this, wherever a bunch of dwarf willows will give it shelter, to the very shores of the Arctic
and Bering Seas. There is no record of T. mainsoni from the coast-region of south-eastern
Alaska, nor from the islands of Bering Sea, nor is it likely to occur in the latter portion of the
Territory, owing to its preference for a wooded region. Both species breed together throughout,
perhaps, the entire course of: the Yukon, but on the lower portion of the river T. alicias is
far more numerous.” There is no specimen of T. mainsoni in Mr. Nelson’s series of Alaskan
skins in the Henshaw Collection.
He further observes:—“ On the coast of Bering Sea, where the Grey-cheeked Thrush
(T. alicias) is abundant, this species is very rare or does not occur at all. In the interior,
however, it appears to increase in numbers as the distance from the sea-coast increases. Among
a considerable series of Thrushes secured, there are but two specimens of this bird, one of which
is from Nulato and the other from Anvik, both on the Yukon, several hundred miles from its
mouth. Dali speaks of this as a common bird, breeding all along the Yukon to the sea-coast,
but he evidently referred to the Grey-cheeked Thrush, which is abundant along the Lower Yukon;
whereas T. mainsoni is comparatively rare, as shown by its rarity in the collections brought
me by the fur-traders and natives from various parts of the Territory, and from the fact that
I did not find it at the mouth of the Yukon during the spring of 1879. Among my_ series
of T. ahcim are a number having a distinct buff shade on the breast and upon the sides of the
neck, thus resembling T. mainsoni; and it would not be surprising to find occasional cases'
of crossing, since the two occupy the same territory in many places. T. mainsoni has been
found to be a common breeding species on the Upper Yukon, whence eggs have been sent to'
the Smithsonian Institution from several points, including Fort Yukon. I have seen a specimen
from Anvik, which is my lowest record on the Yukon.”
A specimen collected by J. K. Lord in British Columbia is in the British Museum, and
Mr. Rhoads records the species as occurring in that Territory in spring and summer (Auk, x .-
p. 16). Blakiston met with it on the Saskatchewan (Ibis, 1862, p. 4) and at Fort Carlton (Ibis,
186o, p. 58), and Mr. Thompson states that it is a common summer resident in Manitoba,
arriving about the 12th of May. Messrs. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway observe that, numbers of
specimens of this Thrush have been received by the Smithsonian Institution from the Great Slave
Lake.
In Ontario, Dr. McDwraith regards the Olive-backed Thrush as a' spring and fall migrant,
but Dr. C. Hart Merriam found it breeding at Point de Monts in the Province of Quebec (Bull.
Nutt. Orn. Club, vn. p. 234). On the Upper St. John River, Mr. Bhtchelder records it as common
at Grand Falls and Fort Fairfield, and he found it nesting near Houlton (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club,
vii. p. 108). It is very abundant in summer on Prince Edward Island, according to Mr. Dwight
(Auk, X. p . 14), and it was also observed in summer by Mr. F. H. Allen in the Bras d'Or region
on Cape Breton Island (Auk, viii. p. 165). Dr. Bishop has likewise found the species breeding
on the Magdalen Islands (Auk, vi. p. 149).
Mr. Verrill reports it as very common on Anticosti (Proc. Bost. Soc. N. H. ix. p. 187)* and
Mr. Brewster also met with it at Fox Bay on the same island in July (op. cit. xxii. p. 369).
Specimens were obtained on the 13th of June and in July I860, at Rupert House, on James Bay,
by Drexler (cf. Turner, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. viii. p. 235).
