NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 435 



758a. Turdus ustulatus swainsonii ( Cab.) [ 4a.] 



Olive-backed Thrush. 



Hab. Eastern North America, west to and including Rocky Mountains, and as far as East Hum- 

 boldt ranges and the Upper Columbia. Breeds chiefly north of the United States, wintering from the Gulf 

 States and Mississippi Valley southward to Northern South America. 



The Olive-backed Thrush breeds chiefly north of the United 

 States. It is g^iven as a common breeding bird in the Wahsatch 

 Mountains, Utah. Mr. Kennicot found it nesting in the Arctic 

 regions, frequently placing the nest not more than two feet from the 

 ground. In his Catalogue of the Birds of New Brunswick, * Mr. M. 

 Chamberlain gives it as a summer resident, breeding in abundance. 

 Breeds abundantly in Nova Scotia. In some parts of Maine and 

 New Hampshire it is the commonest Thrush, except the Robin, 

 during the breeding season, f Mr. Frank H, I^attin has for two 

 successive years found nests and eggs of the Olive-backed Thrush 

 at Gaines, Orleans county. New York, within a short distance of his 

 residence. Dr. Morris Gibbs has taken its nest and eggs in Kala- 

 mazoo county, Michigan. It may be found breeding in Northern 

 Ohio. This species, like the Hermit Thrush, frequents retired wood- 

 land, but its mode of nesting (except the structure of the nest), as 

 well as its eggs, are quite different. 



The nest is built in a bush or small forest tree, a few feet from the 

 ground — usually from five to eight feet. It is composed of a mass of 

 leaves, twigs, shreds of bark, and, in the Arctic regions, moss is one of 

 the principal substances which enter into its composition. The nests 

 average about four inches in diameter by two in height, the cavity be- 

 ing three wide by one and a half deep. The eggs are usually deposit- 

 ed in the first part of June, these being three or four in number, of 

 greenish-blue (some much duller than others), speckled with reddish- 

 brown and other tints. Their average size is .92 x .66. 



759. Turdus aonalaschkae Gmel. [5] 



Dwarf Hermit Thrush. 



Hab. Pacific coast region, breeding from California northward; south in winter to Lower California 

 and Western Mexico; during the migrations east to Nevada and Arizona. 



The Dwarf Hermit Thrush breeds from the mountains of Califor- 

 nia northward as far as Kadiak, Very few of the eggs of this species 

 appear in the numerous collections, and from the meagre ac- 

 counts we have concerning them, they must be considered rare. Mr. 

 Chas. N. Comstock, of Oakland, California, found a nest of this species 

 containing two eggs, in June, 1883, while on a collecting trip to the 

 Calaveras group of big trees. The nest was placed in a bush about 



'' Birds of New Brunswick. Bulletin of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick. No. 1. 

 Published by the Society. Saint John, N. B., 1S82. Pp. 29-68. 

 t New England Bird Life, Part I, p. 58. 



