♂ (No. 8,128, “New Mexico” = Arizona, Dr. Heermann): wing, 4.30; tail, 5.00; bill (from nostril), 1.00; tarsus, 1.30; middle toe (without claw), 1.00. ♀(49,723, Camp Grant, Tucson, Arizona, March 12, 1867; Dr. E. Palmer; with eggs): wing, 4.15; tail, 4.85; bill, .95; tarsus, 1.25; middle toe, .90.
Hab. Eastern Arizona (Tucson).
This very curious race seems to unite the characters of curvirostris and lecontei; in fact, it is so exactly intermediate between the two, that we are almost in doubt as to which it is most nearly related. Having the stout form and larger size, as well as the spots on the abdomen, of the former, it has also the uniform colors and general appearance of lecontei. Were it not that the nest and eggs, with the parent accompanying, had been received from Dr. Palmer, we might be tempted to consider it a hybrid between these two species, its habitat being exactly between them, too. We have great pleasure in dedicating this curious form to Dr. Edward Palmer, who has added very much to our knowledge of the Natural History of the interesting region where the present bird is found.
Description of nest and eggs.—(13,311, Camp Grant, Arizona; Dr. E. Palmer). Nest very bulky,—9 inches in height by 6 in width. Very elaborately constructed. The true nest, of symmetrical form, and composed of thin grass-stalks and flax-like fibres, is enclosed in an outer case of thorny sticks, thinly but strongly put together. This inner nest has a deep cavity measuring 4 inches in diameter by 3 in depth.
Eggs (two in number) measure 1.16 by .85; in shape exactly like those of C. curvirostris; pale blue (deeper than in curvirostris), rather thinly sprinkled with minute, but distinct dots of pale sepia-brown. Markings more distinct than those of curvirostris. R. R.
The nest was situated in a cactus-bush, four and a half feet above the ground.
Dr. Palmer remembers nothing special concerning its habits, except that the bird was very shy, and kept much on the ground, where it was seen running beneath the bushes.
Toxostoma lecontei, Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, Sept. 1851, 109 (Fort Yuma). Harporhynchus lecontei, Bonap. C. R. XXVIII, 1854, 57.—Ib. Notes Delattre, 39.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 350, pl. 1; Ib. Review, 47.—Cooper, Birds Cal. 1, 17.
Sp. Char. Bill much curved. Second quill about equal to the tenth; exposed portion of the first more than half the longest; outer tail-feather an inch shortest. General color above light grayish-ash, beneath much paler; the chin and throat above almost white; the sides behind brownish-yellow or pale rusty-yellow ash, of which color is the crissum and anal region. Tail-feathers rather dark brown on the under surface, lighter above; the outer edges and tips of exterior ones obscurely paler. Quills nearly like the back.
Hab. Gila River; Fort Yuma; Fort Mojave.
Since the description of the type, a second specimen (40,718 ♂, Fort Mojave, 20 miles from Colorado River, Sept. 30, 1865) has been obtained by Dr. Coues. This skin differs slightly from the type in size, being somewhat larger, measuring, wing 3.90, tail 5.30, bill (from nostril) 1.05; while the other measures, wing 3.70, tail 4.70, bill .98. This difference in size very probably represents that between the sexes, the type most likely being a female, though the sex is not stated. Owing to the different seasons in which the two specimens were obtained, they differ somewhat in plumage also. Dr. Coues’s specimen is somewhat the darker, and the plumage has a softer, more blended aspect, and a more ashy tinge of color; the ochraceous of the crissal region is also slightly deeper. No other differences are appreciable.
Habits. Leconte’s Thrasher is a new and comparatively little known species. A single specimen was obtained by Dr. Leconte near Fort Yuma, and described by Mr. Lawrence in 1851, and remained unique for many years. In 1861 Dr. Cooper presented a paper to the California Academy of Sciences, in which this bird is given among a list of those new to that State. He then mentions that he found it common about the Mojave River, and that he procured two specimens.
