A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 1 of 3Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Science
A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 1 of 3
Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Birds -- North America
There are some variations, both of color and proportions, between
eastern and western specimens of the Robin. In the latter there is a
tendency to a longer tail, though the difference is not marked; and,
as a rule, they slightly exceed eastern specimens in size. The broad
white tip to the lateral tail-feather—so conspicuous a mark of
eastern birds—is scarcely to be found at all in any western ones; and
in the latter the black of the head is very sharply defined against
the lighter, clearer ash of the back, there hardly ever being a
tendency in it to continue backward in the form of central spots to
the feathers, as is almost constantly seen in eastern examples; of
western specimens, the rufous, too, is appreciably lighter than in
eastern. As regards the streaks on the throat, the black or the white
may either largely predominate in specimens from one locality.
In autumn and winter each rufous feather beneath is bordered by a more
or less conspicuous crescent of white; in addition to this, most of
the lighter individuals (♀?), at this season, have an ashy suffusion
over the breast and flanks; and this, we have observed, is more
general and more noticeable in western than in eastern specimens. In
fall and winter the color of the bill, too, changes, becoming at this
season either partially or wholly dusky, instead of almost entirely
yellow, as seen in spring and summer examples.
Mexican specimens, found breeding in the Alpine regions as far south
as Orizaba and Mirador, most resemble the western series; one, however
(No. 38,120 ♂, Orizaba), but in the autumnal plumage, and therefore
very possibly a migrant from the North, is hardly distinguishable from
No. 32,206, Georgia; it is about identical in proportions, and the
rufous is of a castaneous shade, like the deepest colored eastern
examples; the white tip to the outer tail-feather is as broad and
conspicuous as is ever seen in the latter.
HABITS. Scarcely any American bird has a wider range of geographical
distribution, or is more numerous wherever found, than this thrush.
From Greenland on the extreme northeast to the plateau of Mexico, and
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the Robin is everywhere a very
abundant species. Single specimens have been obtained as far south as
Coban, Guatemala. Its distribution in the breeding season is hardly
less restricted, occurring alike on the shores of the Arctic Seas and
on the high lands of Vera Cruz. In the winter months it is most
abundant in the Southern States, while in the Middle and even the
Northern States, in favorable localities, it may be found throughout
the year; its migrations being influenced more by the question of food
than of climate. In the valleys among the White Mountains, where snow
covers the ground from October to June, and where the cold reaches the
freezing-point of mercury, flocks of the Robin remain during the
entire winter, attracted by the abundance of berries.
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