MIMIC THRUSHES 



i«3 



eggs are the size of a Robin's, with bkie back- 

 ground imifiirnily jiepijered with brown dots. 

 Of some twenty nests examined, all were 

 practically the same. 



The nest of the Bendire's Thrasher 1 found 

 to be a smaller structure and often lined with 

 horsehair, string and fine grasses. The cup of 

 the nest is distinctly smaller than that of 

 Palmer's. The eggs are also smaller. Thev have 

 a light blue background, but are marked with 

 larger brown blotches, generally more around 

 the larger end. In appearance, the egg is more 

 like that of the Mockingbird or Russet-backed 

 Thrush. 



\\ bile Bradford Torrey was at Tucson, he 

 experienced considerable difticullv in recog- 

 nizing I'almer's and Bendire's in the held. He 

 fell back on an old method wliich he used in 

 distinguishing the Downy from the llairy W'ood- 

 [lecker, where the dress is alike, but the size is 

 slightly different. It was easier to carry in mind 

 the measurements of the two birds' bills than the 

 comparative measurements of the two birds 

 themselves. .So with this point continually in 

 mind and after spending considerable time in 

 the field, he was able by the aid of his glass to 

 tell one bird from the other almost beyond 

 mistake. William L. Finley. 



CALIFORNIA THRASHER 



Toxostoma redivivum ( (jainbcl) 



A ly V. Number rio 



General Description. — Len.eth, 1 1 ■ j inches. Upper 

 parts, grayish-brown ; under parts, buff, grayish-brown, 

 and cinnamon. Bill, about length of head, curved 

 downward at the end: wings, rather short and rounded; 

 tail, decidedly longer than wing and rounded. 



Color. — Above, plain deep grayish-brozfii, the upper 

 tail-coverts and tail more decidedly brown (approach- 

 ing sepia) ; primaries narrowly edged with paler gray- 

 ish-brown, and larger wing-coverts usually margined at 

 tip with the same; an indistinct stripe over eye of pale 

 grayish-buff; sides of head and space below the eyes, 

 dusky grayish-brown, narrowly but conspicuously 

 streaked with dull buffy-whitish ; cheeks, pale grayish- 

 buff flecked with dusky; chin and throat, pale huff, 

 margined along each side by an indistinct (often obso- 



lete) dusky streak; chest, sides of breast, and sides, 

 pale grayish-brown, becoming browner on flanks ; 

 center of breast and upper abdomen, pale buff becoming 

 deeper cinnamon-buff on lower abdomen and passing 

 into cinnamon on under tail-co-i'erts ; bill, blackish; 

 iris, brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : A rough, coarse, shallow 

 platform of sticks, coarse grasses, and moss, with slight 

 depression but always well hidden in the low scrub. 

 Eggs: 2 to 4, usually 3. light greenish-blue with clove- 

 brown, russet, or chestnut spots. 



Distribution. — Coast and interior valleys of Cali- 

 fornia and northern Lower California ; northward to 

 -Shasta County, southward to San Quentin Bay, San 

 Fernando, and San Pedro Martir Mountains. 



vine by R. I. Brasher 



CALIFORNIA THRASHER (J nat. sitel 

 A fine singer, clever mimic, anfl all 'round good fellow 



