398 THRUSHES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. 



in many cases it is impossible to say to which birds certain records 

 apply. Doubtless there is little difference in their notes or habits, but 

 our knowledge of alicim in its summer home is too limited for us to 

 say much about it (see, however. Nelson, Rep. on Nat. Hist. Collec- 

 tions made in Alaska, p. 216). 



757a. T. a. bicknelli Ridgiv. Bicknell's Thrush.— Similar to tho 

 preceding, but averaging somewhat brighter and constantly smaller. L., 

 6-25-7-25; W., 3-40-3-80 ; T., 2-60-2-70 ; B., •50--52 (Ridgw.). 



Range. — Breeds in the higher parts of the Catskills and northward to the 

 "White Mountains and Nova Scotia ; winters in the tropics. 



Washington, apparently rare T. V., two instances, May. Cambridge, 

 rather common T. V., May 15 to May 25 ; Sept. 25 to Oct. 6. 



Nest^ essentially like that of T. swaimonii^ both in construction and posi- 

 tion. Eggs^ greener and more finely spotted than those of swainsonii (Brew- 

 ster, Minot's Land Birds and Game Birds, 2d ed., appendix, p. 468). 



" In northern New England Bicknell's Thrush breeds from an alti- 

 tude of about three thousand feet (scattered pairs may be found lower 

 than this) to the extreme upper limits of tree growth, but most abun- 

 dantly among the dwarfed, densely matted spruces and balsams which 

 cover such extensive areas on the upper slopes and ridges of our higher 

 mountains. Here, in an atmosphere always cool and ordinarily satu- 

 rated with moisture from passing clouds, it spends the summer in 

 company with such birds as Swainson's Thrushes, Winter Wrens, 

 Yellow-rumped and Black-poll Warblers, Juncos, White-throated 

 Sparrows, and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. In many places it is quite 

 as numerous as any of these species, and in certain favored localities 

 it probably outnumbers them all put together. Nevertheless one may 

 spend hours in its chosen haunts without getting a fair view of a sin- 

 gle individual, for, despite (or perhaps really because of) the fact that 

 these solitudes are rarely invaded by man, Bicknell's Thrush is, while 

 breeding, one of the very shyest of our smaller birds. ... 



" The song is exceedingly like that of the Veery, having the same 

 ringing, flutelike quality; but it is more interrupted, and it ends dif- 

 ferently, — the next to the last note dropping a half tone, and the final 

 one rising abruptly and having a sharp emphasis. The ordinary calls 

 are a whistled pheu practically identical with that of T. fuscescens, a 

 harsh note which recalls the cry of the Night Hawk, a low cluck much 

 like that of the Hermit Thrush, and a pip or peeyik similar to that of 

 Swainson's Thrush. The last is rarely heard " (Brewster, 1. c, p. 467). 



758a. Turdus ustulatus swainsonii (Cab.). Olive-backed 



Thrush ; Swainson's Thrush, jid. — Upper parts uniform olive ; back and 

 tail practically the same color; eye-ring deep, cream-huff., lores the same ; 

 whole throat and breast with a strong tinge of deep cream-buft or even ochra- 



