144 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



upperparts are of a lighter, more isabelline or cinnamomeous brown, 

 spots on chest averaging larger, sides and flanks more buffy brown, 

 and bill stouter. The various subspecies of the hermit thrush are of 

 minor importance in a discussion of the habits and life history, and 

 what is true of the eastern hermit thrush will in most instances also 

 apply to the western forms. 



Spring. — The migration of the hermit thrush through the United 

 States is confused by the presence of wintering individuals. There 

 are countless numbers of migration records early in March, but it 

 is apparent that the peak of migration up the Mississippi Valley and 

 into Canada is during April. An examination of some of the Canadian 

 records of migration is of interest. According to J. H. Fleming (1907) 

 the hermit is an abundant migrant at Toronto from April 13 to May 

 10. His earliest date of spring arrival is April 8. At Aweme, Mani- 

 toba, latitude 49° 42' N., Norman Criddle (1922) in 19 years of obser- 

 vation found the average date of its first arrival to be May 2. His 

 earliest record is April 19, 1917. Lynds Jones (1910) made extensive 

 studies of bird migration on the sand spit of Cedar Point, Ohio. The 

 comparative isolation of the spit from the mainland makes it the 

 first step in the flight to Point Pelee on the Canadian shore of Lake 

 Erie. In migration the birds are concentrated in this strip, which 

 can be likened to the neck of a funnel. According to Jones the hermits 

 are usually so numerous during migration that they spread well over 

 the whole of the sand spit. The median date of spring arrival is 

 April 2, the earliest March 21, 1903. The median date of spring 

 departure is May 5, the latest May 20, 1907. It is seen that although 

 a few individuals arrive at the spit in March, possibly individuals 

 that wintered a relatively short distance south, the bulk do not arrive 

 until April and do not leave until May. 



The hermit thrush is the hardiest member of its group, for it is the 

 first to arrive in spring and the latest to leave in autumn. Indeed, 

 some individuals remain in certain sections of the southern limits 

 of the breeding range, wherever there is an adequate food supply, 

 to brave the cold winter. It dislikes snow, however, and usually 

 manages to keep south of the line where snow remains on the ground 

 for an extended period. It normally winters south of the 40th 

 parallel to the Gulf States and west to central Texas. The migration 

 starts in March, and by the middle of April it arrives in central New 

 England, New York, southern Michigan, and Minnesota. During 

 the first week of May it has reached the northern limits of its breeding 

 range. It makes the journey by night and rests during the day. 

 During the height of the migration large numbers are often seen in 

 the parks and churchyards among the tall buildings and bustling 



