MLMIC THRUvSHES 



/o 



decreasing in extent toward middle leathers ; an indis- 

 tinct line of dull whitish over eye; lores, light grayish; 

 speck below the eyes and the sides of head, light 

 grayish-brown, narrowly streaked with dtiU whitish; 

 cheeks and under parts, dull buffy-white passing into 

 pale cinnamon-bufT on flanks, anal region, and under 

 tail-cuverts ; throat, bordered along each side by a 

 narrow stripe, or series of streaks of dusky or black; 

 lower throat, with sparse wedge-shaped small spots or 

 streaks of dusky ; chest, breast, sides, and flanks con- 

 spicuously streaked with dark grayish-brown or sooty, 

 the markings on chest in forin of wedge-shaped spots 

 rather than streaks ; under wing-coverts, pale grayish- 

 buff; bill, dusky; iris, lemon-yellow. 



Nest and Eggs. — Xest : In low bushes, especially 



sage and cactus, from one to three feet above ground ; 

 rough, bulky structure of coarse plant stems, dry sage 

 bark, coarse grasses, and twigs, lined with line stems 

 and rootlets. E<;gs : 3 to 5. with a .ground color of 

 rich greenish-blue spotted with bright reddish-brown 

 and a few lead-colored spots. 



Distribution. — Arid plains, mesas, and foothills of 

 western United States ; breeds from the western border 

 of the Great Plains, in western North Dakota, South 

 Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas to the eastern 

 base of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges ; north 

 to Montana. Idaho, and eastern British Columbia ; 

 winters from southern California and mountains of 

 central Texas to northern Mexico and Cape San Lucas, 

 casually to Guadalupe Islaml. 



Oil the .sagebrush jilains, or the ragged desert 

 mountains of the West, the Sage Thrasher makes 

 its home. It resembles nothing so much as a 

 young undersized Mockingbird. But for its 

 spotted breast one might easily mistake it for 

 this famous and better known songster. In the 

 early spring, when the snows on the distant 

 mountains are beginning to melt and the long 

 wary ranks of wildfowl are passing northward 

 overhead, the song of this Thrasher rings far 

 and wide over the sandy wastes. Une seldom 

 sees it far from the ground. I'erched on a sage- 

 bush or a thorny cactus it sings and calls and 

 keeps a lookout for mate or rival. More fre- 

 quently, perhaps, it is found on the ground, run- 

 ning about among the clumps of bushes. It seems 

 to be ecjually at hoiue about ranches or far out 

 on the uninhabited deserts. I have met them on 

 the plains when, far as the eye could reach, 

 there was no sign of human habitation, and again 

 have watched them running about the streets of 

 an adobe Indian village, pausing at intervals to 

 raise their wings playfully, glance around, and 



then resume their travels. The substantial nests 

 of sticks, twigs, and grasses are usually placed 

 in bushes near the ground. The Sage Thrasher 

 appears to be confined very largely to the open 

 countries of the far West. 



T. Gilbert Pe.\rso.\. 



Drawing by R- I. Brasher 



SAGE THRASHER I i nat. sh 

 A fine daylight and moonlight singer of the 



MOCKINGBIRD 

 Mimus polyglottos polyglottos ( fJiiiucus) 



A I), f. Xumlii-r 703 See Color Plate 101 



Other Names.— Mock P.ird ; Mocking Thrush ; 

 Mimic Thrush ; Mocker. 



General Description. — Length, to inches. Upper 

 parts, brownish-.gray ; under parts, white and .gray. 

 Bill, shorter than liead ; wings, long and rounded ; tail, 

 longer than wing, rounded, the feathers moderately 

 broad with rounded tips. 



Color. — Above, p]am brownish-gray : wings and tail, 

 dull blackish-slate with pale slate-gray edgings, these 

 broadest on secondaries (especially the terminal por- 



VoL. III. — 13 



tion. where sometimes inclining to white) ; middle and 

 greater wing-coverts, narrowly tipped with dull white or 

 grayish-white, forming two narrow bands ( these indis- 

 tinct in worn plumage) ; primary coverts, white, usually 

 with a subterminal spot or streak of dusky: base of 

 Iirimaries, white, this most extended on the two inner- 

 most, where occupying at least basal half of both webs, 

 often much more, that on the longer tiuills sometimes 

 entirely concealed by overlying primary coverts ; outer- 

 most tail-feather, white, sometitnes with a trace of 



