THRUSHES, BLUEBIRDS: RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH 569 
feet, Judge Junius Henderson reported seeing a pair August 5, 1910, which he 
was told had raised a brood there that season; and in the willows at the mouth of 
Pueblo Creek, about 7,000 feet, July 17, 1904, the Baileys heard what they took 
to be salicicola singing. The species occurs regularly though rarely in Colorado, 
and the Colorado birds must pass in migration through New Mexico.—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —On or near the ground, made largely of leaves. Eggs: 4, greenish blue, 
very rarely with a few specks of brown. 
General Habits. —In Montana, the Willow Thrush keeps near 
water in thickets of willow, rose, or box-elder. Its notes are said to 
be the same as those of the eastern Veery, whose call is a rather plaintive 
whee-you , and whose song is described as a series of silver rings, or as 
Doctor Chapman gives it, “the syllables vee-r-r-hu repeated eight or 
nine times around a series of intertwining circles” (Handbook). 
RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH: Hylocichla ustul&ta ustulata (Nuttall) 
Description. — Length : G.9-7.6 inches, wing 3.6-4, tail 2.8-3.3, bill .5-.6, tarsus 
1 . 1 - 1 . 2 . Adults in spring and summer: Upperparts olive-brown , wings arid tail 
browner than back; buffy eye-ring distinct , sides of head tinged with tawny , throat and 
chest buff, chest with triangular olive-brown marks; lower underparts white, sides 
pale brown. Adults in fall and winter: Similar but more deeply or brighter colored, 
upperparts from olive-brown to russet brown; underparts more buffy. Young: 
Upperparts olive-brown, largely streaked or spotted with buff or tawny; wings with 
two buffy or tawny bars, underparts like adults, but markings generally distinctly 
transverse, sides and flanks, at least, barred with black. 
Range. —Breeds in Canadian and Transition Zones from Juneau, Alaska, to 
San Diego County, California; winters from Vera Cruz, Guatemala, and Costa 
Rica to eastern Ecuador and British Guiana. Migrates through western Arizona. 
Recorded from New Mexico and Missouri. 
State Records. —It would be supposed that the Olive-backed Thrush ( Hyloci¬ 
chla ustulata swainsoni) 1 would be the form of New Mexico, but the only specimen 
available proves to be the Russet-backed. It was taken May 3, 1892, along the 
southern boundary of the State, 100 miles west of the Rio Grande. It was, of course, 
a migrant on the way to its breeding grounds far to the northwest. 
It is probable that the Olive-backed will eventually be found in northern or 
northeastern New Mexico. It is a fairly common breeder in northern Colorado and 
a common migrant as far south as the Arkansas Valley. It was common in May, 
1905, at Springfield, Baca County, only a few miles from the New Mexico line, and 
one was seen June 6, 1907, near Vallecito, Colorado (Cary), which was probably 
nesting in that neighborhood and which had undoubtedly crossed New Mexico 
to reach its breeding grounds. 
In the report of the collections made in the Pecos mountains the statement is 
made that the Olive-backed Thrush was fairly common after its arrival September 
13, 1883 (Henshaw). Some mistake has undoubtedly been made in copying this 
record, for there was no specimen of the Olive-backed Thrush taken that year on 
the Pecos and the thrush that was obtained September 13 was the Rocky Mountain 
Hermit Thrush.—W. W. Cooke. 
Additional Literature. — Bailey, F. M., Condor, XIX, 48, 1917. 
1 The Olive-backed Thrush, while it has the buffy eye-ring and cheeks of the Russet-backed, has 
the back and tail uniform in color. 
