334 TTMELIIDJE. 



Color. Vail. p. 48 (1878) ; Ridgio. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. no. 21, 

 p. 11 (1881). 



Adult. General colour above light ashy, with nearly obsolete 

 dusky streaks down the centre of the feathers ; least wing-coverts 

 like the back ; median and greater series dull brown, with margins 

 of aahy white ; bastard wing-feathers dark brown, edged with 

 white ; primary-coverts brown, narrowly margined with ashy 

 brown ; quiUs brown, edged with ashy brown, with a narrow 

 margin of white at the end of the secondaries, the outer primaries 

 with a white margin in the centre of the outer web near the 

 indentation on the outside of the quill ; tail-feathers dark brown, 

 edged narrowly with light brown, the three outermost feathers 

 with a white spot at the tip of the inner web, this white increasing 

 in extent towards the outermost ; lores and feathers round the eye 

 white ; ear-coverts light brown, as also the sides of the face ; under 

 surface of body white, with triangular spots of black, very small 

 on the throat, but increasing in size on the breast and sides of the 

 body ; on the chest, flanks, and under taU-coverts a distinct tinge 

 of fulvous, with only a few narrow streaks of brown on the latter ; 

 axUlaries and under wing-coverts fulvous, edged with white ; quills 

 ashy brown, lighter ashy along the edge of the inner web. Total 

 length 8'3 inches, culmen 0-8, wing 3-9, tail 2-G, tarsus 1-25. 



This species bears no small resemblance to the young of the 

 common Mocking-bird, which is, like it, spotted below, and for 

 which it might be mistaken upon superficial examination. It is, 

 however, much more heavily and sharply marked with triangular 

 spots on nearly all the uuderparts, and differs, besides, in its 

 generic characters. The bill is slenderer and comparatively longer; 

 the wings are relatively much longer and more pointed, equalling 

 or exceeding the tail, which is little rounded, the outer feathers 

 being only about J inch shorter than the middle ones. Length 

 about 8 inches, wing 4, tail rather more, tarsus 1'15, bill 0-65. 

 (Coues,B.N.-West,T^.7.) 



Toung. Dull brownish above, conspicuously streaked with dusky ; 

 the markings below streaky and difiuse. 



Specimens differ little with sex or season, or with age after the 

 first streaked stage is passed. The individual variation consists in 

 the purer or more brownish ash of the upper parts, and especially 

 in the shade of the underparts (which ranges from whitish to a 

 decided brownish cinnamon cast) and in the amount of spotting. 

 Ordinarily, the lower belly and vent, and sometimes the throat, are 

 immaculate, but the whole imder surface is sometimes pretty 

 uniformly covered. The brownish shade is usually strongest on 

 the breast, flanks, and crissum. The newly-grown quills and tail- 

 feathers are darker than the old ones, and have more white edging. 

 The wing-coverts are sometimes edged as well as tipped with 

 white. (Coues, I.e.) 



The Sage-Thrasher has only been found in the Rocky-Mountain 

 districts of the United States, extending west to the Pacific and 



