HEBMIT TEBUSHES 605 



The common call note is a soft chuck or su}), often doubled. It is 

 not likely to be confused with the call note of the Russet-back. On rarer 

 occasions, the hermit thrush g^ives a quite different, hoarse, not loud squall, 

 tsJiee or kschee, somewhat like one oall note of the Spurred Towhee but 

 more metallic. 



The hermit thrush usually places its nest not far above the ground 

 in a small coniferous tree standing in some shaded spot. At Tuolumne 

 Meadows on July 4, 1915, we found and visited repeatedly a nest which 

 was 41/4 feet above the ground in one of a clump of young alpine hemlocks. 

 There were three plain blue eggs. The bird which was doing the work of 

 incubation was fairly tame, not quitting the nest until the observer was 

 close at hand. She would fly a short distance away and then hop about 

 on the ground. On July 13 the eggs were still unhatched, and as the nest 

 was tilted and one egg had rolled out on the ground it was assumed that 

 the parents had been frightened into deserting their home. 



As already intimated, the hermit thrush does much of its foraging on 

 the ground where during the summer it gets a variety of food including 

 many insects. But in the winter season, like most members of the thrush 

 family, it partakes to a large extent of berries. At El Portal in December 

 one of these birds was seen feeding upon toyon berries, as was another 

 at Pleasant Valley. Other individuals were seen to take the sticky sweet 

 berries of the manzanita (A. mariposa), and remains of several of these 

 small fruits were found in the crop of a bird collected on Sweetwater Creek 

 November 1, 1915. 



Western Robin. Planesticus migratorius propinquus (RidgAvay) 



Field cJiaraciers.Size medium (length 10 inches); bill slender; tail nearly as long 

 as body. Lower surface of body bright reddish brown ; upper surface plain dark slate 

 gTay, blackish on head and tail ; chin white ; area under base of tail white. Young birds 

 have under surface of body pale reddish and conspicuously marked with rounded black 

 spots (fig. 60). When on ground moves rapidly, either walking or hopping; stops 

 abruptly and fixedly in upright posture for a few seconds after each advance. Flight 

 steady, not undulating. Voice: Of male, a loud caroling song. Both sexes utter short 

 calls, some of them sounding like squeals; these given singly or in various combinations. 



Occurrence. — Common summer visitant to forested portions of the Yosemite region 

 from near Bullion Mountain, El Portal, and 3 miles east of Coulterville, eastward across 

 the Sierra Nevada to Mono Lake Post Office; most abundant in Transition Zone on west 

 slope, less numerous at the higher altitudes and on the east side of the mountains. Also 

 common as a winter visitant in foothills of the west slope from El Portal and 6 miles 

 east of Coulterville west to Pleasant Valley. A few remain in Transition Zone, as in 

 Yosemite Valley, in certain winters. Forages chiefly on open grasslands in summer and 

 generally in berry-producing trees and bushes in winter. Seeks open branches of trees 

 for singing and roosting. In pairs or family groups during nesting season; in loose 

 flocks up to 50 or more at other times of year. 



