1 6 Brewster on BkhieU's Thrush in New England. [January 



found at the highest pomt where shelter of this kind occurred. 

 There is, of course, no reason for supposing that they are con- 

 fined to the eastern side of Mt. Washington. On tlie contrary it 

 is highly probable that they are generally distributed over the 

 upper portions of that mountain as well as on many of the higher 

 ones of the surrounding group. Indeed they may be confidently 

 looked for almost anywhere in New England at an elevation of 

 over 3500 feet. 



Through Mr. Bicknell's kindness I am now able to make a 

 direct comparison between the specimens obtained on Mt. Wash- 

 ington and two of the Catskills examples, one of which (No. 653) 

 figures prominently in Mr. Ridgway's original description of the 

 new race. 



My measurements of these four specimens are as follows : 



653 (E. P. Bicknell) $ ad., Slide Mt., New York, June 15, 1881. Wing, 



3.6s; tail, 3.96; culraen from feathers, .50; from base, .68; depth of bill 



at nostrils, .16. 



717 (E. P. B.) $ ad.. Slide Mt., June 27, 1882. Wing, 3.60; tail, 2.73; 

 culmen from feathers, .54; from base, .67; depth of bill at nostrils, .18. 



7389 (W. B.) S ad., Mt. Washington, July 20, 1882. Wing, 3.74; tail, 

 2.93; culmen from feathers, .49; from base, .64; depth of bill at nos- 

 tril, .15. 



7390 (W. B.) S ad., same locality and date. Wing, 3.60; tail, 2.79; 

 culmen from feathers, .52; from base, .67; depth of bill at base, .16. 



The Mt. Washington birds are in worn breeding plumage. 

 They are plain grayish-olive above and along the flanks, with a 

 slight tinge of reddish on the tail, and more or less fulvous over 

 the jugulum and throat. Their general coloring is identical with 

 that of average spring specimens of T. alicia and very much 

 grayer than in Mr. Bicknell's No. 653, which, however, is prob- 

 ably an exceptional specimen, for his No. 717, obtained in the 

 same locality June 27, 1882, is but a trifle browner than the New 

 Hampshire skins. The latter come well within the limits of size 

 given for bicknelli, and their bills are fully as slender and de- 

 pressed as in Mr. Bicknell's most extreme specimen (No. 653). 

 This peculiar shape of the bill, already remarked upon by Mr. 

 Ridgway, is a striking point of difl^erence between them and all 

 of a large series of Gray-cheeked Thrushes which I have collected 

 in New England during the migrations. But although seemingly 

 confined to the smaller race, it is an inconstant character, for Mr. 

 Bicknell's No. 717 has a bill as stout as in many of my largest 

 alicice. Taking size as the sole test (and it is the only one posi- 



.8S3.] 



Jeffries on an Hennafhrodite Bird. 



17 



tively claimed by Mr. Ridgway) I find that of Massachusetts 

 specimens captured during the migrations, my series includes five 

 that fall within the extremes assigned to bicknelli, to which, 

 necessarily, they, with the Mt. Washington examples, must now 

 be referred. 



While it is perhaps unsafe to base any very positive conclusions 

 on the material at present available, there seems every reason to 

 believe that this small race will prove a reasonably constant 

 one, at least as represented along the southern borders of its 

 breeding range. However this may be, the long-disputed ques- 

 tion of the character of the relationship borne by T. alicice to 

 T. swainsoni, is, as Mr. Bicknell has pointed out, at length 

 definitely settled. Those who from the first have maintained 

 their specific distinctness have surely good reason to exult in this 

 final victory. 



Our satisfaction at the acquisition of this Thrush, new specifi- 

 cally to the summer fauna of New England, and, as a variety, 

 previously unrecognized from within its limits, can scarcely fail 

 to be tempered with chagrin that so interesting a stranger has 

 all this time existed among us undetected. Yet when we pause 

 to reflect, there is the consolation — barren though it be — that our 

 higher mountains have never been adequately explored by ornith- 

 ologists ; and who can say that they do not hold further surprises.? 

 With their Alpine flora and cold climate they offer conditions 

 favorable to the requirements of many northern-breeding birds, 

 and it is by no means improbable that several such, at present 

 known only as migrants through New England territory, may 

 eventually be found to pass the summer in their remote fiist- 

 nesses. At all events the field is well worth further investi- 

 gation. BuU. N. 0. 0. 8, Jan. 1888. P, 1^- 1I ■ 



