90 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Many years ago, 1899, complaint was made that these thrushes did 

 considerable damage by pulling up sprouting peas. 



Much of the food of the varied thrush is found on the ground, where 

 it forages among the masses of fallen leaves, picking up acorns, or 

 casting the leaves aside; many of the lower forms of animal life are 

 found under the damp and thickly matted leaves. Mr. Rathbun 

 describes this action in his notes, as follows: "On various occasions we 

 have watched this thrush feed on the leaf-scattered ground near the 

 edge of an open spot in the forest. Springing forward the bird would 

 seize some of the litter in its beak, and almost at the same instant make 

 a backward spring, scattering the leaves in various directions. A 

 motionless instant would follow before the bird searched for food 

 among the disturbed carpet of leaves; and then, whether or not suc- 

 cessful in its quest, it would repeat these actions. Often, when feeding 

 on the ground, it will give its musical notes in a soft, faint tone." 



Dawson (1923) has seen a varied thrush hunting for worms on a 

 well-kept lawn, after the manner of a robin, and says that these 

 thrushes search the ground for fallen olives. Ralph Hoffmann (1927) 

 adds madrone berries to the vegetable food and has seen them feeding 

 on the ground under live oaks. And Dr. Grinnell (1898) includes 

 blueberries in the food of young birds. 



Behavior. — The varied thrush on its breeding grounds is a rather 

 shy and retiring bird, perhaps more retiring than shy, as it fades away 

 into its dense and shady retreats on the approach of an intruder. But 

 at other times it is often far from timid; Mr. Rathbun has had them 

 come to within 10 feet of him while he sat quietly watching them on 

 the lake shore. He says in his notes that in spite of the striking 

 color pattern these birds are often quite inconspicuous where their 

 colors seem to match their surroundings and help them to fade into the 

 picture. This is especially true of the females; the pale buff shades 

 of the breast are exactly the tint of many of the mosses on the rocks 

 and logs, or the ends of broken branches on the fallen trees; and the 

 pale grayish olive of the back is the color of logs or rocks. If motion- 

 less among such surroundings, the bird might easily be overlooked. 

 The male's colors make him more conspicuous, and consequently more 

 shy, but when his back is turned his colors match his surroundings; 

 and even the conspicuous black band on his breast may tend to break 

 up the continuity of his form. Mr. Rathbun (MS.) adds: "More 

 than once I have noticed that when this thrush alights on a branch 

 of an alder, to which yet clings a trace of dead foliage, how perfectly 

 the markings of the bird harmonize with the russet tinge of the dead 

 leaves and the grayish colored bark of the tree." 



He found these thrushes very demonstrative and active in the 

 defense of their nest; the female usually slipped quietly off the nest, 



