TUBDID^— MIMING: MOCKING THRUSHES. 



251 



ions which now obtain in oraithology to place all the species in one genus ; but the gradation 

 of form is so gentle that it seems impossible to dismember the group without violence. The 

 arcuation of the bill proceeds pari passu with its elongation ; the shortest bills being the 

 straightest, and conversely. There is also a curious correlation of color with shape of bill ; 

 the short-billed species being the most richly colored and heavily spotted, while the bow- 

 billed ones are very plain, sometimes with no spots whatever on the under parts. Our nine 

 forms of the genus are with one exception South-western, focusing in Arizona, where occur 

 four species, two of them not known elsewhere ; two others are confined to California ; two 

 to the Mexican border, leaving only one generally distributed. They furnish the following 



Analysis of Species and Varieties, 

 Bill not longer than head (0 87-1.12), little or not curved. Breast spotted. 



Bill 1.00, quite straight. Above rich rusty-red ; below whitish, heavily spotted and streaked with 

 dark brown. Eastern rufiis 17 



Bill 1.12, slightly curved. Above dark reddish-brown, below whitLsh, heavily spotted and streaked 

 with blackish. Texas longirostris 18 



Bill 1.12, curved. Above ashy-gray, below whitish, breast with round spots of the color of the back. 

 Mexican border and Arizona curvirostris or palmeri 19,20 



Bill 0.87, scarcely curved. Above grayish-brown, below brownish- white, breast alone with arrow- 

 heads of the color of the back. Arizona . . beniiirii 12 



Bill 1.12, curved. Above ashy-gray, below whitish, with profuse distinct blackish-brown spots. 



Lower California cinereus 22 



Bill longer than head (1.50), arcuate. Breast not spotted. 



Dark oily olive-brown, below paler, belly and crissum rufescent. Coast of California . . redivivus 23 



Pale ash, paler still below, lower belly and crissum brownish-yellow. Arizona lecontii 24 



Brownish-ash, paler below, crissum chestnut in marked contrast. Arizona, New Mexico, and 

 California crissalis 25 



17. H. ru'fus. (Lat. rufui^, rufous, reddish. Fig. 121.) Thrasher. Brown Thrush. $ 9 : Upper 

 parts uniform rich rust-red, with a bronzy lustre. Concealed portions of quills fuscous. 

 Greater and median wing-coverts blackish near the end, then conspicuously tipped with white. 

 Bastard quills like the coverts. Tail ■'" ""'^S ^. 

 like the back, the lateral feathers with ^,sa^S^^S<cS^*«^''''T^<I^ 

 paler ends. Under parts white, more ^^^0^^-^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

 or less strongly tinged, especially on .jS^^ J^^vJm^^^ '"'^'^ ^r^^^^ 



the breast, flanks, and crissum, with ^^^i^^P^^^^^^^ ''^ ' 



tawny or pale cinnamon-brown, the ,i '' 



breast and sides marked with a profu- ^ j1 



sion of well-defined spots of dark ^' " ^ Civ J 



brown, oval in front, becoming more ^ j^* ' 



linear posteriorly. Throat immaculate, '^^Jz <-. ^ ' 4 ^0 



bordered with a necklace of spots; ^jt-^'-isj' » 



middle of the belly and under tail- Wg-'' 



coverts likewise unspotted. Bill quite 

 straiglit, black, with yellow base of the 

 lower mandible ; feet pale ; iris yellow Fic. 12l.— Thiasber, nat. size. (AJ. i.at. J^;l. E. C.) 



or orange. Length about 11 inches; extent 12.50-14.00; wing 3.75-4.25 ; tail 5.00 or more; 

 bill 1.00 ; tarsus 1.25. Eastern U. S. chiefly, but N. to adjoining British Provinces and W. 

 to the Rocky Mts. ; migratory, but breeds throughout its range, and winters in the Southern 

 States. A delightful songster, abundant in thickets and shrubbery. Nest in bushes (some- 

 times on ground), bulky and rude, of sticks, leaves, bark, roots, etc. ; eggs 4-5, sometimes C, 

 1.05 X 0.80, wliitish or greenish, profusely speckled with brown. 



18. H. r. longiros'tris. (Lat. lonfftts, long, and rostris, from rostrum, beak; i. e., long-billed.) 

 Texas Thrasher. Similar to H. rufus ; upper parts dark reddish -brown, instead of rich 

 foxy-red ; under parts white, with little if any tawny tinge, the spots large, very numerous, 



