7. 
7a. 
246 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSERES— OSCINES. 
to Mexico, abundant, migratory; accidental in Mass., N. J., and Long Island. A_ beautiful 
and very distinct species, representing the subgenus Hesperocichla (Gr. éomepos, hesperos, Lat. 
vesperus, western, and kixda, kichla, a thrush). Nest in bushes, of twigs, grasses, IMOSSEs, 
and lichens ; eggs 1.12 X 0.80, light greenish-blue, speckled with dark brown. 
T. musteli/nus. (Lat. mustelinus, weasel-like; i.e., tawny in color; mustela, a weasel. 
Fig. 118.) Woop Turusu. ¢ 9, adult: Upper parts, including the surface of the closed 
Wings, tawny-brown, purest and deepest on the head, shading insensibly into olivaceous on the 
rump and tail. Below, pure white, faintly tinged on the breast with buff, and everywhere, 
except on the throat, middle of belly, and crissum, marked with numerous large, well-defined, 
rounded or subtriangular blackish spots. Inner webs 
and ends of quills fuscous, with a white or buffy 
edging toward the base. Greater under wing-coverts 
mostly white. Auriculars sharply streaked with 
dusky and white. Bill blackish-brown, with flesh- 
colored or yellowish base. Feet like this part of the 
bill. Length 7.50-8.00; extent about 13.00; wing 
4.00-4.25 ; tail 3.00-3.25 ; bill 0.75; tarsus 1.25; 
middle toe and claw less. Young: Speckled or 
streaked above with pale yellowish or whitish, espe- 
Fig. 118. — Wood Thrush (7. mustelinus), cially noticeable as triangular spots on the wing- 
PETE SIO tS Eh) coverts. But these speedily disappear, when a 
plumage seareely different from that of the adult is assumed. The most strongly marked 
species of the subgenus. In 7. wnalasce, the only other one showing both tawny and 
olive on the upper parts, the position of the two colors is reversed, the tawny occupying the 
rump, the olive the head. In no other species are the spots below so large, sharp, numerous, 
and generally dispersed. Eastern U. 8., N. to New England only; a famous vocalist, common 
in low damp woods and thickets; migratory; breeds throughout its range; nest in bushes 
and low trees, of leaves, grasses, ete., and mud; eggs usually 4-5, plain greenish-blue like 
those of the robin, but smaller: 1.08 * 0.70. 
T. fusces’cens. (Lat. fuscescens, less than fuscus, dark.) Wu~son’s THRUSH. VEERY. 
&@ : Upper parts reddish-brown, with slight olive shade; no contrast of color between 
back and tail; quills and tail-feathers darker and purer brown, the former with white or 
buff spaces at the concealed bases of the inner webs (as usual in this subgenus). No orbi- 
tal light ring around the eye; auriculars only obsoletely streaky. Below, white; the sides 
shaded with hoary-gray or pale grayish-olive; the jugulum buff-colored, contrasting strongly 
with the white of the breast, and marked with a few small brown arrow-heads, the chin and 
middle line of throat, however, nearly white and immaculate. A few obsolete grayish-olive 
spots in the white of the breast; but otherwise the markings confined to the buff area. Bill 
dark above, mostly pale below, like the feet. @, Length 7.25-7.50; extent about 12.00; 
wing 4.00-4.25; tail 3.00-3.25 ; bill 0.60; tarsus 1.20. 9, smaller; average of both sexes: 
‘length 7.35; extent 11.75; wing 3.90; tail 2.85; tarsus 1.12. Chiefly eastern U.S., but N. 
to Canada; common, migratory, nesting in northerly parts of its range. Nest on ground or 
near it, of leaves, grasses, ete., but no mud; eggs 4-5, greenish-blue like those of the wood 
thrush, normally unspotted, 0.90 x 0.60. A delightful songster, like others of the genus, 
found in thick woods and swamps; of shy and retiring habits. 
T. f. salici/cola. (Lat. salix, a willow; colo, I cultivate.) Wittow Tawny Turusn. Like 
T. fuscescens, but averaging larger, the upper Bits less decidedly tawny, the jugulum less 
distinctly buff. Wing 3.80-4.25, av. 4.02; tail 2.95-3.40, av. 3.20; bill 0.55-0.60; tarsus, 
av. 1.17; middle toe without claw, av. 0.69. A slight form recently described by Mr. idewar 
inhabiting the lower willowy portions of the Rocky Mt. region, U.S. This variety is clearly 
