Contribution from the Bureau of Biological Survey 
HENRY W. HENSHAW, Chief 
Wachington: D. C. PROFESSIONAL PAPER September 27, 1915 
FOOD HABITS OF THE THRUSHES OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 
By F. HE. L. BEAL, Assistant Biologist. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. Page. 
MELO GU CtION se oe a ie ee 1 | Gray-cheeked and Bicknell’s thrushes_ 11 
Townsend’s solitaire __.____________ 3 } Olive-backed and_ russet- backed 
WOO GE Girish eta en ke 5 EHTUSHESE: SE NRC eae ea oe 13 
Veery and willow thrust___________ OF Ever mite Gh ne Sy ee ee eee 18 
INTRODUCTION. 
North American thrushes (Turdidze) constitute a small but inter- 
esting group of birds, most of which are of retiring habits but 
noted as songsters. They consist of the birds commonly known as 
thrushes, robins, bluebirds, Townsend’s solitaire, and the wheatears. 
The red-winged thrush of Europe (Z'urdus musicus) is accidental. 
in Greenland, and the wheatears (Sazicola enanthe subspp.) are 
rarely found in the Western Hemisphere except in Arctic America. 
Within the limits of the United States are 11 species of thrushes, of 
which the following 6 are discussed in this bulletin: Townsend’s 
solitaire (J/yadestes townsend), the wood thrush (Hylocichla muste- 
lina), the veery and willow thrush (Hylocichla fuscescens subspp.) . 
the gray-cheeked and Bicknell’s thrushes (Hylocichla aliciw subspp.), 
the olive-backed and russet-backed thrushes (Hylocichla ustulata 
subspp.), and the hermit thrushes (Hylocichla guttata subspp.). An. 
account of the food habits of the 5 species of robins and bluebirds 
appeared in Department Bulletin No. 171. 
As a group thrushes are plainly colored and seem to be especially 
adapted to thickly settled rural districts, as the shyest of them, with 
Norr.—This bulletin treats of the economic relations and value to agriculture of the 
thrushes of the United States other than robins and bluebirds. These two forms were 
discussed in Department Bulletin No. 171, issued February 5, 1915. 
98551°—Bull. 280—15 1 
