The Leconte Thrasher 
ousia and homofousia), we suppose we shall be rated out of order for 
complaining of those who are ready to fight for the adoption of a pet 
trinomial in bird nomenclature. But, really, the height of absurdity 
has been reached in the case of these Thrashers. Thrashers from Pasa¬ 
dena and those from Sonoma may exhibit average differences; but if they 
do. their own ornithological god-mother wouldn’t know the difference if 
some wag were to change labels on the specimens submitted. And if a 
man were to attempt the trinomial separation of a litter of kittens on 
the basis of longer or shorter whiskers, or darker “tabby” color, he would 
be laughed out of a nursery. A plague on these quiddities, anyhow! 
Why, to hear tell of a “Pasadena” Thrasher and a “Sonoma” Thrasher, 
you would think that one of the birds was sky-blue, and the other wine- 
purple at least; but when you are taken into the secret, you learn that 
the breast of one is the color of a properly roasted peanut, while that of 
the other has been left in the roaster a second too long. 1 
No. 142 
Leconte’s Thrasher 
A. O. U. No. 711. Toxostoma lecontei lecontei Lawrence. 
Synonyms. — Desert Thrasher (name now restricted to T. lecontei areni- 
cola)\ Yuma Thrasher. 
Description. — Adult: General coloration pale grayish brown (drab to pale 
drab-gray) darkening to fuscous on tail: breast paler; throat and abdomen much paler, 
pale buffy to buffy white; crissum and flanks cinnamon-buff or pinkish buff—a thor¬ 
oughly bleached form! Bill blackish; feet and legs dusky brown; iris reddish brown. 
Fall specimens are darker, with white of throat more strongly contrasting. Length 
about 254 (10.00); wing 98 (3.86); tail 120 (4.72); bill 32.8 (1.29); tarsus 31 (1.22). 
Recognition Marks. —Robin size; curved bill with pale (grayish brown) “desert” 
coloration unmistakable; lighter and smaller than next species. 
Nesting. — Nest: A shallow bowl of careless construction, often misshapen, 
composed basally of coarse twigs, mesially of fine weed-stems or grasses and interiorly 
of gray felted flower-heads of “a small woolly plant”; placed at moderate heights in 
cholla cactus, mesquite tree, or tree yucca. Eggs: 3 or 4; light to pale niagara green, 
very sparingly dotted, chiefly at the larger end. with reddish brown. Av. size 27.7 
x 19.1 (1.09 x .75). Season: Feb. 15-June 1; one or two broods. 
Range of Toxostoma lecontei .—Arid portions of southwestern Linked States, 
north Sonora and Lower California. 
Range of T. 1 . lecontei .—Lower Sonoran deserts of southern California, southern 
Nevada, and southern Utah, south through Arizona to Cape Lobos, Sonora, and San 
Felipe Bay, Lower California. 
Distribution in California. —Of fairly common occurrence in suitable cover in 
southeastern deserts, west regularly to Banning and Antelope Valley, north casually 
1 The claims of an alleged subspecies, T. r. pasadenense Grinnell, have since been abandoned, although 
Dr. Grinnell still holds “ T. r. sonomce”ais a valid form. 
