NORTHWESTERN ROBIN 49 



status of the two forms (MS.) as follows: "I feel safe in saying that 

 the robins so commonly seen from early spring until well into October, 

 in and about the long reclaimed and older settled sections of the 

 region, almost always represent propinquus; but associated with this 

 form during the rest of the year will be seen numbers of what can be 

 regarded as caurinus, for both are common residents of the region, 

 although apparently each differs to some degree in its distribution. 



"Ordinarily, the robins found in the wilder parts of western Wash- 

 ington, and in and about the tracts of heavy coniferous forest, par- 

 ticularly if such have more or less of a growth of spruce, can be re- 

 garded as caurinus. In particular, this appears to be the case within 

 the Olympic Peninsula, where what seems to me to be caurinus is the 

 prevailing form throughout the year; and, although I have found it 

 quite well distributed here, it seemed as if the height of its abundance 

 was in the spruce, or so designated 'coastal belt/ along the 

 Pacific Ocean, where also the varied thrush is found to be so common. 

 By 'coastal belt' is meant a rather wide strip extending inland from 

 the Pacific coast, a section of heavy rainfall; the U. S. Weather Bureau 

 records show that this strip has an annual precipitation of 75 inches 

 or more; in fact, there are records of 150 inches at Clearwater, not 

 far north of Lake Quinault. 



"Then, at the approach of autumn, caurinus commences to scatter 

 widely to the Sound region and adjacent sections. But, at its nest- 

 ing period, the farther east from the coast, the less common is caurinus. 

 One never sees it in summer in the backyard, for then the robin is 

 propinquus." 



Spring. — The northwestern robin does not seem to be permanently 

 resident in southern Alaska, but to be, at least partially, migratory. 

 The only specimens definitely recorded in Mr. Rathbun's Washington 

 notes were taken in spring, March 19 and April 16. He says that it is 

 "not uncommon in spring" and that it "is quite often seen in the forest, 

 from the west end of Lake Crescent to the Pacific Ocean. No matter 

 how dense the forest, or how far distant one may be from any clearing 

 or habitation, at times robins will be seen, and as a general thing they 

 resemble this race." 



George Willett writes to me that this robin arrives in southeastern 

 Alaska mostly in April and leaves in October; but he has seen it 

 occasionally during the winter months; he has seen it at Craig on 

 January 29 and March 16, 1923, on December 11, 1924, and on 

 February 23 and 24, 1925, only a single bird in each case. 



Alfred M. Bailey (1927) writes: "Robins are very common through- 

 out the summer, and were first noted at Wrangell April 13, when half 

 a dozen were seen feeding in a garden; they were abundant by April 

 26. Mrs. Bailey recorded her first Robins at Juneau April 14, and 



