74 Breavster oh a Collection of Arizona Birds. 



(^n a former occasion* I urged the specific distinctness of this Thrasher 

 frorja H. redi'vivus, and to this conviction [ still hold, although a compar- 

 ison of additional specimens of both species inclines me to believe with 

 Dr. Coues that Leconte's Thrasher is, on the whole, more nearly related 

 to redtvhuis than to any other United States forin. 



6i6, $ ad., near Maricopa Wells, July 5. Length, lo.So; extent, 12.30; 

 wing, 3.85; tarsus. 1.27; tail, 5.35; culmen (chord). 1.30; bill from 

 nostrils, .91 ; width below posterior angle of nostrils, .23. 



617, $ ad., same locality and date. Length, 10.60; extent. 12: wing, 

 3. 78; tarsus, 1.32; tail, 4.91 ; bill (chord of culmen), 1.32; bill from nos- 

 tril, .94; width below posterior angle of nostril, .24. '"Iris reddish brown ; 

 bill black; legs nearly black. Stomach contained a small species of katy- 

 did and some ants." 



9. Harporhynchus crissalis Henry. Crissal Thrasher. 

 — Not uncommon near Tombstone. Tucson and Camp Lowell. 



Dr. Coues. comparing this species with Le Conte's, Pahner's, 

 and Bendire's Thrashers, concludes : f "and we are led to infer 

 that when the "topography ' of the other three species is fully 

 determined, it will be found no less extensive. For there is noth- 

 ing peculiar in the economy or requirements of any one of the 

 four in comparison with the rest." This view, however, is hardly 

 supported bv the testimony of observers who have had the best 

 opportunities of studying these birds. The Crissal Thrasher, 

 according to Captain Bendire, J "'appears to prefer damp locali- 

 ties near water-courses, and confines itself principally to spots 

 where the wild currant is abundant." Mr. Henshaw .says : "Ac- 

 cording to my experience, it is not a bird of the plains, but inhabits 

 bv preference the rough sides of rockv canons or the hill-sides 

 covered with broken debris, interspersed with straggling bu.shes." 

 Mr. Stephens' evidence is not less explicit. He found the Crissal 

 Thrasher in copses in valleys, and along streams. It was espec- 

 ialh fond of well-shaded imdergrow th. and spent much of its time 

 on the ground, searching for food luider the bushes. It never 

 occiu'red among cactuses, and the only place where he 

 saw it actually associating with Bendire's and Palmer's 

 Thrashers, was at Camp Lowell, where the latter species, with 

 other desert birds, came to drink at a water-hole and thus occa- 

 sionalh' mingled with the Crissal Thrashers which inliabited the 

 neighboring thickets. The contrast which these traits allbrd 



* This Bulletin, Vol. VI, p. 67. 



t Birds of the Colorado Valley, p. 74. 



X Birds of the Colorado \'alley, p. 75. 



