714 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFL. 
that it is heard oftenest at twilight, and often has a distant effect even when 
the bird is quite near, renders it particularly attractive. There is little 
likelihood of confounding this song with that of other thrushes; the nearest 
approach to it is seen in the imperfect spring song (during migration) of 
the Olive-back, but this latter is an inferior performance as compared 
with the nuptial song of the Veery. Bicknell says: ‘Often it does not 
sing for several days after arrival from the south, sometimes not until 
two weeks after the Wood Thrush is heard. It stops singing early in 
July, 10th to 15th, being rarely heard later.” 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Adult: Upper parts, including wings and tail, uniform pale reddish-brown; below 
mainly white, the throat and breast slightly buff-tinted; middle of throat, belly, and sides, 
white; the sides of the throat and most of the upper breast spotted sparingly with pale 
brown. The sexes alike. 
Length 6.50 to 7.75 inches; wing 3.75 to 4.15; tail 2.75 to 3.25. 
321. Gray-cheeked Thrush. Hylocichla alicie alicia (Baird). (757) 
Synonyms: <Alice’s Thrush.—Turdus alicia, Baird, 1858, and most authors until 
1880.—Hylocichla alicie, Ridgw., 1880, A. O. U. Committce, 1899, and most recent writers. 
The Gray-cheeked Thrush resembles the Olive-back, and differs from 
other members of the genus, in having the entire upper parts, head, back, 
wings and tail, of the same shade of olive-brown; it differs from the Olive- 
back in having the cheeks clear gray and in lacking a distinct light ring 
about the eye; it is also slightly larger. 
Distribution.—Eastern North America, west to. the Plains. Alaska and 
eastern Siberia, north to the Arctic coast, south in winter, to Costa Rica. 
Breeds chiefly north of the United States. 
The Gray-cheeked Thrush is one of our less common thrushes, and 
indeed was hardly known to the earlier observers. It occurs during 
migration only, not being known to nest within our limits. In habits 
it does not differ noticeably from the Olive-back, with which it is most 
often associated, and with which it is frequently confounded. , 
It arrives from the south from the last of April to the middle of May, 
but the reports from observers throughout the state are neither sufficiently 
abundant nor accurate to determine the time of arrival with much certainty. 
The identification of this bird by the unaided eye, by the field glass, by 
note, or by action, is entirely unsatisfactory; records based on anything 
less than the actual capture of specimens must be disregarded. The 
few unquestionable records which we have would seem to indicate that 
it arrives somewhat later than the Olive-back and moves southward in 
the fall a little earlier. Mr Swales states that near Detroit it is ‘a not 
uncommon migrant. Arrives April 27—May 21, again in September. 
First taken here in 1898 by J. Claire Wood.” Mr. 8. E. White records 
one specimen taken on Mackinac Island August 23, 1891, and W. Wilkowski 
took one at Kalamazoo May 13, 1904. Perhaps the most satisfactory 
records are those afforded by the lighthouses, as follows: Killed on 
Spectacle Reef Light, Lake Huron, May 22 and May 24, 1890, May 23, 
1897, June 1, 1892, September 21, 1890, September 25, 1899 (2 specimens) ; 
on Presque Isle Light, Lake Huron, September 15, 1890; Port Oneida 
Light, September 25, 1886; Big Sable Light, Lake Superior, October 7, 