In Mr. Steam’s ‘ New England Bird Life ’ (i. p. 57), edited by Prof. Elliott Coues, the following
note is given. The range of the Olive-backed Thrush in New England is closely coincident with
that of the Hermit. Like the latter, it breeds in the Canadian, and is a migrant in the Alleghanian
Fauna. It is rather less abundant than the Hermit, especially during the migrations, in most
localities; moreover, it arrives rather later in the spring, and does not linger so long in the
autumn. Entering Connecticut early in May, it passes on to the Canadian Fauna during that
month; a few doubtless breed in elevated portions of Massachusetts, but the majority go farther
north. Leaving its breeding-grounds early in September, it is commonly seen in southern New
England during that month and about half of October, generally in small, straggling companies,
which flit secretly through the woods and shrubbery, or ramble quietly over the ground among
fellen leaves. In some parts of Maine and New Hampshire it is the commonest Thrush, except the
Robin, during the breeding-season.” Mr. Bicknell (Journ. Linn. Soc. New York, i. pp. 141, 142)
has recorded it as breeding on the Slide Mountains in New York, and Dr. C. Hart Merriam in
the Eastern Adirondacks (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, vi. p. 226). On the White Mountains in New
Hampshire it is common at the higher levels, according to Messrs. Faxon and Allen (Auk, v. p. 153),
and Dr. Chadbourne noticed it as plentiful in the same locality up to 3000 feet (Auk, iv. p. 107).
Dr. Warren believes that the present species breeds occasionally on the higher mountains
of Pennsylvania, but the only actual record for the State seems to be that of Mr. Dwight (Auk,
ix. p. 140). He found it only on North Mountain in the Pennsylvanian Alleghanies, but quite
abundant there in summer.
Mr. White found the Olive-backed Thrush to be a common summer resident on Mackinac
Island in Northern Michigan (Auk, x. p. 229), and in Minnesota Dr. Hatch states that it arrives
late in April or in the early part of May; it is abundant for a short time, but moves northward
then, only a few comparatively remaining to breed, and those principally in the northern counties
of the State (B. Minnesota, p. 439). In S.E. Dakota, Mr. Agersborg only notes the species as
a migrant, arriving the last week in April and returning in October (Auk, ii. p. 277). Prof. Elliott
Coues (Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv. iv. p. 550) thinks that, like the Hermit-Thrush, this species may
breed in the Rocky Mountains near Chief Mountain Lake. “ It was only observed, however,
in September, during the general autumnal migration, in the slight fringe of trees along the
stream where I was collecting at the time. In a country so nearly treeless as is the tract lying
between the Red River and the Rocky Mountains, the slightest pieces of woodland are eagerly
sought by all the migrants as stopping-places for food and rest. Though at other seasons
tenanted by few species, they become populous in the fall by the presence of great numbers of
small insectivorous and granivorous species, among which the Turdidce, Sylvicolidae, and Fringillidce
are conspicuous.”
At Fort Keogh, in Montana, Mr. Thome (Auk, xii. p. 219) records the present species as
abundant in spring, but rare in the fall of the year. Messrs. Richmond and Knowlton procured
young birds on the 27th of July at Mystic Lake (Auk, xi. p. 308), and Mr. Williams found
the species breeding at Belt River Canon (Auk, vii. p. 292). Dr. Merriam mentions the finding
of a nest in Teton Basin, in Idaho, in July 1S72 (N. Amer. Fauna, no.- 5, p. 108). In the
Colorado Valley it was only noticed as a migrant by Mr. Henshaw (Rep. 100th Merid. p. 147),
but it also breeds in the State, as Mr. Minot (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, v. p. 224) says that it is a
common summer resident above 8000 feet, and he found it on Pike’s Peak from 9500 feet to
10,500 feet.
Mr. Ridgway, in his report on the Ornithology of the 40th Parallel (p. 397), writes as
follows:—“ After leaving the Sierra Nevada, not a single individual of any of the smaller Thrushes
was met with until we arrived at the East Humboldt Mountains in eastern Nevada, where the
Olive-backed Thrush was encountered in considerable numbers, in the eastern canons of that
range. It was during the season of their southward migration, and it is uncertain whether they
came from the northward, or whether they had bred in the canons where they were observed.
During the ensuing spring and summer they were found in still greater abundance among
the Wahsatch Mountains, on the opposite side of the Salt Lake Basin, in the thickets bordering
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