THRUSHES 629 



SO that for all practical purposes the birds might have assumed 

 that the tree was a spruce. 



The nests are compact, rather well made and neatly cupped. 

 One taken at Lincoln, June 8, 1897, is composed outwardly of 

 spruce twigs, grass leaves, dead fern stipes, fine usnea, lined 

 with skeletonized leaves, fern stipes, black rootlets and usnea. 

 This nest measures four inches in depth outside by one and 

 three-quarters inside, the outside diameter is six and the inside 

 diameter two and a half inches. The eggs measure 0.86 x 

 0.64, 0.85x0.62, 0.87x0.65, 0.86x0.64, and are greenish 

 blue, more or less spotted with cinnamon brown or rufous. 

 Though quite freely spotted over the entire surface, there is a 

 general tendency for the spots to be thicker around the crown 

 of the egg. Three to five, more often four eggs are laid. 



The nests in general have a characteristic appearance and 

 resemble one another in appearance, and nests of the western 

 variety, Hylocichla ustulata, in my collection from California are 

 practically identical with those from Maine of the H. u. szvain- 

 sonii. Though full sets of eggs may be found in Maine as 

 early as June sixth, the more usual date is a week or ten days 

 later, and it is not indeed unusual to find fresh eggs in early 

 July. I am inclined to believe, however, that only one brood 

 is reared. 



In food these birds are to all intents and purposes insectiv- ' 

 orous, for while rarely I have known them to eat a few dog- 

 wood berries in fall, they seemingly prefer insects when obtain- 

 able. They feed on the ground among the leaves, eating 

 beetles, worms, ants, and similar ground insects, while they also ' 

 pick various insects from the limbs and foliage of the evergreen 

 trees they frequent. I have known them frequently to catch 

 moths, flies and mosquitoes while on the wing, and locally -^ 

 applied names of northern Maine are Mosquito Thrush or Fly- 

 catching Thrush. 



