PACIFIC VARIED THRUSH 93 



black band across the chest; there is an orange-buff stripe above and 

 behind the eye, two orange-brown wing-bars, with a patch of similar 

 color in the open wing, and the outer tail feathers are tipped with 

 white. The color pattern of the female and the young bird is similar, 

 but the colors are much duller. 



Fall. — Keferring to the fall migration from the mountains to the 

 lowlands, Mr. Rathbun (MS.) says: "This I have seen on occasions in 

 October, when at a considerable altitude, the thrushes passing by our 

 camp in considerable numbers day after day. The birds invariably 

 were to be seen on or near the ground, and they were not at all timid, 

 sometimes coming close to the camp searching for food. On occasions 

 with them would be seen a few Steller's jays; it was amusing to see the 

 jays make unsuccessful attempts to drive away the thrushes, who 

 proved much too active and not at all intimidated ; such contests often 

 ended by all the birds feeding together. October is a silent month for 

 bird song in the forests of this region, and in the valleys of the moun- 

 tains are many sombre and rainy days; so, it gives one particular 

 delight to hear, on rare occasions, the long vibrant song of this bird 

 steal through the forest, mingled with the sound of falling raindrops." 



Joseph Mailliard (1908) witnessed a great wave of varied thrushes 

 migrating southward in California on October 20, 1906, of which he 

 writes: 



A very strong, and exceedingly warm and dry north wind was blowing, amount- 

 ing in places to a veritable gale. We drove from the house to the extreme end of 

 the ranch, a distance of about four miles, before sunrise, in the face of the gale, 

 and putting up the team in the barn there, commenced on foot to ascend the range 

 with the purpose in view of looking over the property and, incidentally, seeking 

 for quail in their accustomed haunts. The sun was rising as we began the ascent 

 and the air startlingly clear. We had taken but a few steps when my attention 

 was attracted by the sight of a few birds, about the size of robins, flying high and 

 scattered over the sky. This w as so unusual at this time of day that I remarked 

 upon the phenomenon to my companions. 



As the sun cleared the horizon and the light increased we realized the fact that 

 the sky was dotted in every direction with birds flying singly, and at quite an 

 elevation, mostly toward the south. As the light grew stronger individuals here 

 and there dropped to a lower altitude and allowed us to discern the fact that they 

 were Varied Thrushes (Ixoreus naevius). For some time their numbers increased 

 until there were hundreds in sight at once in any direction one might look, and as 

 we were by this time pretty well up on the range we had quite an extended view. 

 soon we noticed single birds dropping out of the flight and settling in the bushes. 

 These must have been our regular winter residents. Apparently not over one in 

 a hundred dropped out in this way. After nine a. m. the numbers decreased and 

 by ten o'clock the flight was over, with no birds in sight except a few flying from 

 one canyon to another and settling down locally, apparently. 



Winter. — Throughout at least half of its breeding range the varied 

 thrush is present in winter in reasonable numbers, but in somewhat 

 different surroundings. And a few remain well up toward the north- 



