Family 17. Turdid^e. Thrushes. 



Moderately small to large, but chiefly medium-sized Passerids having 10 primaries (the outermost shortened 

 or "spurious"), and booted tarsi (i. e., the front of the tarsus covered by a continuous plate); wings long and pointed, 

 usually longer than tail; bill slender, compressed, acute, usually with small subterminal notch; nostril oval or rounded, 

 usually well exposed; rictus bristled; anterior toes deeply cleft, the inner (2nd) free to base. Chiefly highly migratory. 

 Eggs 3-7, chiefly niagara green, plain or spotted. Young more or less spotted above and below. Nearly cosmo- 

 politan, but notably Palsearctic and American; about 275 species, of which only 7 Californian. 



I. Bill flattened, broader than deep at base; plumage smoky gray. 154. Townsend's Solitaire. 



II. Bill not flattened. 



A. Plumage with more or less blue. 



1. Adult male entirely blue, without chestnut. 153. Mountain Bluebird. 



2. With chestnut on back and breast. 152. Western Bluebird. 



B. Head extensively black or slaty; underparts rufous or ochra- 



ceous. 



1. A pectoral band of black; wings varied. 151. Varied Thrush. 



2. No pectoral band; wings plain. 150. Western Robin. 



C. Plumage brown above, spotted below on a whitish ground. 



1. Color of upperparts abruptly contrasting with rufescent 



tail. 148. Hermit Thrush. 



2. Color of back, etc., not contrasting with that of tail. 149. Russet-backed Thrush. 



Family 18. Sylviidte. Old World Warblers, Kinglets, Gnatcatchers, etc. 



"Very small to large 'ten primaried', dentirostral, acutiplantar Oscines, with nostrils longitudinal and opercu- 

 lated (usually exposed), and with the young not spotted" (Ridgway). A confessedly difficult and probably heter- 

 ogeneous family of at least more than 100 species and of nearly cosmopolitan range. The Regulus-Corthylio group 

 is of Pala;arctic derivation, while the Polioptila group is exclusively American. Five species Californian. 



I. Tarsus booted; colors olivaceous; no black on tail. 



A. Male with simple ruby crest. 156. Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 



B. Crest striped, flame-color or yellow, bordered by blackish. 155. Western Golden-crowned King- 



let. 



II. Tarsus scutellate; colors blue-gray and white, with much black 



on tail. 



A. Forehead and superciliaries (of male) black; tail bordered by 



white. 157. Western Gnatcatcher. 



B. Entire top of head black; tail bordered by white. 158. Plumbeous Gnatcatcher. 



C. Top of head black; no white on tail. 159. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. 



Family 19. CHAMiEiD^E. Wren-Tits. 



A small group with intermediate characters, suggestive of Paridee on the one hand and Troglodytidtz on the other, 

 but probably not derived from either. Their chief distinctions are short, excessively rounded wings and long, grad- 

 uated tails, with plumage notably loose in texture. Only one species known and that confined to California and 

 Oregon. 



160. Wren-Tit. 



Family 20. Motacillime. Wagtails and Pipits. 



Rather small terrestrial Passerids having 9 primaries; well developed, rather pointed wings, and greatly elon- 

 gated tertials; bill slender, notched near tip; nostrils exposed; tarsi long and scutellate; the outer toe united to middle 

 throughout the basal phalanx, the inner toe free to base; the hind claw usually lengthened. Eggs 4 or 5, usually 

 heavily spotted or buried under pigment. A highly developed and widely diffused family of the Old World, number- 

 ing something over 100 species and subspecies. Six of these are registered as of accidental or borderline occurrence 

 in North America, and two more are indigenous. The California species is 



161. American Pipit. 



Family 21. Alaudid^e. Larks. 



Terrestrial, nine- or ten-primaried Oscines, having the back of the tarsus rounded (instead of sharpened) and 

 scutellate. Bill simple, of various outline, but without subterminal notch; wings long and pointed, the outermost 

 (10th) primary short, rudimentary, or concealed; head usually crested, or with horn-like feather-tufts on each side 

 of the occiput. Eggs 3-5, protectively colored. A large, well-defined family of over 100 species; chiefly Old World 

 — one very plastic species North American and Californian. 



162. Horned Lark. 



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