6. Harporhynchus bendirei Coues. Bendire’s Thrasher.—Mr. Stephens’ notes contain few references to this species, and judging from the limited number of specimens which he obtained, it must be less abundant in Arizona than either H. crissalis or H. curvirostris palmeri, a status which is in strict accordance with Mr. Henshaw’s experience. About half of the skins collected during the past season are labeled either Camp Lowell or Tucson, while the remainder were taken at various points directly north or south of the latter place, and not over twenty-five miles distant in either direction. Outside the limits of this desert region the bird was not anywhere met with, although it was common at Phœnix in February, 1880.
A nest taken June 16 near Tucson, and identified by the capture of one of the parent birds, was placed in a “cat-claw mesquite” at a height of about five feet from the ground. It is a deeply-hollowed, smoothly-lined structure, composed of fine grasses and soft, hemp-like vegetable fibres, which are protected externally, in a manner common to the nests of nearly all Thrashers, by a bristling array of interlaced twigs and thorny sticks. The interior cup measures two inches in depth by three in width. The two eggs which it contained, like those described by Dr. Coues, are readily separable from eggs of H. palmeri by their grayish-white instead of dull green ground-color. They are faintly marked with reddish-brown and lavender, the spots being confined chiefly to the larger ends, where many of them assume the character of blotches or dashes of color. These eggs measure respectively 1.02 × .79 and .96 × .79. The greatest number of eggs found in any of the several nests examined by Mr. Stephens was three, but two seemed to be the usual complement.
Of the birds before me four are in first plumage, a stage which, if I am not mistaken, has never been previously examined. The first of these (No. 426, twenty-five miles south of Tucson, May 22) was unable to fly, and was taken from the nest. It differs from the adult in the following particulars: The upper parts, with nearly the same ground-color, have a tinge of reddish-brown which, on the rump, wing-coverts, and tips and outer webs of the primaries and secondaries, shades into brownish-chestnut. The sprouting rectrices are also tipped with the same color. The under parts generally are warm fulvous, which becomes nearly pure cinnamon on the sides and crissum, and along the median line pales to fulvous-white. The breast and abdomen are everywhere thickly but finely spotted with dull black, these markings becoming finer and fainter where they border on the anal region. The remaining three (Nos. 538, ♀; 539, —; and 540, ♂: twenty-five miles north of Tucson, June 16) have the wings fully developed, and were all out of the nests when shot. They are apparently of about the same respective ages, but nevertheless exhibit a good deal of individual variation. No. 538 has the breast and sides finely spotted with dark brown, but a central space extending forward along the abdomen nearly to the breast is entirely unmarked. No. 535 has large, rounded, but indistinct blotches of light brown, thickly and evenly distributed over the entire under parts, excepting the throat, anal region and crissum. No. 539 has a cluster of faint, sagittate spots on the centre of the breast, but otherwise is entirely immaculate beneath. All three are essentially similar above, and differ from No. 426 in having the crown, nape, back, wing-coverts and outer webs of the secondaries pale reddish-brown, which, on the rump, is only tinged with chestnut. The primaries are dark brown edged with hoary; the rectrices, dull black with a terminal band of pale reddish-chestnut crossing both webs of all the feathers, but most broadly those of the outer pairs.
The adults making up the rest of this series vary a good deal with the season at which they were taken. A specimen killed in February is clear grayish-brown above, with the breast and abdomen thickly spotted; and one or two others shot early in May are nearly as deeply colored and distinctly marked. But most of the breeding birds are either entirely immaculate beneath, or with only a few faint specks scattered here and there upon the abdomen. Several of the latter are nearly as pale as my specimens of H. lecontei, and equally devoid of any special markings. This condition apparently is due mainly to the wearing off of the tips of the feathers, although the continued action of the sun’s rays doubtless lends its aid, and still further bleaches the plumage.
453, ♂ ad., Camp Lowell, May 30. Length, 10.30; extent, 13.30.
4987, (author’s coll.) ♂ ad., Tucson, Feb. 28, 1880. Wing, 4.25; tail, 4.84; culmen (chord), .99.
423, ♂ ad., twenty-five miles south of Tucson, May 21. Length, 10.40; extent, 14.20; wing, 4.30; tail, 4.92; culmen, 1.06.
425, ♂ ad., same locality, May 22. Length, 10.30; extent, 13.10; wing, 4.01; tail, 4.96; culmen, 1.05.
455, ♂ ad., Camp Lowell, May 30. Length, 10.18; extent, 13.30; wing, 4.20; tail, 4.96; culmen, 1.05.
537, ♂ ad., twenty-five miles north of Tucson, June 16. Length, 10.10; extent, 12.70; wing, 4.14; tail, 4.78; culmen, 1.01.