484 Birds of Colorado 
Gale found several nests in Boulder co., generally in 
low cotton trees along the creeks. He gives the following 
description: ‘Nest about eight feet from the ground 
and very large, constructed outside of very coarse branches 
and twigs, middle structure of rather finer material and 
a few dead leaves, lining of fine roots. The nest was 
placed among thick twigs and close to the stem of an 
aspen tree. The eggs, four in number, were greenish- 
white, speckled thickly and uniformly with small 
brownish-reddish markings ; they were rather small for 
the size of the bird.” This nest, in which the eggs were 
quite fresh, was taken on June 25th, a rather later date 
than the average. The eggs measure 1:08 x °80. 
Bendire’s Thrasher. Tozxostoma bendirei. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 708—Colorado Records—Allen & Brewster 
83, pp. 57, 153 ; Cooke 97, pp. 120, 169 ; Cooke 97a, p. 7. 
Description.—Adult—Above pale greyish-brown, wing with indistinct 
bars; tail darker, and the outer feathers tipped with white ; below 
brownish-white, indistinctly spotted with brown; flanks brownish ; 
iris yellow, bill dusky, paler at the base of the lower mandible, legs 
brownish, dull blueish in life. Length 9-5; wing 4-20; tail 4.30; 
culmen -90; tarsus 1-30. 
The sexes are alike ; the young bird has a tawny-buff wash on wings, 
and the under-parts are paler and have narrower streaks. 
Distribution.—The desert districts of Arizona, south-east California 
and Sonora, extending north to southern Colorado; in winter to 
southern Sonora and Sinaloa in Mexico. 
Bendire’s Thrasher was first recorded from Colorado by Allen & 
Brewster, who obtained a single female example at Austins Blufis, 
near Colorado Springs, on May 8th, 1882, after heavy storms, which 
had driven many birds towards the foothills for shelter. The occur- 
rence was doubtless accidental. It has since been found by N. RB. 
Christie (Cooke) at Rouse Junction, in Huerfano co., at 6,000 feet, 
where it breeds. Christie took four nests with eggs or young ones 
between June 6th and 13th, 1896, while in the following year he observed 
a pair of birds, but found no nest. 
Bendire’s Thrasher must be regarded as a rare resident in the southern 
part of the State. 
