548 ANIMAL LIFE IN THE YOSEMITE 



while another near Pleasant Valley, on May 28 that year, mimicked the 

 Crow, California Jay, Plain Titmouse, and Western Gnatcatcher, besides 

 interpolating some of its own characteristic notes. 



On a hill slope below Lagrange a Western Mockingbird was watched 

 one evening early in May, 1919, His demesne was a gentle south-facing 

 slope once cleared of its large blue oaks, and since grown up with small 

 ones, hence giving much the impression of a Pasadena citrus orchard ; 

 from the top of one of these orange-tree-shaped oaks, just as the sun sank 

 into a bank of haze, the bird was pouring forth his ecstatic song with all 

 the fervor of his relatives in the southland. 



Winter here affords the mockingbirds as plentiful forage as the sum- 

 mer season ; mistletoe berries then abound. At Snelling in January, 1915, 

 the birds frequented the cottonwoods laden with the fruits of this parasitic 

 plant, and the one bird taken for a specimen had little else in its stomach. 



California Thrasher. Toxostoma redivivum redivivum (Gambel) 



Field characters. — General size about that of Robin; tail long and rounded at end, 

 equal to body in length; bill slender, sickle-shaped, over an inch in length. Coloration 

 plain brown, dark above, paler beneath, whitish on chin. On ground runs rapidly with 

 tail up at angle with back. Voice: Song, a series of chuckling notes, whistles, etc., in 

 irregular sequence and given at some length; call note a low chucl: 



Occurrence. — Fairly common resident of Upper Sonoran Zone on west slope of Sierra 

 Nevada. Recorded from near Lagrange and Pleasant Valley eastward to El Portal 

 and to Smith Creek (6 miles east of Coulterville). Lives in mixed chaparral, keeping 

 closely to cover. In pairs. 



The California Thrasher is one of the characteristic birds of the foot- 

 hill chaparral belt. It rarely occurs outside of this kind of habitat, and, 

 within the Upper Sonoran Zone is seldom missing from it. Food, nest- 

 ing sites, song perches, and shelter from enemies, all as adapted to the 

 thrasher's special needs, are found in this elfin-wood or dwarf forest 

 which covers the foothill slopes from the margin of the San Joaquin Valley 

 eastward to the beginning of the main forest belt on the higher mountains. 



The California Thrasher is fitted in several important ways for its 

 life amid the chaparral. Its wings are short and rounded, such wings as 

 are required by a bird which can make only short flights within or close 

 to cover. The tail is long, broad, and rounded, serving as an efficient 

 rudder for quick turning in close quarters and also as a counterbalance 

 when the bird is running on the ground. The brown plumage matches 

 well with the earth tones beneath the chaparral, and the slender curved 

 bill serves as both pick and rake in digging for food on the ground. The 

 thrasher shows marked ability in escaping observation when he so chooses ; 

 to do this he drops to the ground and speeds away, using the stout legs 



