246 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSEBES— OSCINES. 



Fig. lis. — Wood Thriisli ( T. mnstelinux}, 

 nat. size. (Ad. nat. del. E. C.) 



to Mexico, abundant, migratory; accidcutal in Mass., N. J., and Lone: Island. A beautiful 

 and very distinct species, representing the subgenus Hesperocichla (r4r. fanepos, hesjJeros, Lat. 

 vesperus, western, and Ki'xXa, kichla, a thrush). Nest in bnslies, of twigs, grasses, mosses, 

 ami lichens ; eggs 1.12 X 0.80, light greenish-blue, speckled with dark brown. 



6. T. musteli'nns. (Lat. mustelinus, weasel-like; i. e., tawny in color; mustela, a weasel. 

 Fig. 118. J AVoOD Thkush. <J ?, adult: Upper parts, including the surface of the closed 

 wings, tawny-brown, purest and deepest on the head, shading insensibly into olivaceous on the 

 rump and tail. Below, pure white, faintly tinged on the breast with buff, and everywhere, 

 excepit on the tliroat, middle of belly, and crissum, marked M'ith numerous large, well-deiiued, 



rounded or subtriangular blackish spots. Inner webs 

 and ends oi quills fuscous, with a white or buffy 

 idgiug toward the base. Greater under wing-coverts 

 iiiustly white. Auriculars sharply streaked with 

 dusky and white. Bill blackish -brown, with ilesh- 

 colored or yellowish base. Feet like this part of the 

 bUl. Length 7.50-8.00; extent about 13.00; wing 

 4.00-1.35; tail 3.00-3.25; bill 0.75; tarsus 1.25; 

 middle toe and claw less. Young; Speckled or 

 strealved above with pale yellnvish or whitish, espe- 

 cially noticeable as triangular spots on the wing- 

 coverts. But these speedily disappear, when a 

 plumage scarcely different from that of the adult is assumed. The most strongly marked 

 S]i('cies of the subgenus. In T. ■iinttlnscce, the only other one showing both tawny and 

 olive on the ujiper jiarts, the position nf the two colors is reversed, the tawny occupying the 

 rump, tlie olive the head. In no other species are the spots below so large, shai-p, numerous, 

 and generally dispersed. Eastern U. S., N. to New England only ; a famous vocalist, common 

 in low damp woods and thickets ; migratory ; breeds throughout its range ; nest in bushes 

 and low trees, of leaves, grasses, etc., and mud; eggs usually 1-5, pilain greenish-blue like 

 those of the robin, but smaller: 1.08 X 0.70. 



7. T. fusces'cens. (Lat. fuscescens, less than /«,sci(.<t, dark.) Wilson's Theush. Veeey. 

 (J 9 : Upper jiarts reddish-brown, with slight olive shade ; no contrast of color between 

 back and tail; quills and tail-feathers darker and purer brown, the former with white or 

 buft' s]5aces at the concealed bases of the inner webs (as usual in this subgenus). No orbi- 

 tal light ring around the eye ; auriculars only obsoletcly streaky. Below, white ; the side? 

 shaded with hoary -gray or pale grayish-olive; the jugnlum buff-coh.ired, contrasting strongly 

 with the white of the breast, and marked mth a few small brown arrow-heads, the chin and 

 middle line of throat, however, nearly white and immaculate. A few olisolete grayish-ilive 

 spots in the white of the breast ; but otherwise the markings confined to the buff' area. Bill 

 dark above, mostly pale behnv, like the feet. ^, Length 7.25-7.50; extent about 12.00; 

 wing 4.00-4.25; tail 3.00-3.25 ; bill 0.60; tarsus 1.20. ?, smaller; average of both sexes: 

 length 7.35; extent 11.75; wing 3.90; tail 2.85 ; tarsus 1.12. Chiefly eastern U. S., but N. 

 to Canada; common, migratory, nesting in northerly parts of its range. Nest on grounder 

 near it, of leaves, grasses, etc., but no mud; eggs 4-5, greenish-bine like those of the wood 

 thrush, normally unspotted, 0.90X0.(10. A delightful songster, like others of the genus, 

 found in thick woods and swamps ; of shy and retiring habits. 



7a. T. f. salici'cola. (Lat. saZia;, a wtUow; cofo, I cultivate.) Willow Tawny Thrush. Like 

 T. fuscescens, but averaging larger, the upper parts less decidedly tawny, the jugnlum less 

 distinctly buff. Wing 3.80-4.25, av. 4.02; tail 2.95-3.40, av. 3.20 ; bill 0.55-0.60 ; tarsus, 

 av. 1.17 ; middle toe withcmt claw, av. 0.69. A slight form recently described by Mr. Ridgway, 

 inhabiting the lower \idllowy portions of the Piocky Mt. region, U. S. This variety is clearly 



