402 THRUSHES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. 



Early in September, when the nesting season is over, Robins gather 

 in large flocks, and from this time until their departure for the south 

 roam about the country in search of food, taking in turn wild cher- 

 ries, dogwood and cedar berries. 



The songs and call-notes of the Robin, while well known to every 

 one, are in reality understood by no one, and offer excellent subjects 

 for the student of bird language. Its notes express interrogation, sus- 

 picion, alarm, caution, and it signals to its companions to take wing ; 

 indeed, few of our birds have a more extended vocabulary. 



The Varied Thrush (763. HesperocicJda mvvia)^ a species of western 

 North America, has been recorded from Massachusetts, Long Island, and 

 Kew Jersey. 



765. Saxicola oenanthe (Zum.). Wheatear; Stone-chat. Ad. $. 



Upper parts light gray ; forehead and upper tail-coverts white ; cheeks and 



wings black; the basal two thirds of the tail white, the end black; under 

 parts whitish, more or less washed with buffy. Ad. 9 .—Similar, but duller, 

 the black grayer, the white parts more buflfy. Ad. in winter and /m.— Upper 

 parts cinnamon-brown, wings edged with lighter ; upper tail-coverts and base 

 of the tail white ; end of the tail black, tipped with bufty ; under parts ochra- 

 ceous-buff. L., 6-25 ; W., 4-00 ; T., 2-20 ; B., -50. 



Hange. — " Europe, North Africa, Asia, Alaska, Greenland, and Labrador, 

 straggling south to Nova Scotia, Maine, Long Island, and the Bermudas" 

 (A. O. U.). 



Nest, of moss and grasses, usually in crevices among rocks. Eggs, four to 

 seven, bluish white, 'SI x -59. 



This European species is a common summer resident in Greenland. 

 It has been found nesting in Labrador, and there is evidence of its 

 having bred at Godbout, Province of Quebec (see Merriam, Auk, ii, 

 1885, p. 305 ; Comeau, ibid., vii, 1890, p. 294). South of these points 

 it is of accidental occurrence. 



Mr. Saunders writes : " From early spring onward the Wheatear 

 is to be seen, jerking its white tail as it flits along, uttering its sharp 

 cJiach, chack, on open downs, warrens, and the poorer land ; ascending 

 the mountains almost to the highest summits. . . . 



" The song of the male is rather pretty, and the bird also displays 

 considerable powers of imitating other species." 



^j 766. Sialia sialis {Linn.'). Bluebird. (See Figs. 2 and 50, a.) 

 jld^ ^,_L'pper parts, wings, and tail bright blue, tipped with rusty in the 

 fall ; throat, breast, and sides dull cinnamon-rufous ; belly white. Ad. 9 .— 

 Upper parts with a grayish tinge ; throat, breast, and sides paler. Young in 

 nestling plumage.— Buck spotted with whitish; the breast feathers margined 

 with fuscous, "l, 7-01 ; W., 3-93; T., 2-58; B., -47. 



Jiange.— United States; breeds from the Gulf States to Manitoba and 



