BENDIRE'S THRASHER 387 



or streaks on the under parts; in some these markings cover all the 

 breast and abdomen, while in others they are confined to the breast 

 or only to the sides. 



The time at which the postjuvenal molt takes place varies with 

 the dates on which the two broods were hatched, but a partial molt, in- 

 volving the contour plumage and the wing coverts, produces a first- 

 winter plumage practically indistinguishable from that of the fall 

 adult. 



Adults have a complete postnuptial molt, beginning late in July 

 and continuing through August. Adults in fresh fall plumage are 

 darker and grayer above and the spots on the chest are darker than in 

 spring birds ; wear and fading produce paler spotting on the under- 

 parts, the spots becoming faint in many cases before summer. 



Food. — No very comprehensive study of the food of Bendire's 

 thrasher seems to have been made and very little has appeared in 

 print about it. Like other thrashers, it evidently lives largely on 

 insects, such as beetles, caterpillars, and other larvae and pupae, which 

 it obtains mainly on or near the ground. William L. Engels (1940) 

 says: "The Bendire thrasher, like the brown, spends much time on 

 the ground while foraging. Near Coolidge, Arizona, one was 

 watched from an automobile as it searched for food on the shoulder 

 of the road, hammering vigorously at the ground with its relatively 

 short, slightly curved bill. Another, seen in a cultivated field beside 

 a patch of mesquite in which its nest was situated, was running along 

 between plant rows, occasionally jumping up into the air as if catching 

 insects." Two that he shot, a pair coming to their nest, were "found 

 to be carrying small, green, wormlike larvae." 



Behavior. — Mr. Scott (1888a) regarded this thrasher as "at all 

 times shy and wary and difficult to approach, even when nesting." 

 But Mr. Gilman (1915) says : "The Bendire Thrasher is one bird that 

 from all indications takes kindly to settlement. These birds nest near 

 houses, on which they perch to sing, come into the yards, and seem 

 fearless if not molested. If their natural shelter is cleared up they 

 take kindly to artificial or planted growth and I believe will persist 

 in the face of civilization. All this of course, provided that they 

 receive some measure of protection and encouragement." 



Mr. Engels (1940) gives us some information on the general be- 

 havior of this thrasher on the ground and in the air. One that he 

 watched on a creosote-bush flat was followed for several hundred 

 yards : 



It walked or ran along, now slowly, now rapidly, in and out among the 

 creosote bushes, sometimes flying up into a low bush, then directly down again 

 to the ground. Gait and carriage in these birds were essentially as in the 

 brown thrasher. 



Most Bendire thrashers seen, when not perched, were moving on the wing 



