TUKDID.E — THE THRUSHES — HARPORHYXCHUS. 



17 



in the thickets when alarmed. Their bill seems adapted chiefly for scratch^ 

 ing amonjr the dead leaves for insects. 



Harporhyncht'S rcdi virus- 



Their song is lond and varied, witli freqnent imitations of other liirds, bnt 

 they are mnch less musical than the true ilocking-birds, though often called 

 by that name. 



Harporhynchus Lecontii, Lawrexce. 



LECONTE'S THRUSH. 



Toxostoma Lecontii, Lawrexce, Ann. N. Y. Lvc. V. Sept. 1851, 100 (Fort Ynma). — Harpo- 

 rl(i/nr!iii!i Lecontii, Bonaparte, Comptos ItcmUis, XXVIII. 1854, . '37. — Baird, P. R. 

 Rep. IX. Birds, .3.50. In. U. S. and Mex. Buimd. Rep. II. iii. 12; pi. 12. In. Rev. 47. 



Sp. Ch.\R. Bill much curved. Second (juill about equal to tlie tenth ; exposed portion 

 of the first more than half the longest ; outer tail feather an inch shortest. General color 

 above light grayish ash, beneath much paler ; the chin and throat above almost white ; the 

 sides behind lirownish yellow or pale rusty yellow ash, of which color is the crissum and 

 anal region. Tail feathers rather dark brown on the under surface, lighter above, the 

 outer edges and tips of exterior ones obscurely paler. Quills nearly like the back. Length 

 about 10 inches; wing, 3.75 ; tail, 4.7.5. 



Hah. Fort Yuma, to Moja\e River, California. 



I found this bird rather common on the deserts along the route between 

 the Colorado Valley and the coast .slope of California, wherever there was a 

 thicket of low bushes, generally surrounded by sand-hills They werd so 

 3 



