PERCHING BIRDS 
711. Leconte’s Thrasher. Toxostoma lecontei 
lecontei. 
Range. — Desert regions of southwestern United States, 
chiefly in the valleys of the Gila and Colorado Rivers. 
This species is much paler 
than the last and has a shorter 
bill. It is fairly common but 
locally distributed in its range 
and nests at low elevations in 
bushes or cacti. The three or 
four eggs are pale greenish blue, 
sparingly dotted with reddish 
Pale greenish blue brown. Size 1.10 x .75. Data. — 
Phoenix, Arizona, April 2, 1897. 3 eggs. Large nest 
of dry twigs, rootlets, etc., lined with bits of rabbit hair 
and feathers; 4 feet from the ground in a small shrub. 
711a. Desert Thrasher. Toxostoma lecontei 
arenicola. 
Range. — Northern Lower California. 
This form of the last is said to differ in being darker 
above. It is a very locally confined race, chiefly about 711 712 
Rosalia Bay, Lower California. Its eggs will not be distinctive. 
Pale greenish blue 
712. Crissal Thrasher. Toxostoma erissale. 
Range. — Southwestern United States from western Texas 
to eastern California; north to southern Utah and Nevada. 
This species may be known from any other of the curve- 
billed Thrashers by its grayish underparts and bright 
chestnut under tail coverts. These sweet songsters are 
abundant in suitable localities, nesting at low elevations in 
chaparral. Their nests are large, and bulkily made of 
sticks and rootlets ; the eggs range from two to four in num- 
ber and are pale greenish blue, unmarked. Size 1.10 x .75. 
713. Cactus Wren. Heleodytes brunnei- 
capillus couesi. 
Range. — Southwestern United States from 
Texas to eastern California; north to southern 
Nevada and Utah. 
This species is the largest of the Wrens, be 
ing 8.5 inches in length. They are very com- 
mon in cactus and chaparrel districts, where 
they nest at low elevations in bushes or cacti, 
making large purse-shaped structures of 
grasses and thorny twigs, lined with feathers 
and with a small entrance at 
one end. They raise two or 
three broods a year, the first 
set of eggs being laid early in 
April; the eggs are creamy 
white, dotted, so thickly as to 
obscure the ground color, with 
pale reddish brown. Size .95 
x .65. Data. — Placentia, Cal., 
Nest in cactus about 6 feet from the ground; 
made of grasses and lined with feathers and rab- 
bit fur ; nest 8 inches in diameter, 18 inches long. 
Creamy white 
April 15, 1901. 
423 
Cactus Wren 
