_Turdus nævius_, GM. S. N. I, 1788, 817.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857, 4;
1859, 331.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 219; Rev. Am. B. 1864,
32.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. R. XII, II, 1859, 172.—COUES, Pr.
A. N. S. 1866, 65. (Quotes occurrence on Colorado River, above
Fort Mohave, as exceptional.)—MAYNARD (Massachusetts!).—TURNBULL
(N. Jersey!).—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—COOPER, Birds Cal. 10.
_Orpheus meruloides_, RICH. F. B. A. II, 1831, 187, pl. xxxviii.
Other figures: VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, pl. lxvi.—AUD.
Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, pl. ccclxix, and ccccxxxiii.—IB. Birds Am.
III, pl. cxliii.
SP. CHAR. Tail nearly even; the lateral feather shorter. Above, rather
dark bluish slate; under parts generally, a patch on the upper eyelids
continuous with a stripe behind it along the side of the head and
neck, the lower eyelids, two bands across the wing coverts and the
edges of the quills, in part, rufous orange-brown; middle of belly
white. Sides of the head and neck, continuous with a broad pectoral
transverse band, black. Most of tail feathers with a terminal patch of
brownish white. Bill black. Feet yellow. Female more olivaceous above;
the white of the abdomen more extended; the brown beneath paler; the
pectoral band obsolete. Length, 9.75 inches; wing, 5.00; tail, 3.90;
tarsus, 1.25.
_Young_ (45,897, Sitka, Aug. 1866; F. Bischoff). Exactly resembling
the adult female, _having no spots_ other than seen in the adult
plumage; but the pectoral collar is composed only of badly defined
blackish transverse crescents, and the upper parts anterior to the
rump are of an umber brown tint. The markings about the head and on
the wings are precisely as in the adult.
This species does not appear to be liable to any noticeable variation.
HAB. West coast of North America, from Behring Straits to California;
straggling to Great Bear Lake. Accidental on Long Island (Cab. G. N.
Lawrence), New Jersey (Cab. Dr. Samuel Cabot), and Ipswich, Mass.
(Cab. Boston Society Natural History); Iowa (ALLEN).
[Illustration: _Turdus nævius._]
HABITS. The accidental occurrence of a few specimens of this
well-marked bird in the Eastern States is its only claim to a place in
that fauna, it being strictly a western species, belonging to the
Pacific Coast. It was first discovered by the naturalists of Captain
Cook’s expedition, who met with it as far to the north as Nootka
Sound. It is only very recently that we have become possessed of
reliable information in regard to its breeding and its nest and eggs.
Sir John Richardson was informed that it nested in bushes in a manner
similar to that of the common robin.
Nuttall and Townsend found it abundant among the western slopes of the
Rocky Mountains, near the Columbia River, in October. In the winter it
became still more numerous, passing the season in that region as well
as in more southern localities, associating with the robin. From this
bird it may be readily distinguished by the difference of its notes,
which are louder, sharper, and delivered with greater rapidity. In the
spring, before leaving for their breeding-places, they are described
as having a very sweet warble.
On the Columbia River they were not resident, arriving there in
October, continuing throughout the winter, and leaving early in May.
During their stay they moved through the forest in small flocks,
frequenting low trees, and for the most part keeping perfect silence.
They were timorous and difficult of approach.
Its habits are said to resemble those of the robin, but in some of
them the descriptions given appear to correspond more with those of
the Fieldfares and Redwings of Europe. Like those species it is a
summer resident of high northern latitudes, affects secluded forests
and thickets bordering upon streams, and is found only in unfrequented
localities.
Dr. Cooper was of the opinion that a few of these thrushes remained in
Washington Territory throughout the summer, as he frequently met with
them in the dark spruce forests of that region as late as June and
July. He describes the song as consisting of five or six notes in a
minor key, and in a scale regularly descending. It was heard
continually throughout the summer, among the tops of the trees, but
only in the densest forests. Dr. Suckley states that after a fall of
snow they would be found along the sandy beaches near the salt water,
where they were both abundant and tame. We are indebted to Mr. W. H.
Dall for our first authentic knowledge of its nest and eggs. The
former measures 6 inches in diameter with a depth of 2½ inches. It has
but a very slight depression, apparently not more than half an inch in
depth. The original shape of the nest had, however, been somewhat
flattened in transportation. The materials of which it was composed
were fine dry mosses and lichens impacted together, intermingled with
fragments of dry stems of grasses.
A nest of this thrush obtained by Dr. Minor, in Alaska, is a much more
finished structure. Its base and periphery are composed of an
elaborate basket-work of slender twigs. Within these is an inner nest
consisting of an interweaving of fine dry grasses and long gray
lichens.
The eggs in size, shape, ground color, and markings are not
distinguishable from those of the _Turdus musicus_ of Europe. They
measure 1.13 inches in length by .80 in breadth, are of a light blue
with a greenish shading, almost exactly similar to the ground color of
the _T. migratorius_. They are very distinctly marked and spotted with
a dark umber-brown approaching almost to blackness.
Mr. Dall informs us that the nest found by him was built in a willow
bush, about two feet from the ground, and on the top of a large mass
of rubbish lodged there by some previous inundation. Other nests of
the same species were met with in several places between Fort Yukon
and Nulato, always on or near a river-bank and in low and secluded
localities.
They arrive at Nulato about May 15, and prefer the vicinity of water,
frequenting the banks of small streams in retired places. Mr. Dall
states that he has seen the male bird on a prostrate log near the
nest, singing with all his might, suddenly cease and run up and down
the log for a few minutes, strutting in a singular manner, then
stopping and singing again; and keeping up this curious performance.
Specimens were received from Sitka, Kodiak, Cook’s Inlet and Admiralty
Islands.