270 LAND BIRDS 
can receive it. At first the young Thrashers seem to be 
all legs and bills, but on the second day the down grows 
more perceptible on head and back. On the fifth day 
the eyes are open, the feathers show well, and the food 
is given to them in a fresh state. Worms and insects 
of all sorts form the Thrasher’s menu, and these he ob- 
tains mostly on the ground under the bushes, working 
hard early and late to supply the hungry brood with 
food. It is not an easy task to raise nestlings in such 
surroundings. In some localities lizards and snakes rifle 
the nests of eggs and young, while in others hungry 
owls make havoc. My observations go to prove that 
the destruction from various causes outside of human 
agency is greater among Thrashers than among almost 
any other wild birds. 
710. CALIFORNIAN THRASHER. — Tovostoma 
redivivum. 
FamiLty: The Wrens, Thrashers, etc. 
Length : 11.50-13.00. 
Adults: Upper parts deep grayish brown, the tail darker and browner ; 
under parts dull buffy, darker on chest; under tail-coverts tawny ; 
ear-coverts dusky, with distinct whitish shaft-streaks. 
Geographical Distribution : Coast district of California, south to Lower 
California (F. M. Bailey). 
California Breeding Range: Coast region of California north of lat- 
itude 35°. 
Breeding Season: March to August. 
Nest : A coarse, rudely constructed platform of sticky, coarse grass and 
mosses ; placed in bushes. . 
Eggs: 3 or 4; light greenish blue, spotted with chestnut. Size 1.18 x 
0.85. 
To the bird-loving tourist or new-comer, accustomed 
to the one brown thrasher of the East, the five or six 
ee 
