slope, and in the Yosemite Valley, on the west slope of the Sierra, in July and August. Mr. Stephens
found them common at Independence Creek, where a nest and four young were found at the edge of
the creek June 18-28, at Bishop Creek, where they were feeding on a red berry locally known as
buffalo berry, August 4-10, and at Menache Meadow, nearly to timber-line, May 24-26. They were
common also at Big Cottonwood and Whitney Meadows; among the pines above Walker Basin,
July 14; in the Sequoia National Park, among the pines and firs, and in the meadows, the first week
in August; at Horse Corral Meadows, August 9 -1 8 ; in Ring’s River Canon, August 13-16, and
near Mineral King, September 9-12. In the western foot-hills of the Sierra they were seen as early
as July 30 at Three Rivers, and Mr. Nelson found a few in the San Joaquin Valley, October 5-27,
reported them as common about San Luis Obispo, October 28 to November 4, and he found them
generally distributed along the route from San Simeon to Carpenteria and Santa Paula in November
and December.”
Mr. Beckham found the Robin abundant at Pueblo, Colorado, during the nesting-season (Auk,
ii. p. 140); and Mr. Drew, in his paper on the vertical range of birds in Colorado, gives the following
elevations for the present species :—10,000 feet in spring, 11,500 feet in summer, and 13,000 feet in
autumn (Auk, ii. p. 15). Mr. Goss has recorded it from Kansas in October, when he saw a small
flock (Auk, iii. p. 115).
In Arizona Mr. Meams says that it is an abundant summer resident from the beginning of
the pine-belt upwards, but does not occur below the pines in summer. It ranges high at times,
but is not common above the pine-zone, though, he found nests with young birds on the upper line of
the pine-timber on the 1st of June (Auk, vii. p. 264). Mr. W. E. D. Scott observes :—“ This form
of the Robin I found to be a regular fall, winter, and early spring resident in the Catalinas (altitude
3500 to 6000 feet). They arrive here in the fall about November 1, and are soon quite common in
small flocks or companies. All through the winter they are more or less common, but towards
spring their numbers seem to be very considerably increased, and they are quite common until late
in March, and are to be seen sparingly during the first week in April. 1 have frequently heard the
males beginning to sing before they left this point, and on one occasion a single Robin was noted
on May 5, 1885. I have observed the species in the pine-forests of the Catalinas in November, and
on the San Pedro River in January. They are, though regular visitors, much more abundant some
seasons than others, and were especially common during the winter of 1885-86 ” (Auk, v. p. 167).
Mr. Henshaw says that the present species is common in autumn in New Mexico (Auk, ii.
p. 330), and Mr. Stevens observes that it winters abundantly in that State, and that a few pass the
summer in the high mountains (Bull. Nutt. Om. Club, iii. p. 92).
In Texas the two races of the Robin occur in winter, as already noticed in the account of
T. migratorius. Mr. Lloyd says that T. propinguus is a rare bird in Conchp County in the autumn,
and a few winter in Tom Green County, but’it is abundant in winter to the west of the latter
(Auk, iv. p. 298). In South-eastern Texas it is said by Mr. Brown to be “ irregularly abundant ”
(Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, vi. p. 34).
The present species is fully represented by the series of Mexican specimens in the British
Museum, and it is evidently a resident in most parts of Mexico, breeding in the mountains and
receiving a large accession of numbers in the winter months. The following is a list of the localities
represented by the specimens now before m e :—Casa Colorada, Concepcion, March 7 ; Temosachio,
March 15 (W. Lloyd: Salvin-Godman Coll.). Ciudad Durango, July (A. Forrer: S.-G. Coll.).
Sierra of San Luis Potosi, July (W. M. Richardson: S.-G. Coll.). Sierra de Valparaiso, Zacatecas,
July to Sept., 8000 feet (W. B. B .: S.-G. Coll.). Real del Monte, Hidalgo, Oct. 21 (W. B. B . : S.-G.
Coll.). Rio Frio, Iztaccihuatl, Sept. 24 (W. B. B . : S.-G. Coll.). Sierra Nevada de Colima, Dec. to
April ( W'. B. B . : S.-G. Coll.). Sierra de Bolanos, Jalisco, Feb. to March (W. B. B . : S.-G. Coll.),
Sierra Madre de Nayarit, 7000-8000 feet, June 22 to July 19 ( W. B. B .: S.-G. Coll.). City of
Mexico (G. H. W h ite : S.-G. & Seebohm Colls.). Tlalpam, Jan. (F. D. Godmccn: S.-G. Coll.).
Mexicalcingo, Tlalpam, Jan. 24 (Ferrari-Perez: S.-G. Coll.). Hacienda de Esclava, Jan. 4; Tetelco,
Jan. 18; Coapa, March 18; Chimalpa, Dec. 7 (Ferrari-Perez: S.-G. Coll.). Las Vigas, Canton
Jalapa, July, Aug. (.Ferrari-Perez: S.-G. Coll.). Jalapa (Be Oca: S.-G. & Sclater Colls.). La Parada,
March (A. Boucard: S.-G. Coll.). Tonaguia, Oaxaca, Feb. (M. Trujillo: S.-G. Coll.). Coatepec,
Vera Cruz, July 12 (Ferrari-Perez: S.-G. Coll.). Cofre de Perote, Vera Cruz, Nov. (M. Trujillo:
S.-G..Coll.). Amecameca, Vera Cruz, April (F. B. Godman: S.-G. Coll.). Popocatepetl, 8000-
12,000 feet, April (F. B. Godman: S.-G. Coll.). Omilteme, Guerrero, 8000 feet, Aug. 2 (Mrs. E. H.
Smith: S.-G. Coll.). Amula, Guerrero, 6000 feet, Aug. (Mrs. H. H. Smith: S.-G. Coll.).
The young birds represented in the above series show that the species had bred at Amula,
Coatepec, Las Vigas in Jalapa, near the city of Mexico, and on the Sierra Madre de Nayarit.
According to Sumichrast, it is a resident species in the alpine region of the State of Vera Cruz, as he
found numbers of young birds in the mountains near Orizaba in July (Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. i.
p. 543). Mr. F. M. Chapman also found it nesting plentifully at Las Vigas in Vera Cruz in April,
and he says that here the nesting-season begins earlier than at Jalapa (Bull. Amer. Mus. x. p. 38).
It is probably this form which was procured at Cordova by Salle (Sclater, P. Z. S. 1856, p. 249).
The habits of the Western Robin so closely resemble those of its eastern representative that no
separate account of them is necessary.
Adult male. Similar to T. migratorius, but distinguished by the almost obsolete white markings
at the end of the outer tail-feathers, these tips being sometimes entirely absent. Total length
9 inches, culmen 0*9, wing 5-5, tail 3-8, tarsus 1*4.
Adult female. Similar to the male, but not so richly coloured. Total length 9‘5 inches,
culmen 0*95, wing 5*4, tail 3‘9, tarsus 1 ’3.
Winter plumage. Similar to that of T. migratorius: “ bill brownish black, more yellowish brown
along the. commissure and on the lower mandible; tarsi and toes brownish black; iris brown”
(B. Bidgway).
The specimens described are a male from Vancouver Island and a female from Ballina, in the
Salvin-Godman Collection. The right-hand figure on the first Plate is an adult bird in winter
plumage from the city of Mexico, and in the second Plate Mr. Seebohm has figured a young male
from Toronto, but without indicating the white tips to the outer tail-feathers, and the hinder figure
represents a young female from California in his Collection. [R. B. S.]