SAGE THRASHER. 39 
resemble the young of the latter. Still it differs widely from the Mockingbird in all its 
peculiarities and in all its actions. 
No other ornithologist has described the habits of the Mountain Mockingbird so 
well as Prof. Robert Ridgway of the Smithsonian Institution. As I myself have had no 
good opportunity of observing this fine songster, I shall conclude its history with an 
extract from the author last mentioned. 
“Carson City, Nevada, March 24, 1868:—To-day we saw the Sage Thrasher for 
the first time this spring, and heard its song. The sage-brush was full of the birds, and 
many were singing beautifully when the evening shades were lengthened by the sinking 
of the sun behind the Sierras. Owing to the earliness of the season, the song was 
uttered in a subdued tone, and its full merit could not be appreciated. The bird was 
generally seen sitting in an upright position upon a sage bush, but when approached 
would dive—apparently into the bush, though close examination failed to reveal its 
hiding place; often, however, we again heard it sweetly warbling, perhaps a hundred 
yards away in the direction from which we had come. This concealed, circuitous flight 
is characteristic of the species. 
“April 2.—Rained throughout the night; this morning the air is fresh and balmy; 
clouds are lowering about the bases of the mountains, concealing them from view. The 
air is vocal with the music of the spring birds, singing with vigor and joyousness. 
The Meadow Larks are singing throughout the sage-brush, and with their notes are 
heard the sweet warblings of Oroscoptes montanus. To-day we heard this song in all 
its loveliness. Although weaker than that of either the Brown Thrasher or the Catbird, 
it is more varied and longer sustained as well as superior in sweetness and delicacy of 
tone. The song has, in modulation or style, a great resemblance to the soft, tender 
warbling of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, although it is stronger, of course, in proportion 
to the size of the bird. ; 
“April 9.—The Sage Thrasher is now one of the most common birds in this 
vicinity. To- day a great many were noticed among the brush-heaps of the city ceme- 
tery. Its manners during the pairing season are peculiar. The males, as they flew 
before us, were observed to keep up a peculiar tremor or fluttering of the wings, war- 
bling as they flew, and upon alighting (generally upon the fence or a bush), raised the 
wings over the back, with elbows together, quivering with joy as they sang. 
“April 23.—Although we saw these birds everywhere among the sage-brush, their 
nests were found only with great difficulty. In the cemetery, the sage bushes had all 
been pulled up and thrown in piles in different parts of the enclosure, and upon these 
the birds were most frequently seen. On one occasion, a female was observed to fly into 
one of these brush-heaps, with a bunch of building material in her mouth; but it was 
only by taking off bush after bush that the nest was discovered; this, though un- 
finished, contained one egg, and, in its construction and situation, resembled some of 
the nests of the Thrasher, though less bulky. The bushes were carefully replaced, and 
the nest left undisturbed. In walking through the sage-brush on the open commons, 
several more nests were found, in similar situations, being placed in the thickest portion 
of the bushes, generally two feet from the ground, but occasionally imbedded in the 
ground beneath them. They were all well concealed. At one time the parent birds came 
