CALIFORNIA THRASHER ' 407 



to notice ; in general, however, the food preferences of the two species 

 are similar. 



Behavior. — Prominent among the characteristics of this species is 

 its adaptation and preference for the terrestrial mode of life. On the 

 ground it is swift, efficient, and at ease; but when forced to take to 

 the air, its jerky flight, accomplished by labored beating of its short 

 wings, and with awkwardly drooping head and tail, offers the greatest 

 possible contrast to the graceful buoyancy of its relative and frequent 

 neighbor the mockingbird. The thrasher's usual gait is a brisk run, 

 even when proceeding a very short distance. In moving only a step 

 or two, it may either walk or hop. While the bird is running, the tail 

 is tilted upward, but when perching it is held in line with the body 

 or drooping slightly. 



The California thrasher, in its native hamits, has frequently been 

 referred to as a shy bird ; perhaps, however, this is mainly due to the 

 nature of its usual surroundings, which make keeping out of sight 

 an easy matter. In our dooryards it is one of the least timorous of 

 birds, paying not the slightest attention to any unusual parapher- 

 nalia, such as a camera and tripod, and showing no aversion to lawns 

 and other open spaces. In its attitude toward other birds it is bold 

 and confident, and the California jay, of equal size, deems it prudent 

 to defer to the thrasher at the feeding-table. Among themselves the 

 thrashers are not quarrelsome; sometimes they are seen chasing one 

 another about on the ground, but this often seems to be in a spirit 

 of play. 



In its territory the thrasher is unique in its method of foraging. 

 Most of its animal food is obtained by raking away fallen leaves or 

 by digging in the soil. In the words of Dr. Grinnell (1917), "The 

 bird's most conspicuous structural feature, the long curved bill, is used 

 to whisk aside the litter, and also to dig, pick-fashion, into soft earth 

 where insects lie concealed. Ground much frequented by Thrashers 

 shows numerous little pits in the soil surface, less than an inch deep, 

 steep on one side and with a little heap of earth piled up on the 

 opposite side." In the Point Lobos Keserve, according to Grinnell 

 and Linsdale (1936), "the most suitable foraging situation was the 

 accumulation of leaf litter beneath the ceanothus bushes." Flower 

 beds also are favored resorts, and in their entirely laudable search 

 for cutworms and other pests, the birds are apt to annoy gardeners 

 by digging up newly planted bulbs and seeds. On the technique of 

 digging, Mr. Engels (1940) writes: 



The food which it obtains from the ground and surface debris beneath the 

 chaparral cover is procured entirely by means of the long, curved bill. The 

 feet are never employed for scratching, but ground spiders, grubs, and crickets 

 are dug out of the ground ; the curved bill is struck into the ground with rapid 

 strokes of the head and neck, and the dirt "hooked" back and out with a power- 

 ful pull of the neck. Side-to-side sweeps of the bill are also frequent in the 



