558 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
Nest. —In bushes, mesquite, mistletoe, palo verde, catsclaw, or cactus, small 
and compactly built for a thrasher, of sticks and grass lined with soft materials such 
as grass, horsehair, rootlets, wool, or feathers. Eggs: 3 or 4, clay-color, drab, or green¬ 
ish, spotted and blotched with pale reddish brown, generally heaviest about the 
larger end; sometimes grayish or pinkish white, spotted with salmon and lavender. 
General Habits. —Although the Bendire Thrasher, as Mr. Hen- 
shaw says, is a shy bird of the mesquite and cactus in fall and winter, 
skulking from cactus to cactus and from one clump of bushes to another, 
Mr. Gilman finds that in summer it takes kindly to civilization, coming 
fearlessly into yards and, if not molested, nesting near houses, on 
which it perches to sing. Its song is said to be greatly varied, and 
Mr. Gilman thinks it excels that of all the other Thrashers. 
CRISSAL THRASHER: Toxostoma criss&le Henry 
Plate 60 
Description .— Length: About 11.4-12.6 inches, wing 3.9-4.1, tail 4.S-6.4, bill 
1.2-1.5, tarsus 1.3. Bill long , sharply curved. Adults: Upperparts dark grayish 
brown; wings without bars, tail faintly tipped with rufous; throat and malar stripe 
white, in contrast to dark fawn or grayish underparts; under tail coverts dark rufous; 
iris brown or straw-color. Worn summer plumage more sandy than that of winter. 
Young: Like adults but slightly paler below. 
Range. Breeds in Sonoran deserts from southeastern California, Arizona, 
New Mexico, and western Texas south to Chihuahua, Sonora, and Lower California. 
State Records. The t} r pe specimen of the Crissal Thrasher was taken by Doc- 
f° r Henry at- Fort Thorn, 1 where it was found in December. [It is fairly common 
along the southern half of the Rio Grande. At Palomas Hot Springs, a nest was 
found May 24, 1916, with four well incubated eggs; and one, May 25, 1916, with 
three fresh eggs (Ligon).] It breeds at Mesilla Park (Merrill); Denning (Anthony); 
Silver City, 6,000 feet (Marsh); Big Hatchet Mountains, 4,800-5,500 feet (Goldman); 
at Dog Spring, 4,800 feet near the San Luis Mountains (Mearns); and at Carlisle, 
5,000 feet (Barrell). 
In the fall it was noted September 15-23, 1908, in Swan Canyon of the Burro 
Mountains; and was found rather common September 6-8, 1908, along the base of 
the Florida Mountains and up to 5,100 feet; was taken November 14, 1909, at Lake 
Valley, 5,000 feet, and October 28, 1909, at Las Palomas, 4,200 feet (Goldman); also 
November 8, 1902, at Tularosa, 4,400 feet (Gaut); and was seen November 5-6, 
1906, at Cactus Flat (Bailey)- 
The species winters regularly at Mesilla Park (Merrill), and either winters at 
Silver City or migrates very early, for it was seen there continuously in 1884, after 
February 9 (Marsh). [Specimens were taken on December 12, 1916, in Dona Ana 
County (Kellogg).] In brush lands bordering the Carlsbad Bird Reserve, it was 
noted during the winter of 1915-1916 [common in December, 1916 (Willett) ].— 
W. W. Cooke. 
tU NEST -- In mesquites - ,omill °s, and bushes, as “squaw-berry” and greasewood; 
rather shallow made of twigs and usually lined with fine rootlets, but sometimes 
horsehair, feathers, grass or bark. Eggs : 2 to 4, plain bluish green. 
1 Henry, T. C., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 10, 117-118, 1858. 
