134 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



first nest was composed mostly of green moss, with small rootlets, de- 

 composed leaves, and small twigs. The lining was made of rootlets, 

 decomposed leaves, and a little shredded redwood bark. The second 

 nest was located while I was looking for a place to eat lunch. I had 

 entered a small clearing and was approaching a small tan oak, when the 

 bird flushed out into my face. This nest was quite different from the 

 first, being composed mostly of small redwood twigs (with the needles 

 still attached) and shredded redwood bark. There was a noticeable 

 lack of moss, only a few bito being found. The lining was of rootlets, 

 dried grasses and bark." 



Eggs. — The Monterey hermit thrush lays three to five eggs, prob- 

 ably most often four. These are indistinguishable from the eggs of 

 other hermit thrushes of similar size. The measurements of 30 eggs 

 average 21.5 by 16.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes 

 measure 23.2 by 16.9, 21.9 by 17.2, 20.4 by 16.1, and 21.2 by 15.6 

 millimeters. 



HYLOCICHLA GUTTATA SEQUOIENSIS (Belding) 



SIERRA HERMIT THRUSH 



HABITS 



This is a gray hermit thrush, similar in coloration to both auduboni 

 and slevini, but intermediate in size between the two. 



Lyman Belding (1889a) described it as a distinct species under the 

 name "big tree thrush," from specimens collected at Big Trees, 

 Calaveras County, Calif. He says, in part: "In size between the 

 Dwarf and Audubon's Thrushes. In color paler than either or any 

 American thrush I have ever seen; both above and below considerably 

 resembling T. aliciae, the spotting included, while its cheeks are still 

 grayer than in aliciae. Tail and coverts about as light cinnamon as 

 in T. auduboni." 



It breeds in the various mountain ranges from southern British 

 Columbia to southern California and migrates southeastward to 

 Texas and northern Mexico. Samuel F. Rathbun tells me that it is 

 the breeding form in the mountains of the Olympic Peninsula in 

 western Washington, as well as in the Cascades; he found it in the 

 former mountains in summer at 3,700 to 4,300 feet; in the vicinity of 

 Seattle it occurs regularly, as a migrant only, in April and again from 

 about the middle of August until late in fall. 



J. Stuart Rowley writes to me that, in the high Sierra coimtry of 

 Mono County, Calif., he "found this bird to be a well distributed race 

 from about 7,000 feet elevation upward to timberline." 



Nesting. — Mr. Rowley says in his notes: "I have observed many 

 occupied nests; and fresh eggs may be found on the same day as young 



