90 XORTIT AMKRICAX IJIKDS. 



Tiirdiis pallasi, var. nanus, Aldibon. 



OWABF HEBMIT THXU8H. 



Tardus nanus, Aid. Orii. liiog. V, 18;iH, 2<)1, pi. wi. — Haii:i», liirds N. A. 1858, 21?.; 

 Htv. Am. n. lSt)4, lii. — .Sl.vtei:, 1*. Z. S. I8r.9. — In. Catal. 1801. - Dam. & lUx- 

 MsiKK. — ('(MM'Kli, Minis ("ill., p. 4. Titidna jHtlhixi, var. nouns, KlimwAY, Kt'p. 

 Kinj,'s ExiM'd, V, 1872. .*' Tun/us aona/>i.s,/tk(c, iisiy.us, S. N. I, 1788, 8(»8. f^ Mi's, 

 cicajxi ijaffata, 1'aLLAS, Zoo^. Ht»s.s«j-A>iat. 11, l8ll, 4t»'i. 



Sp. Char. Above with the clear dark olive of swainsoni, Imt thi.«< even purer and 

 more plumbeoiKs rpp<'r tail-eovort:* (but not lower part of rump) beeominjr more rufous, 

 the tail abruptly darker, rieher. and more pinpJi'sh-ru\\>u^, approachinir to chestnut. The 

 <-lear olive of the neck passes into brownish-y>/'///<ftef>//.s alon<r sides: pe<'toral spots more 

 si)ar.se and less pure black than in 7! jndfa.si. The white beneath is of an almost sn»>wy 

 purity, appreciably diircrent from the cottony-white of T. pafhisi. Wing, 3..'i0 ; tail. 3.<K); 

 bill, .30 ; tar.-ius. l.<>7. 



A very tan;^ible and constant character possessed by this bird is the more slender and 

 dei)resseil bill, jus compared with that of T. j»ifhtsi. .Specimens vary only in intensity of 

 colors; these variation.'* very limited, and correspoiidinir with those of T. puJlusi. In all 

 ca.ses, however, their precise pattern and peculiar distribution is retained. 



IIah. Western Province of North America, eastward from Kodiak to Cape St. Luca.s. 

 Arizona, Coiks. 



Habits. Tlii.s small race of the Hermit Thrush was first noticed bv I>r. 

 Pickering, and de.sciil>ed by Mr. Audubon from an imperfect skin. It 

 has since been obtained abundantly on the Pacific slope, and Mr. Kidgway 

 procured a specimen as far east as the East Humboldt Mountains, which 

 he considers its eastern limit. 



In its habits it is said to be, like T. palhm, almost exclusively terrestrial. 

 Dr. Heermann mentions finding it abundant in California, and breeding 

 among tlie stunted oaks covering the sand-hills of San Francisco. Dr. 

 Coues found it in Arizona, but speaks of it as rare and migratory, occurring 

 chiefly in spring and autumn, and as a shy and retiring species. Dr. Cooper, 

 in his Peport on the liirds of California, describes it as shy and timid, pre- 

 ferring dark and sliady thickets, feeding chiefly on the ground, running 

 rapidly, and searching for insects among the leaves. 



Xear San Diego they began to sing about the 2r)th of April. The song, 

 consisting of a few low ringing notes, resembles that of Wilson's Thrush 

 {T./i'scesceiis), and also that of T. ndulntn^, but is not so loud. Their note 

 of alarm is a loud and ringing cliiri), rei)eated and answered by others at a 

 long distance. 



At Santa Cruz, on tl:e first of June, Dr. Cooper met with several of their 

 nests, which, though prol>ably erroneously, he supposed to belong to the 

 Dwarf Hermit Thrush. They were all built in thickets under the shade 

 of cottonwood-trees. Each nest was about five feet from the ground, and 

 all contained eggs, from two to four in number, in differing stages of incuba- 

 tion. The nests were built of dry leaves, roots, fibres, grasses, and bark, 



