TURDID.'E — THE THRUSHES. 43 



February. He describes it as exceedingly tame and gentle in its habits, and 

 with a song remarkably melodious and attractive. Perched on the topmost 

 bough of a flowering mimosa, in the presence of his consort, the male will 

 pour forth a volume of must enchanting music. Their nest is generally very 

 nearly flat, measuring nearly six inches in circumference, and scarcely more 

 than an inch in its greatest thickness. It has hardly any distinct cavity, 

 and hollows but very slightly from the rim to the centre, its greatest depres- 

 sion having barely the deptli of half an inch. The nests are composed of 

 long coarse fibrous roots, rudely, but somewhat comj^actly interwoven. The 

 inner framework is constructed of the same materials intermixed with the 

 finer stems of grasses. 



Mr. H. E. Dresser states that in the vicinity of Matamoras these birds are 

 fond of frequenting small villages, and that he frequently found their nests 

 within the gardens and court-yards of the houses, and near the road. 



The eggs of this Thrush vary considerably in size, ranging from 1.20 to 

 1.03 inches in length, and from .84 to .77 of an inch in breadth. Their 

 mean length is 1.12 inches, and their average breadth .80. They have 

 a light green ground-color, generally, though not thickly, covered with fine 

 brown spots. 



Harporhynchus curvirostris, var. palmeri, Kidgway. 



PALMER'S THRASHER. 



Ha7'po7-hynchus curvirostris, var. jxUineri, Ridgway, Report King's Expedition, V, 1872. 



Sp. Char. Bill slender, moderately curved ; fifth quill longest ; fourth and sixth just 

 perceptibly shorter, and equal ; second equal to ninth ; first 1.55 shorter than longest. 

 General plumage uniform grayish-umber, paler below, becoming almost dirty whitish on 

 the throat and abdomen ; lower part of the breast and abdomen with a very few just 

 discernible irregular specks of a darker tint; lower tail-coverts dilute isabella-brown, more 

 ochraceous at their margins ; anal region and lower part of abdomen light ochraceous. 

 No bauds on wings, and tail-feathers only diluted at the tips. Maxillary stripe whitish 

 with transverse bars of dusky. " Iris orange." 



(^(No. 8,128, "New Mexico " = Arizona, Dr. Heermann) : wing, 4.30; tail, 5.00; 

 bill (from nostril), 1.0(3; tarsus, 1.30; middle toe (without claw), 1.00. 9(49,723, Camp 

 Grant, Tucson, Arizona, March 12, 1867 ; Dr. E. Palmer ; with eggs) : wing, 4.15 ; tail, 

 4.8."); bill, .95; tarsus, 1.25; middle toe, .90. 



IIab. Eastern Arizona (Tucson). 



This very curious race seems to unite the characters of curvirostris and 

 lecontci ; in fact, it is so exactly intermediate betM^een the two, that we are 

 almost in doubt as to which it is most nearly related. Having the stout form 

 and larger size, as well as the spots on the abdomen, of the former, it has also 

 the uniform colors and general appearance of lecontci. Were it not that the 

 nest and eggs, with the parent accompanying, had been received from Dr. 

 Palmer, we might be teuipted to consider it a hybrid between these two 



