Western Bird Guide: Birds of the Rockies and West to the Pacific

by Charles K. Reed

TOWNSEND SOLITAIRE.

754. Myadestes townsendi. 9 inches.

Range.—From British Columbia to southern California, through the western United States. They nest at high altitudes among the mountain tops, placing their nest upon the ground, among the rocks along the mountain streams. They build a large, loosely constructed nest of roots and twigs, lined with pine needles and moss, in which they lay their four or five white eggs, spotted with shades of brown more about the larger end (.96 × .70).

WILLOW THRUSH.

756a. Hylocichla fuscescens salicicola. 7½ inches.

Range.—Western United States from British Columbia to southern California. It breeds and is quite abundant in the foothills and canyons of the mountain ranges. It is a western form of the common eastern “Veery,” and its breeding habits are the same, nesting in an old stump on or near the ground, making the nest of grasses and leaves, usually quite bulky. They lay four unspotted bluish green eggs (.90 × .65). Their song is peculiar and not as attractive as others of the Thrush family.

GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH.

757. Hylocichla alicæ. 7½ inches.

Range.—From British Columbia northward, and winters south to Mexico. Their nests are placed on or near the ground in a stump or tussock, usually in very moist places, and are composed largely of leaves and mosses. Their three or four eggs are a bluish green, spotted and blotched with reddish brown (.88 × .64).