Dr. Coues, in his valuable paper on the birds of Arizona, speaks of obtaining, in 1865, a specimen of this rare species on a dry plain covered thickly with mesquite and cactus, near Fort Mojave. This bird was very shy and restless, fluttered hurriedly from one cactus to another, until he at last shot it where it seemed to fancy itself hidden among the thick fronds of a large yucca. Its large stout feet admirably adapt it for its partially terrestrial life, and it apparently spends much of its life upon the ground, where it runs rapidly and easily. Its flight he describes as swift but desultory, and accompanied by a constant flirting of the tail. He considers this species as inhabiting the whole valley of the Colorado and Gila, and thinks that it does not leave the vicinity of these streams for the mountains.
Dr. Cooper found a nest of this species, but without eggs, built in a yucca, and similar to that of H. redivivus. In his Report on the Birds of California, Dr. Cooper speaks of finding this bird common on the deserts, along the route between the Colorado Valley, wherever there was a thicket of low bushes surrounded by sand-hills. Its notes, habits, and general appearance were like those of H. redivivus.
Harpes rediviva, Gambel, Pr. A. N. S. II, Aug. 1845, 264. Toxostoma rediviva, Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. 2d ser. I, 1847, 42.—Cassin, Illust. I, 1855, 260, pl. xlii. Harporhynchus redivivus, Cabanis, Archiv Naturg. 1848, 98.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 349; Rev. 48.—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1859, 339.—Cooper, Birds Cal. 1, 15.
Sp. Char. Wing much rounded; the second quill shorter than the secondaries. Tail much graduated. Bill much decurved, longer than the head. Above brownish-olive, without any shade of green; beneath pale cinnamon, lightest on the throat, deepening gradually into a brownish-rufous on the under tail-coverts. The fore part of the breast and sides of the body brown-olive, lighter than the back. An obscure ashy superciliary stripe, and another lighter beneath the eye. Ear-coverts and an indistinct maxillary stripe dark brown; the shafts of the former whitish. Ends and tips of tail-feathers obsoletely paler. Length, 11.50 inches; wing, 4.20; tail, 5.75; tarsus, 1.55.
Hab. Coast region of California.
Habits. The California Thrasher appears to have a somewhat restricted distribution, being confined to the coast region of California, where, however, it is quite abundant. It was first met with by Dr. Gambel, near Monterey. The specimens were obtained on the ground where they were searching for coleopterous insects. Dr. Heermann afterwards found this bird abundant in the southern part of California. It was difficult of approach, diving into the thick bushes, running some distance on the ground, and becoming afterwards unapproachable. He speaks of its song as a flood of melody equalled only by the song of the Mocking-Bird (Mimus polyglottus). Colonel McCall also describes its song as of exquisite sweetness, “placing it almost beyond rivalry among the countless songsters that enliven the woods of America.” He also states that it is as retiring and simple in its manners as it is brilliant in song.
In the character of its flight it is said to strongly resemble the Brown Thrasher (H. rufus) of the Eastern States. Their harsh, scolding notes, when their nest is approached, their motions and attitudes, are all very similar to those of H. rufus under like circumstances. Colonel McCall ranks the song of this species as far superior to that of any other Thrush. Without possessing the powerful voice or imitative faculties of the Mocking-Bird, its notes are described as having a liquid mellowness of tone, with a clearness of expression and volubility of utterance that cannot be surpassed.
A nest of this bird found by Dr. Heermann was composed of coarse twigs, and lined with slender roots, and not very carefully constructed. Mr. Hepburn writes that a nest found by him was in a thick bush about five feet from the ground. It was a very untidy affair, a mere platform of sticks, almost as carelessly put together as that of a pigeon, in which, though not in the centre, was a shallow depression about 4 inches in diameter, lined with fine roots and grass. It contained two eggs with a blue ground thickly covered with soot-colored spots confluent at the larger end, and in coloring not unlike those of the Turdus ustulatus. The eggs measured 1.19 inches by .81 of an inch. Dr. Cooper