404 BULLETIN 195, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



ruiiner and makes little use of its wings in moving about. Other spe- 

 cies of the genus are intermediate in various respects between these 

 two extremes." 



He also finds that the three species occurring regularly in California, 

 redivivum, Zecontei, and dorsale, form a group distinguished from 

 the more eastern members of the genus not only in their plain colora- 

 tion and longer, more curved bills, but also in their reluctant flight 

 and their strong digging propensities. Furthermore, when on the 

 ground, according to Mr. Engels, "the tail is held low in rufum, hen- 

 direi and curvirostre; it is carried up at a sharp angle in redivivum, 

 dorsale and leconteV 



The typical form of the California thrasher occupies the southern 

 portion of the territory, as far north as Monterey and Placer Coun- 

 ties. It differs from the northern subspecies in the more grayish 

 brown of the general plumage and the white rather than buffy color 

 of the throat. 



Nesting. — ^The nesting habits of the California thrasher offer little 

 of divergence from those of others of its genus and family, aside from 

 the notable length of its breeding season. The birds apparently 

 remain mated throughout the year, and Mrs. Grace Tompkins Sargent 

 ( 1940) mentions one brood having been brought off in Pasadena during 

 the month of November 1935. Other occupied nests have been reported 

 for each subsequent month up to at least July. February and March, 

 however, are more usual months for the opening of the nesting season, 

 the raising of the second brood often lasting well into summer. 



The nests are usually placed within a few feet of the ground, well 

 inside a large bush or scrubby tree. Dense masses of foliage are 

 avoided, but the sites are usually well screened from outside view. 

 In its construction the nest closely resembles that of mockingbirds 

 building in the same locality, except of its slightly larger size and 

 coarser materials, in proportion to the sizes of the birds. The founda- 

 tion and body of the structure are composed of stiff, rough twigs, with 

 a lining of rootlets, fibers, grasses, or other flexible material. 



When incubating or brooding, the thrashers often show little fear 

 when approached, and W. Leon Dawson (1923) tells of picking up 

 one of the birds and turning it around on its nest so that it would face 

 his camera ! They are, nevertheless, cautious in their approach to the 

 nest, as Mr. Engels (1940) mentions: "Of two pairs of California 

 thrashers whose nesting activities I observed, I never saw a bird 

 approach the nest in any way but through the bush, working up from 

 the base after coming to it on the ground. One nest was about 4 feet 

 above ground in a bush, and the birds here often left in the same man- 

 ner in which they had come — except when frightened off, when they 

 flew down to the ground." By this habit of approaching the nest from 



