The Varied Thrushes 
Monterey County, California, and casually to Guadalupe Island; accidental in eastern 
localities, even to New England. 
Distribution in California. —Breeds sparingly in Humboldt, Del Norte, and 
western Trinity (10 miles west of Peanut, July 3, 1916) Counties; winters commonly 
south to Monterey County, less commonly to Santa Barbara, and casually further 
south. 
Authorities.—Vigors ( Turdus nczvius), Zool. Voy. “Blossom,” 1839, p. 17; 
McAtee, U. S. Dept. Agric., Yearbook, 1906, p. 197 (food); Grinnell, Condor, vol. xvi., 
1914, p. 40 (Berkeley; dates of arrival and departure); J. Mailliard , Condor, vol. x., 
1908, p. 118 (migr. “wave”); ibid., vol. xviii., 1916, p. 200 (Eureka; nesting). 
No. 151a Northern Varied Thrush 
A. O. U. No. 763a. Ixoreus naevius meruloides (Swainson). 
Description. —Similar to I. n. rnzvius but slightly paler, the female, especially, 
paler and grayer with white markings more extended, wings longer and more pointed. 
Range of I. n. meruloides. —Western North America, except the humid coastal 
strip. Breeds from the Yukon Delta, the Kowak Valley and the Mackenzie Delta 
south through eastern British Columbia to northwestern Montana and northeastern 
Oregon (A. 0 . U. Com.). Winters chiefly in the interior of California and the San 
Diegan district. 
Distribution in California. —Common but locally irregular winter resident, 
chiefly in the interior and southern sections, west of the main divide. Occurs as far 
south as Witch Creek, San Diego County (Willett) and San Clemente Island (Linton). 
Also Santa Cruz Island (Apr. 5, 1915; March 18-30, 1916). 
Authorities.—Grinnell, Auk, vol. xviii., 1901, p. 143 (revived name;desc.; 
winters in s. Calif.); ibid., Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 1, 1900, p. 62 (habits, nest and eggs, 
song, etc.; n. Alaska); ibid., no. n, 1915, p. 172 (status in Calif.); Howell, Pac. Coast 
Avifauna, no. 12, 1917, p. 101 (s. Calif, islands). 
TO HAVE EARNED the right to speak appraisingly of the Varied 
Thrush as a bird of California, one must have lingered in some deep 
ravine of Humboldt County, where spruce trees and alders and crowding 
ferns contend for a footing, and where a dank mist drenches the whole 
with a fructifying moisture. Here and here only, in California, is the 
Varied Thrush at home, but his domain extends northward to the limit 
of trees in northwestern Alaska. For the Varied Thrush loves rain as 
a fish loves water; while as for the eternal drizzle, it is his native element 
and vital air. Sunshine he bears in stoical silence or else escapes to the 
depths of the forest glade. But let the sun once veil his splendors, let 
the clouds shed their gentle tears of self-pity, let the benison of the rain¬ 
drops filter through the forest, and let the leafage begin to utter that 
myriad soft sigh which is dearer than silence, and our poet Thrush 
wakes up. He mounts the chancel of some fir tree and utters at intervals 
a single long-drawn note of brooding melancholy and exalted beauty,— 
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