TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE 323 



notes: "In their actions these birds were almost identical with fly- 

 catchers, sitting erect on or near the extremity of some limb, well 

 toward the top of the tree, and from this location they would fly out 

 and catch the passing insects. At all times the birds were perfectly 

 silent, for during the entire time of observation neither uttered a note." 



H. W. Hensha\v (1875) evidently never observed this habit, for he 

 says: "The habit of catching insects on the wing, after the manner of 

 the Flycatchers, which is attributed to this bird, appears to be not a 

 common one, or, as is likely the case the bird varies its habits in dif- 

 ferent localities, as, of hundreds I have seen at different seasons, none 

 were ever thus engaged, nor have I ever seen them searching among 

 the leaves for insects, like the thrushes. In their usual manner of 

 procuring food, as in their habits and motions generally, they have 

 always seemed to me nearly allied to the Bluebirds." 



Behavior. — Many of the solitaire's traits have been referred to 

 above, as well as some of the points on which it resembles other 

 species in appearance and manners. Dawson and Bowles (1909) have 

 summed this up very well, as follows: 



Barring the matter of structure, which the scientists have now pretty well 

 thrashed out, the bird is everything by turns. He is Flycatcher in that he delights 

 to sit quietly on exposed limbs and watch for passing insects. These he meets 

 in mid-air and bags with an emphatic snap of the mandibles. He is a Shrike in 

 appearance and manner, when he takes up a station on a fence-post and studies 

 the ground intently. When its prey is sighted at distances varying from ten 

 to thirty feet, it dives directly to the spot, lights, snatches, and swallows, in an 

 instant; or, if the catch is unmanageable, it returns to its post to thrash and kill 

 and swallow at leisure. During this pouncing foray, the display of white in the 

 Solitaire's tail reminds one of the Lark Sparrow. Like the silly Cedar-bird, the 

 Solitaire gorges itself on fruit and berries in season. Like a Thrush, when the 

 mood is on, the Solitaire skulks in the thickets or woodsy depths, and flies at the 

 suggestion of approach. Upon alighting it stands quietly, in expectation that 

 the eye of the beholder will thus lose sight of its ghostly tints among the inter- 

 lacing shadows. 



It is generally regarded as a solitary, quiet, retiring bird, often 

 being seen singly, in pairs, or in family groups, but at times, mainly 

 on the fall migration, it is sometimes seen in larger groups. Henshaw 

 (1875) mentions such a gathering: "At the Old Crater, forty miles 

 south of Zuni, N. Mex., they had congregated in very large numbers 

 about a spring of fresh water, the only supply for many miles around ; 

 and hundreds were to be seen sitting on the bare volcanic rocks, 

 apparently too timid to venture down and slake their thirst while 

 we were camped near by." 



Ridgway (1877) records the thrushlike behavior of the solitaire in 

 the vicinity of its nest: "As we walked along the embankment of a 

 mining-sluice it flitted before us, now and then alighting upon the 

 ground, and, with drooping and quivering wings, running gracefully, 



