BIRD NOTES AFIELD 



on the upper tail-coverts and tail. Breast pale buffy, marked with large 

 triangular spots, and sides pale gray. A buffy ring encircles the eye. 

 Common winter resident in the valleys of California, and in the moun- 

 tains of southern California. Its call-note is a short, emphatic, low 

 chuck f 



Audubon's Hermit-Thrush (H^locichla guttata auduhom) is the 

 variety found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains during the simimer months. 

 It is a slightly larger and grayer bird. 



209. Western Robin; Merula migratoria propinqua Ridgw. 

 Scarcely distinguishable from the eastern robin of which it is a 



geographical race. Length ten and a half inches. Above olive-slaty, 

 lighter on back, the head and tail blackish ; eyelids white. Below reddish 

 brown; throat while, streaked with black; belly and under tail-coverts 

 white. Female and winter male with colors more dingy, the back more 

 brownish in tone and the breast paler. Young spotted above and be- 

 low. A summer resident of the mountains and redwood region, wintering 

 in the valleys. 



210. Varied Thrush; Varied Robin; Ixoreus ncevius (Gmel.). 

 Length, nine and a half inches. Upper parts dark slaty; head and 



tail blackish brown. Under parts orange brown, changing to white on 

 the belly. A black crescent on breast; a broad black line bordering 

 throat below eye and an orange brown line above it, back of eye. Three 

 orange brown bars cross the wings. Female with back tinged with 

 brownish and the breast crescent pale dusky. A winter visitant migrat- 

 ing along the mountains into the valleys where it is shy and seldom seen. 

 A paler race is recognized from eastern Alaska which migrates in winter 

 to southern California. 



2]\. Western Bluebird; Sialia mexicana occidentalis (Towns.). 



The western representative of the bluebird, but a distinct species. 

 Length, seven inches. Male, above brilliant glossy blue, broken on 

 middle of back by a chestnut patch. Throat like back; breast chestnut, 

 extending down on sides, leaving the belly white, tinged with bluish or 

 grayish. Female much duller, the blue of the back changed to grayish, 

 except on rump and tail, and the chestnut of breast to buffy. The young 

 have the back spotted with whitish and the breast mottled with white and 

 brownish. Resident in the foothills and lower mountains of California, 

 wintering in the valleys. 



212. Mountain-Bluebird; Sialia arciica (Swains.). 

 Size of the preceding or a trifle larger. Male, above and below a 

 beautiful azure, much lighter in tone than the preceding bird; paler on 



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