AMI'KLID.K-TlfE CIIATTKHKH.S. ^jj 



Dr. rcK^K.,.. i„ l.i. Hi,,,, ,.f (•.lilun.ia,chv.llH witl. n.ud. cMuj-LaHis upon 

 th .y,,l,ttu n.e ndy nl this .species. Jfuvin.n.hvuy.s Inun.l them sih.„,.aM.l 

 W..1. ha luts l,ke the KivcatciK.rs-, he wus .pute unprepare-l to he.,, the.a ^i,..'- 

 .n, .a tl.e S.emt Nevada, an.l, if he had not obtained the hinl. would not 

 have hel.eved that one of this fan.ily was eapahle of sin.in. with sueh 

 l-"er he.r.song. he says, ean he eon.imved with notiun,' uttere.l l.v any 



ol the Moekn>y.|!M,l ,n sweetne,s.s, besides hein- entirelv ...i-nnal 



He met with only a lew of this speeies an..n, s.ane juni,:.. on the west- 

 cm slope near the snn.nnt, ,n September, 18.;;!. He has always met with 

 then, nearly s.ugly. Dp. 1,.,.,^ found then, at Fort Webster, Xew Mexieo 

 in large mnnbers, both in fall and in winter. Their hon.e. Dr. Cooper thinks' 

 •sooms to be ,n the vu^inity of the great deserts of the central regions, or the' 

 cechir-covered niountanis that intersect them 



l)...W,.odhouse obtained sevend speein.ens on the Zuni Mountains in 

 ^e^ Mexico an.l from there westward found it e.vccding'v abundant. Its 

 food .seemed to be exclusnely berries, and chiefly those of the cedar 



Dr.Coues also found these birds rare summer residents in Arizona and 

 con u.ns its possession of rare local powers, producing a rich, sweet, and 

 finely modulated song. 



w,^!M^"^r? ';:''^" ;'^; "' •'<-"»l»"'yi"^ Mr. King's party of explorations, 

 M.ites that he found tins curious bir.l only occasionally, mo.st freonently 

 among the pines of the Sierra Nevada, and only once or t.ice among the 

 mountains east ol that range. In July, 18(i7, he found a ne,st of this bird 

 It was m a deep ravine on the western slo,.e of the Sierras, at an altitiule of 

 five thousand (eet. It was placed in a cavity of the rocks forming the per- 

 pendicular U].per bank of a sluice constructed for mining purpo,ses, throu-d. 

 which ran the waters of a considerable mountain stream. The nest was akmt 

 a foot above the water, and was as bulky as tiiat of the Hnrp„rh,nrhn. r.fn. 

 and similarly constructed, I)eing composed almost entirely of sticks It ,' 

 tamed four young. When he approached, the female was much ex,.ited iU 

 ing before, or running on the gromid in the manner of a true Thrush 'iMr 

 Itidgway makes no mention of its song. 



MiN Lonl met with these binls only once, and then at Col vi lie, towards the 

 end of November. All the leaves had fallen, the ground was deeply covered 

 with snow and the cold was intense. His attenti<.n was first attracted by 

 hearing a low sweet song, not unlike that of the Song Thrush of Europe 

 which at that season was a most unusual sound. On looking around he 

 saw about twenty of these birds perched on the top sprays of some white 

 thorn-oushes. In their mode of darting off and returning again they re- 

 nunded him of a Shrike. He .shot six, and could ,leiect no material 

 diderence in plumage between males and females. In the stomachs of 

 hose he opened were the remains of small coleopterous insects and a few 

 liaws. 



