HABITS OF THE OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH 37 



trate beyond the Isthmus, the Olive-backed Thrush has ap- 

 peared ia Ecuador, Peru, aud Brazil, as recorded by Sclater, 

 Cabanis, and von Pelzeln, respectively. It likewise occurs in 

 Cuba and in Greenland, and, like all onr other HylocichlWj except- 

 ing the Wood Thrush, has been reported from Europe. There 

 is also a record of its presence in Siberia; though very possibly 

 the actual reference in this case is to the variety alicke, lately 

 accredited by Taczanowski to the same country. Its disper- 

 sion over the eastern portions of North America is general. The 

 southern limit of its usual breeding-range has been fixed by 

 Dr. Brewer in Massachusetts, but I am under the impression 

 that such restriction requires to be removed. I have mislaid a 

 reference I once possessed to its breeding in Connecticut and 

 in the mountains of Pennsylvania, and cannot now recall the 

 authority ; but such extension of its range in summer agrees 

 better with the accounts of some of the earlier writers as well 

 as with what we now know of its distribution during the same 

 season in the West. Late observations have informed us of its 

 westward extension beyond the main chains of the Rocky 

 Mountains. My correspondent, Mr. T. M. Trippe, found the 

 bird in Colorado Territory in May and September; and on one 

 occasion in October, when the snow lay a foot deep on the 

 ground, he observed it in company with various other species 

 which had gathered about the Hot Sulphur Springs, in the 

 Middle Park, ajiparently atti-acted by the warmth of these tepid 

 pools. " In the vicinity of Denver," says Mr. H. W. Henshaw, 

 "the species makes its aj)pearance about the 10th of May; and 

 by the 17th the thickets and partially open ground in swampy 

 localities were fairly swarming with these birds. They were 

 perfectly silent, and busied themselves after the usual manner 

 of the family in scratching and seeking among the leaves for 

 food. The males preceded the arrival of the females by at least 

 a week." The most explicit accounts from the Far West are, 

 however, those given by Mr. Ridgway, in his still unpublished 

 Report on the Birds observed during Clarence King's Survey of 

 the Fortieth Parallel. I quote from proof-sheets which he 

 kindly placed at my service : " Swainson's Thrush is a very 

 abundant species among the W^ahsatch Mountains, and is, in 

 fact, one of the most characteristic summer birds of that region. 

 It there breeds plentifully in the canons, where its song may 



be heard almost continually during the nesting season 



jSTumerous nests wej-e found among the thickets bordering the 



