TUBDID^ — MIMINJE: MOCKING THRUSHES. 



251 



ions which now obtain in ornithology to place all the species in one genus ; but the gradation 

 df form is so gentle that it seems impossible to dismember the group without violence. The 

 arouation of the bill proceeds pari passu with its elongation ; the shortest bills being the 

 straightest, and conversely. There is also a curious correlation of color with shape of bill; 

 the short-billed species being the most richly colored and heavily spotted, while the bow- 

 billed ones are very plain, sometimes with no spots whatever on the under parts. Our nine 

 forms of the genus are with one exception South-western, focusing in Arizona, where occur 

 four species, two of them not known elsewhere ; two others are confined to California ; two 

 to the Mexican border, leaving only one generally distributed. They furnish the following 



Atialysis of Species cmd VaHeties. 



Bill not longer than head (0.8T-1.12), little or not curved. Breast spotted. 



Bill 1.00, quite straight. Above rich rusty-red ; below whitish, heavily spotted and streaked with 

 dark brown. Eastern rufus 17 



Bill 1.12, slightly curved. Above dark reddish-brown, below whitish, heavily spotted and streaked 

 with blackish. Texas longirostris 18 



Bill 1.12, curved. Above ashy-gray, below whitish, breast with round spots of the color of the back. 

 Mexican border and Arizona curvwostris or paljneri 19,20 



Bill 0.87, scarcely curved. Above grayish-brown, below brownish-white, breast alone with arrow- 

 heads of the color of the back. Arizona bendirii 12 



■ Bill 1.12, curved. Above ashy-gray, below whitish, with profuse distinct blackish-brown spots. 



Lower California emereus 22 



Bill longer than head (1.50), arcuate. Breast not spotted. 



Dark oily olive-brown, below paler, belly and crissum rufescent. Coast of California . rediimms 23 



Pale ash, paler still below, lower belly and crissum brownish-yellow. Arizona .... lecontii 21 



Brownish-ash, paler below, crissum chestnut in marked contrast. Arizona, New Mexico, and 

 California '. . crissalis 25 



17. H. ru/fus. (Lat. rufus', rufous, reddish. Fig. 121.) Theasher. Beov^tn Theush. $ ? : Upper 

 parts uniform rich rust-red, with a bronzy lustre. Concealed portions of quills fuscous. 

 Greater and median wing-coverts blackish near the end, then conspicuously tipped with white. 

 Bastard quiUs like the coverts. Tail 



like the back, the lateral feathers vidth ^a^P^'^^^^J ' 



paler ends. Under parts white, more ,^rf^*^^ 



or less strongly tinged, especially on j^^ y^E9&l'^Si\//!: 



the breast, flanks, and crissum, with j^^ 



tawny or pale cinnamon-brown, the ^^ji^T^Cx ^tiS^' V 



breast and sides marked with a profu- ^^P^'^^' * ^ ^^^'*^ Vjl 

 sion of well-defined spots of dark "^ ,^ 0' 



brown, oval in front, becoming more ,'^-»™^.'>'%./f 



linear posteriorly. Throat immaculate, ■ '^■" 



bordered with a necklace of spots ; ' 

 middle of the belly and under tail- 

 coverts likevidse unspotted. BOl quite 

 straight, black, with yellow base of the 

 lower mandible ; feet pale ; iris yellow Fio. 121. —Thrasher, nat. size. (Ad. nat. del. B. 0.) 



or orange. Length about 11 inches; extent 12.50-14.00; wing 3.75-4.25 ; tail 5.00 or more; 

 bill 1.00; tarsus 1.35. Eastern U. S. chiefly, but N. to. adjoining British Provinces and W. 

 to the Rocky Mts. ; migratory, but breeds throughout its range, and winters in the Southern 

 States. A delightful songster, abundant in thickets and shrubbery. Nest in bushes (some- 

 times on ground), bulky and rude, of sticks, leaves, bark, roots, etc. ; eggs 4-5, sometimes 6, 

 1.05 X 0.80, whitish or greenish, profusely speckled withbrovm. 



18. H. r. longiros'tris. (Lat. longus, long, and rostris, fi'om rostriim, beak; i. e., long-billed.) 

 Texas Thrashbe. Similar to H. rufus ; upper parts dark reddish-brown, instead of rich 

 foxy-red ; under parts white, with little if apy tawny tinge, the spots largo, very numerous, 



