740 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



in small firs, about fifteen feet up and close to the trunk, mid moss 

 covered twigs. The other nest was some twenty-five feet from the 

 ground in the dense matted branches of a dwarf spruce. They were 

 all about alike, fairly compact and well made, the materials used in 

 their construction, consisting of dried grasses, bits of decayed wood, 

 twigs and green moss, the whole being lined with very fine dried 

 grasses. The full complementof eggs seems to number three. These are 

 of a deep greenish blue colour,finely spotted and blotched with reddish 

 brown, chiefly about the larger end, though one egg had all the 

 markings about the smaller end. The birds are retiring and sus- 

 picious, while nesting, showing none of the "give away" weaknesses 

 of most nesting birds. Thus a female, on the way to her nest with a 

 beak load of building material, happened to stop near where I stood. 

 Instantly she saw me, and after a moment, dropped her load and 

 silently disappeared in the woods. They displayed no signs of 

 alarm upon their nests being approached, usually quietly retiring, 

 if they had been in evidence at all. Males, singing in the vicinity of 

 their sitting mates, would become quiet and sneak away at the 

 slightest sound from my approach. The thrushes have two natural 

 enemies to take into account, when locating a nesting site. Firstly, 

 the nest must be concealed from the numerous crows and ravens, 

 whose sharp eyes are ever searching the upper portions of the trees. 

 Next to be considered are the half-wild cats which infest the island 

 and which of course work from the ground. In consequence [the 

 nest is usually well concealed in the most dense part of the tree, and 

 is difficult to find. (H. F Tufts.) 



758. Russet-backed Thrush. 



Hylocichla ustulata ustulata (Nutt.) Ridgw. 1880. 



Abundant at Agassiz, B.C., after May loth, 1889; very common 

 at Spence Bridge and Kamloops, ' .C, breeding in bushes along 

 the Thompson river; common at Chilliwack and along the river 

 to the head of Chilliwack lake; only one observed at Huntingdon 

 on the International Boundary in the autumn of 1901 ; common at 

 Elko, B.C. in 1904, and from Princeton to the Skagit river, B.C.; 

 first seen at Victoria, Vancouver island, May 5th, 1893, and common 

 by the 12th; an abundant summer resident, found at Nanaimo, 



