TURDIDZ — MIMINZ: MOCKING THRUSHES. 251 
ions which now obtain in ornithology to place all the species in one genus; but the gradation 
of form is so gentle that it seems impossible to dismember the group without violence. The 
arcuation 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 bone 
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 
Analysis of Species and Varieties. 
Bill not longer than head (0.87-1.12), 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 daric reidishbrewa; walaw whitish, heavily spoitell and streaked 
with blackish. Texas .. . . » longirostris 18 
Bill 1.12, curved. Above asby- ea. below whitish, *ireiet with oun apote of ihe color of the back. 
Mexican border and Arizona. . . - . eurvirostris or palmeri 19, 20 
Bill 0.87, scarcely curved. Above grayish- cbeontn, bélow bromnlsh-white, breast alone with arrow- 
heads of the color of the back. Arizona. ‘ 5 bendirii 12 
Bill 1.12, curved. Above vehiabiuets below whitish, writ profuse d distinct " plackish- brown spots. 
Lower California f . : . cinereus 22 
Bill longer than head (1.50), aronate,. Breast ist spotted: 
Dark oily olive-brown, below paler, belly and crissum rufescent. Coast of California . . redivivus 23 
Pale ash, paler still below, lower belly and crissum brownish-yellow. Arizona A ‘ lecontit 24 
Brownish-ash, paler below, crissum chestnut in marked contrast. Arizona, New Mexico, and 
California. ... . Pee ae oe Bet ee ne GRA ee a GS enw OSL 25 
17%. H. ru/fus. (Lat. rufus, rufous, reddish. Fig. 121.) Tarasuer. Brown Turusu. gf 9: Upper 
18. 
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 quills like the coverts. Tail 
like the back, the lateral feathers with 
paler ends. Under parts white, more 
or less strongly tinged, especially on 
the breast, flanks, and crissum, with 
tawny or pale cinnamon-brown, the 
breast and sides marked with a profu- ¢ 
sion of well-defined spots of dark 
brown, oval in front, becoming more 
linear posteriorly. Throat immaculate, 
bordered with a necklace of spots; 
middle of the belly and under tail- 
coverts likewise unspotted. Bill quite 
straight, black, with yellow base of the Ny 
lower mandible ; feet pale; iris yellow Fic. 121.— Thrasher, nat. size. (Ad. nat. del. E. C.) 
or orange. Length about 1] inches; extent 12.50-14.00; wing 3.75-4.25 ; tail 5.00 or more; 
bill 1.00; tarsus 1.25. Eastern U. 8. 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 sovgster, 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 with brown. 
H. r. longiros‘tris. (Lat. longus, long, and rostris, from rostrum, beak; i. e., long-billed.) 
Texas THRASHER. Similar to H. rufus ; upper parts dark reddish-brown, instead of rich 
foxy-red; under parts white, with little if any tawny tinge, the spots large, very numerous, 
° 
