64 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



TURDUS MIGRATORIUS NIGRIDEUS Aldrich and Nutt 

 BLACK-BACKED ROBIN 



HABITS 



In naming this northeastern subspecies, Aldrich and Nutt (1939) 

 give its subspecific characters as "nearest Turdus migratorius migra- 

 torius, but darker throughout. Upper parts: gray areas darker, more 

 blackish and black areas more extensive; wings and tail more blackish, 

 back much darker, more blackish mouse gray, in males gray more 

 or less completely obscured by an extension posteriorly of the black 

 of the head. Lower parts: More deeply colored, hazel rather than 

 cinnamon rufous, with white areas less extensive and black areas 

 more extensive; in male, black streaks of throat tend to coalesce 

 laterally and posteriorly; gray areas of under tail-coverts and under 

 surface of tail darker; black spots on breast of juvenile specimens 

 larger, tending to coalesce anteriorly." 



Of its geographical distribution, they say: "Breeds in Newfound- 

 land. South in winter to eastern Canada and the eastern United 

 States." Specimens have been taken from Nova Scotia, Wolfville, 

 April 20; New York, Shelter Island, March 28; Ohio, Geauga 

 County, March 22 and April 18. "The robin is apparently partially 

 a permanent resident in Newfoundland since natives report them to 

 be common about St. John's in the winter months." 



In a later note, Dr. Aldrich (1945) writes: "In view of the recent 

 extension of the known breeding range of Turdus migratorius nigrideus 

 across the Straits of Belle Isle from Newfoundland to the coast 

 of Labrador (Peters and Burleigh, Auk, 61 : 472, 1944) it would seem 

 to be of interest to put on record additional material that has recently 

 come to my attention. In the United States National Museum there 

 are two adult male breeding specimens from Chimo, northern Quebec. 

 These birds, taken by L. M. Turner on May 27 and June 8, 1884, are 

 almost typical nigrideus and extend the breeding range of the Black- 

 backed Robin considerably to the northwest. This discovery makes 

 less surprising the occurrence of migrants from as far west as Illinois 

 and Michigan." In the same note he records identified specimens 

 from as far south as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North 

 Carolina, and South Carolina. 



Aldrich and Nutt say that this robin is an abundant breeding 

 bird on the Avalon Peninsula in eastern Newfoundland, where the 

 type was taken, "but is exceedingly wary as compared with its Ohio 

 relatives. The noisy and precipitous departure of robins while the 

 observer is still as much as 100 yards away is characteristic of birds 

 of that region." 



On the west coast of Newfoundland, Ludlow Griscom (1926) found 



