io6 Bird -Lore 



farther north, reaching Newfoundland in the East and British Columbia in 

 the West, where the coast range of mountains seems to bar his way to the 

 Pacific coast. A line drawn from Philadelphia to Denver will roughly 

 indicate the southern limit of his breeding range, and in winter he is found 

 in Cuba, Central America and sometimes the countries farther south. The 

 Veery, so called from his song, which is a somewhat monotonous although 

 sweet repetition of metallic whistled notes, dwells chiefiy in marshy thickets 

 and makes his nest in tussocks of grass. 



The birds of the Rocky Mountains and adjacent regions have been 

 separated as a subspecies under the name salicicola, or Willow Thrush, 

 characterized by larger size and darker colors, characters that are not well 

 borne out by the few specimens I have examined. Another dark race, 

 fuliginosa, from Newfoundland, has also been described but it was not 

 accepted by the A. O. U. Committee. 



In Hylocichla ustulata we have a group of Thrushes called Russet-backed 

 {ustulata) in the West and Olive-backed {swainsoni) in the East, the 

 unfortunate discrepancy arising because the western birds were named first, 

 in 18-I.0, and the eastern not until several years later, both being then con- 

 sidered full species. As a matter of fact, Nuttall called ustulata the 'Western 

 Thrush' (Russet -backed being a later invention), and a simple solution of 

 the dilemma will be to call the two races, which they prove to be, one the 

 Western and the other the Eastern Olive-backed Thrush, with almte 

 (Alma's Olive-backed Thrush) a connecting link between them. The 

 eastern form, swainsoni, lacks the russet tinge of ustulata which is quite 

 pronounced in the tail, while alma: is a greenish, gray -backed bird very close 

 to swainsoni. As {or a-dica, I quite agree with Mr. Grinnell that it is merely 

 ustulata, faded in the California sun faster than are its fellows to the north. 



The breeding range of the Olive-backed Thrush is coextensive with the 

 great belt of coniferous forest that stretches across Canada from ocean to 

 ocean, encroaching also on the northern parts of New England, New York, 

 Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota and dipping southward along the 

 mountains of the Appalachian, Rocky and Sierra systems. The tree limit 

 of the continent marks the northern limit of this belt, the greater part of 

 which is still a trackless wilderness, which, for a brief season only, is filled 

 with birds and flowers. Here, however, in this northland, where billows of 

 somber green spruces and firs stretch away on every hand, broken only by 

 innumerable lakes and streams and outcroppings of cold gray rock, the 

 cheerful songs of the Olive -backs may be heard to best advantage, often 

 mingling with those of the Hermits that occupy the same region. The 

 quiet of evening is the favorite hour for their most extended vocal efforts, 

 although they often sing during the day, while the Hermits are apt to be 

 silent save in the early morning hours and toward dusk. Perched high in a 

 tree, whence they may spy any one approaching and dive into the nearest 



