438 WRENS, THRASHERS, ETC. 



r. Under parts with dark markings. 

 2. Striking-ly marked with blackisli. 



o. Upper parts deep rufous rufum, p. 488. 



8'. Upper parts washed with goklen brown . . . seiiiietti, p. 438. 

 2'.Fainth^ marked with dusky. 



8. Under mandible yellowish at base beildirei, p. 439. 



3 . Under mandible blackish at base. 



4. Wings barred and tail strikingly tipped with white. 



curvirostre, p. 439. 



4'. Wings plain or obsoletely barred, and tail only indistinctly tipped 



with lighter palnieii, p. 439. 



Subgenus Toxostoma. 

 Tarsus longer than exposed culmen. 



705. Toxostoma rufura (Linn.). Browk Thrashkr. 



Adults. — Upper parts reddish hroivn ; wings with two white bars ; under 



parts buify white, spotted with 

 "^ ^ ^f^^^^^^^ brown. Young: spots on under 



U ^ ~ 'y^ J^^-;.'' parts thicker, blackish ; rump 



4j^^!^^^}''' ^\ golden brown ; spotting on wing 



jg^^ "J^ii^y^' coverts fawn color. Length : 10..50- 



J^ft^'^-^^S^ ^ ^ 12.00. wing 4.10-4.60, tail 5.00- 



CS^^^^% ^ 5.75, exposed culmen .90-1.10. 



^ ^^ W'' ^'^ Distribution. — Breeds from Can- 



^^' -^4/ ,:^ ^ ada to the Gulf of Mexico and from 



' ^--''t \ '^' ^^ . r " the Atlantic to the Rocky Moun- 



\iJ v^ ^ \ tains. 



p, -| ,1 Nest. — In thorny trees, vines, or 



bushes, a coarse, bulky structure of 



sticks, rootlets, leaves, and weed stems, lined with rootlets and horsehair. 



Eggs : 3 to 5, huffy, or tinged with green, miniitely spotted with reddish 



brown, this sometimes becoming the prevailing color. 



Food. — Beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, bugs, and spiders ; small 

 fruits and seeds. 



The eastern brown thrasher is a fairly common resident of the Colo- 

 rado plains, breeding- as high as 7500 feet. 



706. Toxostoma longirostre sennetti (Eidgu-.). Sennett 

 Thrasher. 

 Upper parts golden brown, with two whitish wing bars ; under parts white, 



breast and sides with black wedge- 

 shaped or tear-shaped marks ; bill 

 curved from base. Length : 10.50- 

 12.00, wing 3.80-4.20, tail 4.80-5.45, 

 ^^^•^61. bill 1.05-1.28. _ 



Distribution. — Breeds in Lower Sonoran zone in southern Texas from 

 Corpus Christi and Laredo south to northeastern Mexico. 



Nest. — In bushes or thickets, made of sticks, vines, and sometimes 

 straws, lined with rootlets. Fggs : 3 or 4, whitish to greenish, closely 

 dotted with reddish brown, often most heavily around larger end. 

 Food. — Insects and larvae, and berries. 



The Sennett thrasher occurs with curvirostre in southern Texas, 



