438 
WRENS, THRASHERS, ETC. 
1'. Under parts with dark markings. 
2. Strikingly marked with blackish. 
3. Upper parts deep rufous .rufum, p. 438. 
3'. Upper parts washed with golden brown . . . sennetti, p. 438. 
2'. Faintly marked with dusky. 
3. Under mandible yellowish at base. bendirei, p. 439. 
3'. Under mandible blackish at base. 
4. Wings barred and tail strikingly tipped with white. 
curvirostre, p. 439. 
4'. Wings plain or obsoletely barred, and tail only indistinctly tipped 
with lighter. palmeri, p. 439. 
Subgenus Toxostoma. 
Tarsus longer than exposed culmen. 
705. Toxostoma rufum (Linn.). Brown Thrasher. 
Adults. — Upper parts reddish broivn; wings with two white bars ; under 
parts buffy white, spotted with 
brown. Young: spots on under 
parts thicker, blackish ; rump 
golden brown; spotting on wing 
coverts fawn color. Length : 10.50- 
12.00, wing 4.10-4.60, tail 5.00- 
5.75, exposed culmen .90-1.10. 
Distribution. — Breeds from Can¬ 
ada to Gulf of Mexico and from the 
Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains. 
Nest. — In thorny trees, vines, or 
bushes, a coarse, bulky structure of 
From Biological Survey, U. 8. Dept, of Agriculture, sticks, rootlets, leaves, and weed 
Fig. 560. stems, lined with rootlets and horse¬ 
hair. Eggs: 3 to 5, buffy, or tinged with green, minutely spotted with 
reddish brown, this sometimes becoming the prevailing color. 
Food. — Beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, bugs, and spiders; small 
fruits and seeds. 
The eastern brown thrasher is a fairly common resident of the Colo¬ 
rado plains, breeding as high as 7500 feet. 
706. Toxostoma longirostre sennetti ( Ridgw .). Sennett 
Thrasher. 
Upper parts golden brown , with two whitish wing bars ; under parts white, 
breast and sides with black wedge- 
shaped or tear-shaped marks; bill 
curved from base. Length: 10.50- 
12.00, wing 3.80-4.20, tail 4.80-5.45, 
F,g561 - bill 1.05-1.28. 
Distribution. — Breeds in Lower Sonoran zone in southern Texas from 
Corpus Christi and Laredo south to northeastern Mexico. 
Nest. — In bushes or thickets, made of sticks, vines, and sometimes 
straws, lined with rootlets. Eggs: 3 or 4, whitish to greenish, closely 
dotted with reddish brown, often most heavily around larger end. 
Food. — Insects and larvse, and berries. 
The Sennett thrasher occurs with curvirostre in southern Texas, 
