246 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES— OSCINES. 



7a. 



Fig. 118. — Wood Thrush ( T. mustelinus), 

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



to Mexico, abundant, migratory; aceidental in Mass., N. J., and Long Island. A beautiful 

 and very distinct species, representing the subgenus Hesperocichla (G-r. ea-irepos, hesperos, Lat. 

 vesperus, western, and kIx^o, hichla, a thrush). Nest in bushes, of twigs, grasses, mosses, 

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

 T. musteU'nus. (Lat. mustelmus, weasel-Uke; i. e., tawny in color; mustela, a weasel. 

 Fig. 118.) Wood Thktjsh. $ ? , 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, 

 except on the throat, middle of belly, and orissum, marked with numerous large, weU-deflned, 



rounded or subtriangular blackish spots. Inner webs 

 and ends of quUls fuscous, with a white or buffy 

 edging toward the base. Greater under wing-coverts 

 mostly white. Auriculars sharply streaked with 

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

 colored or yellowish base. Feet like this part of the 

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

 4.00-4.25 ; tail 3.00-3.25 ; biU 0.75 ; tarsus 1.25 ; 

 middle toe and claw less. Young: Speckled or 

 streaked above with pale yellowish 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 

 species of the subgenus. In T. unalasctB, the only other one showing both tawny and 

 olive on the upper parts, the position of the two colors is reversed, the tawny occupying the 

 rump, the olive the head. In no other species are the spots below so large, sharp, 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 4-5, plain greenish-blue like 

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



T. fnsces'cens. (Lat. fuscescens, less than fuseus, dark.) Wilson's Thrush. Vbbrt. 

 (J 9 : Upper parts 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 

 buff spaces at the concealed bases of the inner webs (as usual in this subgenus). No orbi- 

 tal light ring around the eye; auriculars only obsoletely streaky. Below, white; the sides 

 shaded with hoary -gray or pale grayish-olive; the jugulum buff-colored, contrasting strongly 

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

 middle line of throat, however, nearly white and immaculate. A few obsolete grayish-olive 

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

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

 wing 4.00-4.25; tail 3.00-3.25 ; bOl 0.60; tarsus 1.20. 9i 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 gi'ound or 

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

 thrush, normally unspotted, 0.90 X 0.(50. A delightful songster, like others of the genus, 

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



T. f . salici'cola. (Lat. saUx, a wiUow ; coh, I cultivate.) Willow Tawny Thrush. Like 

 T. fuscescens, but averaging larger, the upper parts less decidedly tawny, the jugulum 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 without claw, av. 0.69. A slight fonn recently described by Mr. Kidgway, 

 inhabiting the lower willowy portions of the Rocky Mt. region, U. S. This variety is clearly 



