522 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



on the breast with dusky; paler spots on the sides; spotting fully as heavy 

 as in the Olive-backed thrush; eye ring and cheek gray with no perceptible 

 buffy tinge; breast very slightly tinged with buffy. 



Length 7.5-8 inches; extent 12. 5-13. 5; wing 4-4.25; tail 3; bill .55; 

 tarsus 1.25. 



Distribution. This species breeds in the Hudsonian zone from north- 

 western Alaska, northwestern Mackenzie, to central Ungava and New- 

 foundland; winters in northern South -America. In New York it is only 

 a transient visitant, arriving from the south from the 9th to the 20th of 

 May and passing northward between the 20th of May and the 2d of June. 

 In the fall it returns from the i8th to the 30th of September and passes 

 southward from the 15th to the 25th of October. It is fairly common as 

 a migrant both in the coastal district and in central, northern and western 

 New York. 



Haunts and habits. The Gray-cheeked thrush is found about our lawns 

 and shrubbery as well as in the forests and swamps during the migration time. 

 It is shyer than the Olive-backed thrush and retreats, at the slighest dis- 

 turbance, to the coverts of the hedges and trees, assuming rather an erect 

 posture upon alighting. Its call note is a rather sharp, petulant "/ee-c." 

 It is also said by Mearns to utter a low note resembling' the call of the 

 Brown creeper and a bubble-bursting sound often heard during the spring. 

 Its haunts and habits in general resemble those of the Olive-backed thrush, 

 which is slightly more common with us. 



Hylocichla aliciae bicknelli Ridgway 



Bicknell Thrush 



Hylocichla aliciae bicknelli Ridgway. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1882. 4:377 



A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 360. 

 No. 7S7a 



bicknelli, to E. P. Bicknell, the discoverer of this subspecies 



Description. Smaller than aliciae; colors practically the same, but 

 the upper parts slightly darker and browner, especially the tail, and the 

 chest slightly more buffy; the bill slightly slenderer. 



Length 6.50-7.40 inches, the females being the smaller; extent 11-11.5; 

 wing 34-3-8; tail 2.6-2.9; biU •50-.54; tarsus i.i. 



