The Hermit Thrushes 
Similar to H. g. sequoiensis , but much smaller (although with relatively longer tail), and 
slightly darker and browner. W ing, male, 84 (3.31); female, 81 (3.19); tail, male, 71 
(2.795); female, 69 (2.716). 
Range of H. g. slevini .—Humid coastal strip of California; south in winter to 
Lower California and Sonora. 
Distribution in California. —Breeds locally in the hilly regions of the humid 
coastal strip from southern Siskiyou County (head of Rush Creek, July 29, 1911, 
Kellogg) and Humboldt County (Myers’ Ranch, June 5, 1921, Mailliard) to Sur River, 
Monterey County. Grinnell enumerates the following localities, presumably breeding 
stations: Sherwood, Mendocino County; South Yolla Bolly Mountain; Gualala River 
and Cazadero, Sonoma County; Britano Creek and Big Basin, Santa Cruz County; 
Pacific Grove and Point Sur, Monterey County; to which I add three more: 12 miles 
northwest of Harris, Humboldt County, June 15, 1916; Bridgeville, Humboldt County, 
July 1. 1916; Knob, Shasta County, July 3, 1916. Has been taken during migrations 
at Raymond (Grinnell); Redlands (Bishop); and Pasadena (Grinnell, Daggett). 
Authorities.—Heermann (Turdits nanus), Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., vol. x., pt. iv., 
1859, p. 45 (breeding near San Francisco); Grinnell, Auk, vol. xviii., 1901, p. 258 (orig. 
desc.; type locality Point Sur, Monterey Co.); Sheldon, Condor, vol. x., 1908, p. 121 
(Sonoma Co.; desc. nest and eggs); Mailliard, Condor, vol. xx., 1918, p. 192 (song.). 
THERE BE THOSE who care supremely whether one bird’s tail 
is a thirty-second of an inch longer than another bird’s tail; and these 
tell us that the local breeding birds found from Monterey County north 
to Mendocino have wings a quarter of an inch shorter than birds found 
in the Sierras, and tails a quarter of an inch longer (think of that!) than 
those belonging to the Hermits of Southern Alaska. Besides that, they 
are “paler”! All right, it must have been a “Monterey,” for it was the 
palest Hermit Thrush I ever saw, who suddenly flew toward me, as I 
strolled along a path at Los Colibris, and alighted at my feet. The action 
was so unusual that I glanced about quickly, seeking explanation—just 
in time to see a Cooper Hawk emerge from a nearby thicket, bearing 
a Robin in its talons. 
Ah, that is the grief of the birds who take shelter with us in winter! 
What with neighbors’ cats and Screech Owls and Cooper Hawks, we 
are always coming upon pathetic little heaps of brown feathers, on 
the ground or on the horizontal limbs of oak trees. Have a care, you 
varmints, these are angels you are eating! Expensive diet, I ween, 
for even a coddled Angora. 
One of the happiest experiences of a trip through northern Mendo¬ 
cino County came toward the close of a day, as we were passing through 
a bit of unbroken flr forest, for here the “Monterey” Hermit Thrushes 
held forth in melodious numbers. There were no less than six birds 
within earshot at one time, and one had only to close the eyes to be 
caught up into Paradise forthwith. Certainly I heard things there 
“which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” xAfter the mountain heights, 
747 
