NORTH AMERICAN BIRDti. 499 



The Willow Tawny Thrush inhabits the lower willowy portions of the Rocky 

 Mountain region in United States. Habits, nests and eggs are similar to those of 

 Wilson's Thrush. Eggs, .85x.66. 



757. GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH. Turdiis alicia; Baird. Geog. Dist.^East- 

 ern North America, west to the Great Plains, Alaska, Eastern Siberia north to the 

 Arctic coast. In winter south to Costa Rica. 



The Gray-cheeked Thrush breeds from Labrador and Hudson Bay north to the 

 Arctic coast and the coast of Bering Sea. It has been found breeding abundantly 

 in the Mackenzie River region and on the Anderson River. The nests were found, 

 with all but few exceptions, on the branches of low trees, from two to seven feet 

 from the ground. In a few exceptional cases they were built on the ground. They 

 are usually compact, and composed of an elaborate interweaving of fine sedges, 

 leaves, stems, dry grasses, strips of fine bark and lined with fine grasses. Occasion- 

 ally nests are found constructed with mud, like those of the common Robin. The 

 eggs are usually four in number, and are greenish-blue, marked with spots of russet 

 and yellowish-brown. Captain B. F. Goss has two eggs of this species, taken by Mr. 

 R. R. MacFarlane, at Port Anderson, Arctic America. The nest from which these 

 were taken was placed in a low tree. The eggs are greenish-blue, faintly marked 

 over the entire surface with reddish-brown. Their sizes are .91x.71, .91x.72. 



757a. BICKNELL'S THRUSH. Turdus alicim bicknelli (Ridgw.) Geog. Dist. — 

 In summer, higher mountains of Northeastern United States (Catskills, White Moun- 

 tains, etc.), and Nova Scotia. Winter home unknown. 



This Thrush, recently identified in the Catskill and White Mountains, and named 

 in honor of its discoverer, Mr. Eugene P. Bicknell, was found breeding by the Rev. 

 J. H. Langille, on Mud and Seal Islands, out at sea off the coast of Nova Scotia and 

 westward from the city of Yarmouth. These are almost entirely covered with a low 

 growth of evergreens — black spruce and balsam fir. Except the Robin, Song Sparrow, 

 Snowbird, a few Redstarts and Winter Wrens, almost the only small land-birds 

 breeding here are the Black-poll Warbler and Bicknell's Thrush — the last two being 

 very abundant. Mr. Langille says that its song is similar in tone to that of Wilson's 

 Thrush, but more slender and wiry, and therefore not nearly so grand and musical. 

 The birds were found nesting in almost impenetrable evergreen thickets, beneath 

 which there is a dense carpet of moss. The nests were all nearly alike in location, 

 structure and materials; placed a few feet from the ground, against the trunk of an 

 evergreen tree. They were composed of various kinds of mosses, a lew fine sticks, 

 weed-stems and rootlets, and were lined with fine bleached grasses. The nest on the 

 outside was as green as a bunch of fresh moss. The eggs were of a light bluish- 

 green speckled with brown; size, .87x.63.* 



758. RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH. Turdus ustulatus (Nutt.) Geog. Dist.— 

 Pacific coast region, north to Sitka; south, in winter, through Western Mexico, to 

 Northern Central America. 



The Russet-backed Thrush is a common species in suitable localities along the 

 Pacific coast of California and northward .Mr. A. W. Anthony states that it is not 

 an uncommon summer resident of Washington county, Oregon. The bird frequents 



* Our Birds in Their Haunts: A Popular Treatise on the Birds of Eastern North 

 America. By Hev, Hibbert Langille, M. A. Boston: S. E. Cassino & Co. 1884. Pp. 511-513. 



