[468] BIRDS OF OREGON 



it wintering at the mouth of the Columbia. Newberry (1857) reported it 

 from the Cascades and Willamette Valley in October 1855, and Suckley 

 (Cooper and Suckley 1860) said it was common at Astoria in winter. 

 Swallow (1891) was the first to find it breeding in the State when he 

 located a nest, 4 feet up in a small hemlock, at Astoria on April 2.7. 

 Woodcock (1902.) published a record sent him by Prill of a nest and four 

 eggs taken at Scio, Linn County, June 1901, and Jewett's notes list one 

 taken by Prill at Scio, June 12., 1900. These are surely the same nest, 

 with an error of a year made somewhere in transcribing the dates. Jewett 

 found a nest near Linnton on April 19, 1906, that contained three eggs. 

 It was in a crotch of a small cedar tree about 2.0 feet from the ground. 

 He found a second nest on the Collowash Burn, Mount Hood National 

 Forest, on May 12., 1919, containing four small young. 



The Pacific Varied Thrush is most in evidence in the lowlands during 

 the winter months, where it is often seen with the robins or in 

 little flocks of its own species. It usually disappears from the lowlands 

 in early May, though a few may remain to breed in favored spots, and 

 returns again in late September. It is an abundant bird despite the com- 

 paratively few nesting records available. The endless miles of fir forests 

 in the State make finding a nest either a lucky accident or the happy end- 

 ing of a painstaking search that takes time few of us have to give. 



The song is a single, long-drawn-out, high-pitched note that manages 

 to bring with it some of the mystery of the virgin forests in much the 

 same manner as does that of the Hermit Thrush. One who has heard 

 this vibrant note will ever after associate it with the dark spruce and fir 

 forests that are the chosen home of the Varied Thrush. 



Northern Varied Thrush: 



Ixoreus naevius meruloides (Swainson) 



DESCRIPTION. Male: Like /. n. naevius. Female: "Similar to female naevius, but 

 grayer and paler, white markings more extended, wing longer, more pointed." 

 (Bailey) Si^e: Length (skins) 7.87-9.49, wing 4.75~5.xi, tail ^.^-^.68, bill .73- 

 .87. Nest and eggs: As for Pacific Varied Thrush. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from Yukon and Mackenzie Deltas south through 

 mountains to eastern Oregon and northwestern Montana. Winters south into Cali- 

 fornia. In Oregon: Regular summer resident and breeding species of northeastern 

 Oregon in Wallowa, Union, Baker, and Umatilla Counties. In migration south- 

 ward through Harney and Lake Counties. 



WE HAVE four Oregon specimens of the Northern Varied Thrush two 

 taken at Union (April 16, 19x1, Gabrielson), one at Lick Creek Ranger 

 Station (June 2.0, 192.7, Jewett), and one on Hart Mountain (October n, 

 1931, Gabrielson). There are also two in the Biological Survey collec- 

 tion, one taken at Bourne, Baker County (August 4, 1915, Jewett), and 

 one at Wallowa Lake (April 9, 1919, George Cantwell). In addition, 



