The California Thrasher 
darkest of the group. And similarly, it is the incorrigible wildness of 
the Leconte Thrasher which has driven him to the remoter wilderness 
and subjected him to the most severe bleaching action of the sun. Ben- 
dire’s Thrasher occupies a mediating position. While the smallest of the 
California quintet, it is not so pale as Leconte’s yet very much lighter 
than California or Crissal. Never bold or saucy, like a Mockingbird, 
Bendire will nevertheless, on occasion, submit to rather close inspection, 
and it has shown a tendency of late to attach itself to the outer circle 
of farmyard birds and the general vicinage of men. 
The scattered California records of this bird are rather puzzling, and 
do not seem to fully define its status. The clearest examples of occur¬ 
rence, including breeding records, were made by Mr. Wright M. Pierce 
near Victorville, on the southern edge of the Mohave Desert, in April, 
1920; and it is believed that the species is well established in this section. 
However, if one wants to study the bird closely, he would better take a 
trip through southern Arizona. This Thrasher will first be seen in the 
lowlands bordering the Gila River, and unless one catches the note of 
white on the outer corners of the tail, it will be difficult to distinguish it 
from the scurrying Towhees. Elsewhere throughout its range, this 
bird will come into constant comparison with the larger, longer-billed, 
but only slightly darker, Palmer Thrasher. 
Like the Palmer, Bendire nests freely in the open desert, especially 
in the cholla, and its whitish eggs, with the softly diffused dull reddish 
markings, may be instantly distinguished from the sharply dotted greenish 
eggs of palmeri. But again, when brought into comparison with the 
Western Mockingbird, which is likewise attached to outlying ranches, 
the eggs of hendirei require the closest scrutiny. 
In a season’s nesting in Arizona 1 scarcely heard this Thrasher sing; 
but a chance visit in January discovered a songster of rare merit and 
charm. The songs were dainty and varied, reminding me of nothing else 
so much as those of a Catbird, although they were at the same time 
sprightlier and less impassioned. The bird is something of a ventriloquist, 
too, and on such occasions drops liquid notes like beaded custard for 
richness. 
No. 141 
California Thrasher 
A. 0 . U. No. 710. Toxostoma redivivum (Gambel). 
Description. — Adult: Above plain dark brown (mummy-brown to bister and 
sepia); the tail barely darker, the edges of rectrices and upper tail-coverts slightly 
warmed with an ochraceous wash; cheeks darker brown, streaked with pale buffy; 
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