GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH 189 



Such is its northern home, however, and throughout the entire arctic region 

 north of Hudson's Bay to Bering Strait and across into Kamtchatka the bird is 

 found in a greater portion of this range as an extremely abundant species. Wher- 

 ever clumps of dwarf willows or alders have gained a foothold along the sterile 

 slopes and hillsides in the north, a pair or more of these wanderers may be looked 

 for. Along the entire Bering Sea coast of Alaska, and north around the shores of 

 Kotzebue Sound, it is numerous among the many alder bushes found on these 

 shores. 



It was formerly supposed to be only a straggler across the Strait 

 into northeastern Siberia, but, according to Thayer and Bangs (1914), 

 it "is one of the American species that have extended their breeding 

 range across Bering Strait, and it now breeds west at least to the 

 Kolyma River region." 



Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1900) says that "in the Kowak Valley it was 

 to be heard from every willow bed and tract of spruces." From 

 there eastward, along the northern fringe of stunted spruces, willows, 

 and alders, the range extends to the delta of the Mackenzie, the 

 Anderson Kiver region, northern Labrador, and even to parts of 

 Newfoundland. 



Spring. — The gray-cheeked thrush is the champion migrant among 

 our small thrushes, making the longest migration and, in some parts 

 of its journey, the most rapid advance. Frederick C. Lincoln (1939) 

 says: "An excellent example of rapid migration is that of the Gray- 

 cheeked Thrush. This bird winters in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, 

 Venezuela and British Guiana and does not start its northward 

 journey until many other species are well on their way. It does not 

 appear in the United States until the last of April — April 25 near the 

 mouth of the Mississippi and April 30 in northern Florida. A month 

 later, or by the last week in May, it is to be seen in northwestern 

 Alaska, the 4,000-mile trip from Louisiana having been made at an 

 average speed of 130 miles a day." By reference to his map, it 

 appears that the progress is much more rapid in the western part of 

 the route, especially on the latter half of the journey, than it is up 

 the Atlantic Coast States; by May 20 it has reached New England, 

 having covered but little over 10° of latitude; while, during the same 

 time, it has advanced over 30° of latitude, well beyond the 60° latitude 

 in Mackenzie; and, during the next five days, it has advanced nearly 

 10° more to the northern limit of its range in Alaska. These dates 

 and distances are probably only approximate averages. 



During the spring migration the gray-cheeked thrush spreads out 

 over all of the eastern United States, from the Atlantic coast to the 

 Mississippi Valley, and only sparingly a little farther west. Dr. 

 Nelson (1883) writes of the migration: 



It passes by the groves and farms of the Northern States just as the buds are 

 swelling and the warm, misty rains of spring are quickening into life the sleeping 



