22 HERMIT THRUSH. 
It is almost too loud for the narrowness of a room. It belongs to the silent woods 
where the constant whispering in the pines, the murmur of the forest brooks, and the 
gurgling of the springs are its proper accompaniment. Only when the song has been 
heard here, can it be fully appreciated. 
NAMES: OLIVE-BACKED TuHxusH, Swainson’s Thrush, Swamp Robin, Little Thrush.—Germ. Sdngerdrossel, 
Olivendrossel. 
SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Turdus swainsoni Cab., TURDUS USTULATUS SWAINSONI Ripew, 
DESCRIPTION: Male and female alike. Above clear olivaceous; below white, throat, breast, and sides of 
the head suffused with buff; most of the under parts, except the throat, marked with numerous dusky 
triangular spots. Length 7 to 7.50 inches.—Nest in bushes in damp woods. Eggs, usually 4, light 
greenish blue spotted with brown (.90 X .65 inch). 
The RUSSET-BACKED, Or OREGON THRUSH (Turdus ustulatus Nutt.) is now regarded 
as the real species, and the preceding as only a variety. This species is an inhabitant 
of the Pacific Coast north to Sitka. It winters through Mexico to Guatemala, and 
breeds abundantly in the Sierra Nevada and in the mountains of Oregon and Washington. 
Mr. Ridgway speaks with enthusiasm of its song. In regard to nesting and other 
points it does not differ from Swainson’s Thrush. The color of the back is more russet- 
brown, the spots on the chest smaller and of a dark brown color. 
HERMIT THRUSRB. 
Turdus aonalaschkae pallasi Ripew. 
Puate lI. Fic. 2. 
Als HE highly interesting HERMIT THRUSH might be called the ‘‘May Blossom’’* of 
¢q our birds. Its charms are manifold but the enthusiastic observer and lover of 
birds is rarely able to penetrate the solitude of its swampy northern woodland home. 
To obtain a clear idea of the species from the older ornithological literature he must 
work his way through an almost impenetrable confusion of different scientific names, 
incorrect accounts, and misunderstandings of all kinds. This confusion and everchanging 
nomenclature has lasted till the present time and only recently have our leading orni- 
thologists introduced order into this chaos. In obedience to the law of priority the 
American Ornithologists’ Union have adopted a scientific name which, though not pretty, 
must come into general use. 
In the Eastern States the Hermit is one of the best known and most common of 
our Thrushes, at least occasionally in spring and autumn. Usually it is confounded with 
the similar but somewhat larger Olive-backed Thrush, from which it may be distin- 
guished at the very first glance by its reddish brown tail. On this account the bird is 
sometimes called the Rurous-TaILED THrusH. It further differs from the Olive-backed, 
* See Grimm's “Fairy Tales’, 
