



Synonyms. — P.-vciFic Hermit Thrush. Sitkan Dwarf Thrush (Ridg- 

 way ) . 



Description. — "Similar to H. g. guttata but coloration darker and browner, 

 the color of back, etc., more sepia brown, u])per tail-coverts more russet, tail 

 more chestnut, and spots on chest larger and darker" (Ridgway). Adult male: 

 wing 3.42 (Sri.S) : tail 2.58 (65.5) ; bill .48 (12.2) ; tarsus 1.13 (28.8). 



Recognition Marks. — As in H. guttata. 



Nesting. — As in II. g. scqiioicusis. 



General Range. — Pacific coast district, breeding from western Oregon (pre- 

 sumably ) north to Cross Sound, Alaska : south in winter to Southwestern States. 



Range in Washington. — Probably common but little known, during migra- 

 tions. Presumably resident in summer west of the Cascades. 



Authorities. — ? Tiirdus nanus Audubon, C)rn. Biog. V. 1839, 201 (Columbia 

 R. ) PTownsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. VHI. 1839, 153 (Col. R.) Belding, 

 L. P.. P. D. 1890, p. 254 (Walla Walla, J. W. Williams, 1885). 



Specimens. — U. of W. Prov. E. 



AS one passes thru the woods in middle April while the vine maples are 

 still leafless, and the forest floor is not yet fully recovered from the brownness 

 of the rainy season, a moving shape, a little browner still, but scarcely outlined 

 in the uncertain light, starts up from the ground with a low chuck, and pauses 

 for a moment on a mossy log. Before you have made out definite characters, 

 the bird flits to a branch a little higher up and more renir)ved, to stand motion- 

 less for a minute or so, or else to chuckle softly with each twinkle of the ready 

 wings. By following quietly one may put the bird to a dozen short flights 

 without once driving it out of range; and in so doing he may learn that the 

 tail is abruptly rufous in contrast with the olive-brown of the back, and that 

 the breast is more boldly and distinctly spotted than is the case with the 

 Russet-backed Thrush. 



This bird will not tarry with us, unless it may choose to haunt the soli- 

 tudes of the Olympics. In the vicinity of Sitka, however, Mr. J- Grinnell re- 



