440 WRENS, THRASHERS, ETC. 



brown, outer feathers tipped with white ; under parts brownish white, 

 indistinctly spotted with brown ; flanks brownish. Young : similar, but 



wings and rump washed with tawny 

 buff ; under parts whiter, with nar- 

 streaks. Length : 9.50-10.50, 



Distribution. Breeds in desert regions of Upper and Lower Sonoran 

 zones, in Arizona and southeastern California ; accidental in Colorado. 



Nest. In trees, bushes, or cactus, small and daintily built for a 

 thrasher, of sticks and grass, lined with soft materials, such as grass, 

 horsehair, rootlets, wool, or feathers. Eggs : 3 or 4, generally greenish 

 white, spotted with pale reddish brown, usually heaviest about the larger 

 end ; sometimes grayish or pinkish white, spotted with salmon and lav- 

 ender. 



Mr. Herbert Brown, who has an extended acquaintance with the 

 Bendire thrasher, says it is largely confined to the central part of 

 southern Arizona, unlike palmeri seldom or never leaving the flat 

 country. It is migratory, smaller and less common than palmeri, 

 and strangely silent for a thrasher. Only once in all his expe- 

 rience has Mr. Brown heard it give its splendid song, and only 

 rarely, when disturbed at the nest, has he heard it give its call of 

 tirup, tirup, tirup. 



Subgenus Harporhynchus. 

 Bill longer than head ; breast not spotted. 



710. Toxostoma redivivum (Gamb.). CALIFORNIA* THRASHER. 



Upper parts dull dark grayish brown ; wings and tail unmarked, tail dark- 



er ; under parts, including throat, 

 dull buffy or brownish, darker on 

 chest ; under tail coverts tawny. 

 Length: 11.50-13.00. wing 3.90- 

 - 565 ' 4.30, tail 4.90-5.80, bill 1.35-1.75. 



Distribution. Coast region of California ; south to Lower California. 

 Nest. In bushes, a rude platform of twigs, roots, grasses, and leaves. 

 Eggs : 3 or 4, light greenish blue, speckled with clove brown. 



The California thrasher is one of the most vociferously rollicking 

 jolly good fellows of his tribe. Perched on top of the highest bush 

 in sight, he shouts out kick' -it-now , kick'-it-now, shut' -up, shut'-up, 

 dor'-o-thy, dor'-o-thy; and then with a rapid change of mood, drawls 

 out, whoa -now, whoa' -now. It is easy to imagine such a bird a wag 

 and mimic, and attention has recently been called to his imitative 

 power by Mr. John J. Williams. He says that interwoven with its 

 own song are the quare, quare, quare of the California jay, the 

 quirring note of the slender-billed nuthatch, and the cackling note 

 of the red-shafted flicker, besides the call of the valley quail, the 

 kwee-kwee-kuk of the western robin, and the trill of the wren-tit, 

 which the mimic does so well that the birds answer back. 



