380 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



of migration is during the first three weeks of May. and the last 

 three weeks of September, at which time the birds are not con- 

 fined to the woods but are also found in underbrush, along hedge- 

 rows and roadsides, spending most of the time on the ground in 

 company with Sparrows and other migrants. B. H. Wilson has 

 noted the species from April 24 to May 27 and from September 21 

 to October 17, in Scott county. I shot one specimen September 7, 

 1896, at Forest City, (identified by R. Ridgway); a number were 

 seen at the same time. The species is a very common migrant at 

 Iowa City. The Olive-backed Thrush has not been known to 

 breed in the state, although Dr. I. S. Trostler reports it as a rare 

 summer resident in Mills and Pottawattamie counties. 



350- (759b). Hylocichla aonalaschkce pallasi (Cabanis). Hermit 

 Thrush. 



The Hermit Thrush is a rather common migrant in eastern and 

 central Iowa, but rare in the western part of the state. It arrives 

 the earliest in the spring and departs the latest in the fall of any 

 of our Thrushes. B. H. Wilson has noted the species from April 

 4 to May 4 and from September 20 to October 5, in Scott county. 

 It appears most abundantly in central Iowa about April 10. It 

 is a quiet, sombre-colored bird, and is rather retiring, staying 

 most of the time in thickets, where it spends much time on the 

 ground, flying at short intervals to some horizontal limb where it 

 will frequently remain, perfectly motionless, for some time. None 

 of the recent observers report the Hermit Thrush in summer, but 

 W. W. Cooke states: "comparatively few instances have been re- 

 corded of the breeding of the Hermit Thrush within the Missis- 

 sippi Valley. At Grinnell, Iowa, the nest was found and identi- 

 fied with the bird upon it. The nest and eggs are now in the 

 Iowa College at Grinnell. At Des Moines they have been seen 

 in the breeding season, but no nest has been found" (Bird Migr. 

 in Miss. Val., 1884-85, p. 286). 



Genus Merui,a Leach. 



351. (761). Menda migratoria (lyinn.). American Robin. 



The Robin is probably the most familiar and best known of our 

 native birds. It is an abundant summer resident in all parts of 

 the state, nesting commonly in shade trees and groves about 



