APPENDIX 



204. Plumbeous Gnatcatcher; PoUoptila plumbea Baird. 

 Similar to preceding, but top of head wholly black in adult male. 



Back pale gray. Outer web of outer tail-feather wholly white. 



205. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher; PoUoptila calif arnica Brewst. 

 Similar to preceding, the male with black cap. Tail black, the outer 



feathers with outer web edged with white, and the two outer feathers 

 white tipped. The back is dark gray. Female similar but duller and 

 without the black cap. A resident of southern California, apparently 

 less common north of Los Angeles. 



THE THRUSH FAMILY 



The most developed of North American song birds. Never streaked, 

 but generally speckled, principally on the breast, at least in the young 

 plumage. Colors often brown, sometimes slaty, reddish brown and blue. 

 The characteristic mark of the thrushes is the "booted tarsus." The 

 tarsus is the foot, commonly but erroneously called the leg of a bird. 

 In most birds this is covered, at least on the front, with scales. In the 

 thrushes these scales are run together into a single piece, known as the 

 "boot." The thrushes are insect-eaters and fine singers. The foot is 

 long and slender, and the bill moderately sharp and slender. 



206. Townsend's Solitaire or "Flycatcher" ; M'^adestes tavn' 

 sendii (Aud.). 



The least thrush-like of the group. Length, eight inches. It is 

 colored brownish gray above and gray below, while the young is spotted 

 above and below with buff and dusky. There is a faint line of white 

 around the eye, and a concealed buffy band on the wing. Outer tail- 

 feather edged and broadly tipped with white. Breeds in the Sierra 

 Nevada Mountains, and south through the valleys in winter, but gener- 

 ally a rare and retiring bird. 



207. Russet-backed Thrush; Hylocichla ustulata (Nutt.). 

 Length, seven inches. Above olive-brown; breast pale buff, marked 



with distinct triangular spots of brown. A whitish ring encircles the 

 eye. Belly white; sides olive-gray. An abundant summer resident of 

 California. Call-note a single short whistle with a rising inflection. The 

 typical russet-backed thrush is confined to the northwest coast. In the 

 valleys of California a slightly duller brown form is distinguished as 

 the Monterey Thrush {Hylocichla ustulata oedica Oberh.). 



208. Alaska Hermit-Thrush; H-^locichla guttata (Pallas). 



A slightly smaller species than the preceding (length averaging six 

 and a half inches). Olive or grayish brown above, changing to rufous 



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