THE THRUSHES 



(Family Turdidae) 



By A. A. ALLEN 



Assistant Ornithologist, Cornell University 



XN the noisy parks and gardens of the large cities, 

 in the silent spruces of the mountains, from the 

 steaming forests of the equator to the rocky coasts 

 of the Arctic Sea, there is always a bird of the 

 thrush family to welcome the traveler. In the cities 

 it is the robin, the bluebird and the wood-thrush ; in the 

 woodlands, the veery, the hermit and the olive-backed 

 species ; in the far north, the wheatears, and in the tropics 

 the solitaires and the "thrush-robins." When we make 

 the term thrush broad enough to include the ground 

 thrushes, the accentors, the redstarts, the nightingales 

 and the chats, of the Old World, the family includes be- 

 tween five and six hundred species, but of these, only 

 about 240 are true thrushes. These are widely distrib- 

 uted throughout the world, eighty of them being con- 

 fined to the New World, of which a dozen species are 

 found north of Mexico. 



As a family, the thrushes are medium-sized birds, 

 usually under twelve inches in length, with strong wings 

 and legs and with bills slightly notched near the tip and 

 supplied with strong bristles at the base. They are 

 uniformly colored, rather than streaked, the majority 

 brownish or grayish, although blues, yellows, or even 

 reds are found in the plumages of some. The underparts 

 are white or at least lighter than the backs and, in typi- 

 cal species, are more or less spotted. In species having 

 unspotted breasts, the young in their juvenal plumage 



show the spots that have been lost by the adults, as with 

 the robin and the bluebird, interesting examples of on- 

 togeny, for the individuals pass through the stages by 

 which the species have progressed in the course of their 

 evolution. 



But it is not for the brilliancy of their plumage that 

 the thrushes are noted, it is for the richness and beauty 

 of their songs. The world over, some member of this 

 family surpasses all others in the appeal which it makes 

 to the human ear. In Europe, it is the nightingale, in 

 eastern United States it is the hermit thrush, and in the 

 West it is the solitaire. The wonderful songs of the 

 mockingbird and the thrasher, discussed last month, ap- 

 peal to us by their marvellous technique, but the songs 

 of the thrushes by their depth of feeling. Listening to 

 the mockingbird, one is thrilled ; listening to the hermit 

 thrush, one feels exalted. 



Except during the nesting season, the thrushes travel 

 in scattered flocks, frequenting the borders of woodlands 

 but coming into gardens if they can find food. During 

 the spring and summer, this consists almost entirely of 

 insects and worms, but during the late summer and fall, 

 the various wild fruits form an ever increasing percent- 

 age. Gardens, where the dogwoods or the Virginia 

 creeper grow, are sure to attract the passing flocks of 

 thrushes in late September or October, and in the South, 

 the mistletoe and holly sustain some species through- 



A HOT DAY IN BIRDLAND 

 The vccry is sfieltering its young from the hot rays of the sun. The veery 

 can be told from the other thrushes by the fewness and faintncss of tlie 

 spots on its breast. 



THE FIRST TIME OUT 

 Young blackl)irds just out of the box they seem somewhat alarmed at the 

 bigness of the world. Notice the spotted plumage of the young as com- 

 pared with that of the adult bird. 



2S 



