2.". THE TOWXSEND SOLITAtKE. 



irregularly I'nmi l!rili^ll Culiiiiil)ia ( Shiikin ) soiitluvanl. siraggliuy into Mississippi 

 \ alley diiriii;,' inij,'ratiim>. 



Ran];e in \\ ashiiiKton. — Nut uiicoinmon spring and fall migrant thnioiit tlic 

 Stale, j-nmnier resident in the niiiuntains to the limit of trees and elsewhere 

 irregularly to sea level; ])artially resident in winter west <>f the Cascade Mountains. 



Authorities. — .' Ptiluujtinys tdwusciidi. Townsend, Narrative. i<\Vj. p. 338. 

 Mviadcslcs lot<.-iisciidii Baird, Rep. I'ae. K. R. Snrv. IN. 1S5S. ^ji. T. C&S. I)'. 

 Ra. .1. It. E. 



Specimens. I ■. (.f \\ . I". I'rov. I!. I'.N. E. 



■■()1'" this singular l>ir<l I kiKiw in>lliii)g hut that it was shot by my friend. 

 Captain W. Rrotcliic, of the Ilonorahle Hudson's Bay Company, in a pine for- 

 est near I'ort George, (Aslt)ria). It was the only s])ccimcn seen." In these 

 words J. K. Townsend, the pioneer ornithologist of the Pacific Xorthwest. 

 records" the taking (»f the first e.xaniple of this si)ecies known to science. 



The hiril thus presented as a conjectural native of Washington, has long 

 been a puzzle to naturalists. It has been called Flycatcher, Thrush, and a com- 

 bination of the two; but the name Solitaire seems t<i express Ixith our noiiconi- 

 miltal attitude toward the subject, and the demure independence with which 

 the bird itself proceeds to mind its own affairs. Rarring the matter of struc- 

 tine. which the scientists have now pretty well thrashed out. the bird is every- 

 thing by turns. lie is Flycatcher in that he delights to sit (piietly on exposed 

 limbs and watch for passing insects. These he meets in mid-air and bags with 

 an ein|)hatic snap of the mandibles. lie is a Shrike in ap|)earancc an<l maimer, 

 when he lakes up a station on a fence-post and studies the ground intently. 

 When its prey is sighted at di.stances varying from ten to thirty feet, it dives 

 directly to the s]iot. lights, snatches, .-ind swallows, in an instant : or, if the catch 

 is unmanageable, it retmns to its post to thrash ami kill and swallow at leisure. 

 During this pouncing foray, the flisplay of white in the Solitaire's tail reminds 

 one of the Lark Sparrow. Like the silly Cedar-bird, the Solitaire gorges itself 

 on fruit and berries in season. Like a Thrush, when the mood is on, the Soli- 

 taire skulks in the thickets or woodsy depths, and flies at the suggestion of aj)- 

 proach. I'pon alighting it stands f|uietly, in expectation that the eye of ibe be- 

 holder will thus lose sight of its ghostly lints among the interlacing shadows. 



And so one might go on comparing indefinitely, but the bird is entitled to 

 shine in its own light. The Solitaire is siii pctirris — no doubt of that. .\s s<^n 

 as we establish for it a certain line of conduct, the bird fl<ies something else. 

 W'c banish it to the mountains for the nesting season — a pair nests in a rail- 



•,,l,v, ,1 .1 In„rn,v \.-r...- th. R.^l-v \l..n„l,i,n< to ttlr Cnlimil.l.i Xinrr |,!, 1, I 



inrt in tlw t. • 

 i liring Itic ■ 

 Ic.l in it m. ■ 

 l.r ili>r« nol. 

 Iv.ii; Ti.Ttl, ml -Mifl, ,.| (I,,- r..|uinl.ii H:i.r. Of llic tol.lI ruml.. r rr.-.-r.lr I 

 cinnot po«tthly hr rntitlcd tn ahovr |6S tipccicl, and the li»t has little value in 

 i>f a hiril a« a rrnident of Wanhington. 



