lilRDS — TURDIDAE — TURDUS ALICIAE. 



217 



TURDUS ALICIAE, Baird. 



Gray-cheeked Thrush. 



Sp. Ch.— Third quill longest ; fourth nearly equal ; second not much longer tlian fifth. Above nearly pure dark olive green ; 

 sides of the head ash gray ; the chin, throat, and under parts, with ring round the eye, white ; purest behind. Sides of throat 

 and across the breast with arrow-shaped tpots of dark plumbeous brown. Sides of body and axillaries dull grayish olivaceous. 

 Tibiae plumbeous ; legs brown. Length, nearly 8 inches ; wing, 4.20 ; tail, 3.20 ; tarsus, 1.15. 



Hab. — Mississippi region to the Missouri. 



In this species the most striking feature next to the uniformly olivaceous back is the grayish 

 ashen character of the head, and the entire absence of any buff tinge of the breast and sides of 

 the neck. These parts are not of as pure white as the belly, having the faintest possible shade 

 of yellowish red, but it is barely appreciable, nor is it any more distinct in raising the feathers. 

 There is the faintest possible shade of reddish in the tail and its coverts above, but this is only 

 to be observed on a close examination. 



This species comes much nearest to Tardus swainsonii, the olive-backed thrush, agreeing with 

 it in the dark greenish olive of the upper surface. This, however, is decidedly darker, and 

 showing a clearer greenish than usual in the other. The absence of any buff on the throat, 

 breast, and sides of the head, and the predominating ashy shade on the latter, with a white 

 ring instead of reddish yellow round the eye, are strong points of distinction. The slight tinge 

 of reddish yellow in the olivaceous of the sides, the inner surface of the wings, and the 

 axillars of T. swainsonii, are here replaced by grayish olive. The under mandible is blacker, 

 and the legs are decidedly dusky instead of yellowish. The bill appears more slender, and the 

 whole bird is larger. 



The best specimens of this species before me are from Illinois, but several from the upper 

 Missouri belonging to Lieutenant Warren's collection agree with them, and I find no difficulty 

 in distinguishing them at once from any other North American species by more tangible 

 characters than are usually to be found in the small American thrushes. It is barely possible that 

 it may constitute a variety only of T, swainsonii, but if so it is a very strongly marked one. 



The description by Cabanis of T. sioainsonii in Fauna Peruana expressly dwells on the buff 

 of the sides of the head and the breast, and consecLuently belongs to the preceding species. 



List of specimens. 



28 b 



