CRISSAL THRASHER 423 



similar to the adults in spring plumage but browner throughout, the 

 rich chestnut-brown of the under tail coverts being only slightly 

 duller; the rump and the broad tipping on the tail are brownish 

 chestnut; the bill is shorter and smaller, and the plumage is softer 

 and looser. 



After the postjuvenal molt, which involves the contour plumage 

 but not the wings and tail, the young bird becomes indistinguishable 

 from the adult in fall plumage ; the date of this molt probably varies 

 with the date on which the young bird was hatched. Adults have 

 a complete postnuptial molt during July and August ; the fresh fall 

 plumage is slightly darker and grayer than the faded spring plumage. 

 The sexes are practically alike in all plimiages. 



Food. — Very little seems to have been published on the food of this 

 bird. Dr. Mearns (1886) says that it is "omnivorous. It feeds 

 largely upon berries and wild grapes. A thorny species of 'haw' is 

 plentiful along the Rio Verde, which bears an abundance of berries, 

 of green, red, and dark glaucous-blue colors, according to the degree 

 of maturity; upon these the Thrashers delight to feed. Insects 

 constitute an important article of their diet at all seasons." 



It is said to eat juniper berries and other wild fruits. The stomach 

 of one of the birds collected for Mr. Brewster (1882a) "contained 

 insects and a small lizard.'''' 



Behavior. — The crissal thrasher is a shy, retiring bird: all one 

 usually sees of it is a fleeting glimpse as it darts away skillfully into 

 or under the brushy thickets. William L. Engels (1940) says that 

 they are much like the California thrasher in their behavior : 



They prefer, likewise, dense and continuous cover, such as that afforded by 

 mesquite thickets, to which they are almost exclusively restricted, as the 

 California thrasher is to the chaparral. Beneath the cover of the dense mesquite 

 they move quickly along, in and out, with long, graceful strides, head forward, 

 tail high, stopping here and there to dig or to whisk the litter aside in search 

 of food. They are likewise agile in scrambling about in the thorny trees, working 

 their way up toward the tops, the favored singing posts. 



Crissal thrashers, too, are little given to flight. In the field, one's most common 

 sight of them is a sudden, brief glimpse of a bird abruptly dropping from a 

 bushtop to the ground in a short swoop, wings outspread. Pursued, they make 

 off rapidly on the ground, turning and twisting among the bushes, only occasion- 

 ally taking to wing. Sometimes one may fly for 20 to 30 yards. One of the 

 few crissals I saw in flight is thus described in my field notes: ". . . its long 

 tail held straight out behind, the head extended forward, it would make a few 

 rapid wingbeats ; then with outstretched wings, whicli looked ridiculously short, 

 it would sail on, only for a few feet, and then repeat." 



Mrs. Bailey (1928) says that, "when tempted by water, the thicket- 

 loving bird may come to drink with the chickens and dig in the garden, 

 the strong pickaxe bill and large feet characteristic of the Thrashers 

 making effective implements." Mrs. Wheelock (1904) also refers to 

 his fondness for water, saying : "Rarely will you find him nesting at 



