NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 467 



scrub oaks and grease-wood brush that fringe deep mountain gorges. It begins to 

 build toward the last of April, and by the last of May it is difficult to procure a per- 

 fectly fresh set of eggs. The bird, he says, is a close sitter, often allowing one's hand 

 to touch it before leaving the nest. The general character of the neat is a coarse, 

 rudely constructed platform of sticky, coarse grass and mosses, with but a very slight 

 depression. Occasionally, however, nests of this bird are more carefully and elabor- 

 ately made. It is always well hid in the low scrub bushes. The usual complement 

 of eggs is three, sometimes four and occasionally only two. They are light greenish- 

 blue, with russet-brown and chestnut spots; average size 1.18x.85. Ten specimens 

 measure l.OSx.80, 1.05x.82, 1.02x.79, 1.04x.77, 1.08x.80, 1.22x.84, 1.21X.85, 1.27x.82, 1.28x 

 .79, l.SOx.84 inches. 



711. LECONTE'S THRASHER. Harporhynchus lecontei (Lawr.) Geog. Dist. 



Valleys of the Gila and Lower Colorado Rivers, south into Sonora. 



This is the least common of all the Thrashers in the region which it inhabits, 

 and from all accounts it is a very shy and difficult bird to obtain. Comparatively 

 few of its eggs have yet appeared in collections. Mr. E. Holterhoff, Jr., discovered 

 its nest and eggs at Flowing Wells, a station in the middle of the Colorado Desert, 

 in California.* In the same region a number of the nests and eggs have been taken 

 by Mr. F. Stephens and R. B. Herron. Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, U. S. A., met with 

 this bird in the desert country, between Phoenix and Casa Grande, Arizona.f He 

 states that the song of this species is 

 remarkable for its loud, rich tone, and 

 is at least as fine as any of the genus. 

 Deserts of sand, "covered in places with 

 patches of sage-brush and groves of 

 cholla cactuses, with a few mesquites 

 and shrubs scattered along the dry ar- 

 royos," are the favorite haunts of Le- 

 conte's Thrasher. A glance at these 

 bushes will usually suffice to detect the 

 nest, as it is large and conspicuous, ex- 

 cept when the shrub is bushy. The 

 nest is usually built near the center of 



a Cholla cactus, from one to seven feet 711. LECONTE'S THRASHKK. 



above the ground; it is likewise fre- 

 quently placed in mesquites. The birds are close sitters and one can approach with- 

 in a few yards before they slip off which they usually do on the opposite side of the 

 bush dropping to the ground they run briskly and seek the cover of the surrounding 

 vegetation, and so adroitly conceal themselves that it is almost impossible to detect 

 them. The nest is composed of twigs, grasses and weeds and is lined with feathers. 

 The breeding season begins in March, and, according to Mr. Herron's observations, 

 some at least very likely begin laying in February. The eggs are three or four in 

 number, greenish-blue, faintly speckled, chiefly at the larger end, with cinnamon- 

 rufous or yellowish-brown. Some specimens have large blotches on the surface. 

 The general shape of the eggs is elongated-oval. The sizes of a set containing four 



* Described in the American Naturalist, ^CV, March, 1881; for fuller account &. 

 Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, VIII, 48-49. 



t For an extended historical account, together with full details of the habits of 

 " ff lecontei and crissalis" see Dr. Mearns' article, "Some Arizona Birds," in The Auk, 

 III, pp. 



