124 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



looking for its food on the surface or under some of the leaves with 

 which the ground was covered; but it was not continually in motion, 

 and there were frequent intervals of complete repose, though should 

 a winged insect chance to fly past, which happened several times, 

 the bird sprang into the air quicker than a flash and was generally 

 successful in catching it; after that its former motionless position was 

 resumed. During my observation, which lasted for some time, the 

 bird uttered no note and, as I remained perfectly quiet, it came at 

 times within a few feet of where I was. 



"By the first of May all the birds seemed to have passed by, and 

 their songs were no longer heard." 



Nesting. — The nesting habits of the Alaska hermit thrush seem to 

 vary somewhat in different portions of its range, and for no apparent 

 reason. 



In the Stikine River region, in northern British Columbia, Harry 

 S. Swarth (1922) found this thrush in the spruce woods on the moun- 

 tains at about 3,000 feet altitude. He collected two nests with eggs; 

 the first nest was taken on May 26, with a set of five eggs. "It was 

 in the creek bottom, about two miles north of the town of Telegraph 

 Creek, some three feet from the ground, in a spruce sapling. The 

 nest rested against the trunk and upon some small branches. The 

 outer structure is of twigs, weed stems, rootlets and bark strips; the 

 lining is of fine rootlets and grass, with a good many of the long over- 

 hairs of a porcupine. It measures as follows: greatest outside diam- 

 eter about 160 mm.; outside depth, 90; inside diameter, 60; inside 

 depth, 40 mm." 



The second nest was taken on June 4, with four slightly incubated 

 eggs; it was in similar surroundings and was very much like the first 

 one in structure, even to the porcupine hairs in the lining, but this 

 one was "placed between two small spruce trees, thirty inches from 

 the ground. * * * Both were in situations where there was little 

 concealing vegetation, and were easily seen from some distance." 



A short distance farther north, in the Atlin region, Mr. Swarth 

 (1926) found three nests: "One, June 13, with three fresh eggs; one 

 June 23, with four fresh eggs; and one July 12, with four fresh eggs. 

 All were on the ground, the first in a clump of small willows at the 

 edge of a muskeg, the second in an opening in mixed poplar and 

 spruce woods, and the third in rather dense poplar woods." 



Eggs. — The Alaska hermit thrush lays three to five eggs, probably 

 usually four. These are practically indistinguishable from those of 

 the dwarf hermit thrush and differ from those of the other hermit 

 thrushes only in size. The measurements of 18 eggs average 21.9 

 by 16.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 23.3 

 by 16.7, 22.4 by 16.8, 20.8 by 15.8 millimeters. 



