Wilson's thrush. 571 



beautiful productions of art, fail in producing that exhilera- 

 tion and joyous buoyancy of mind which we have experi- 

 enced in treading the wilds of Arctic America, when their 

 snowy covering has just been replaced by an infant but 

 vigorous vegetation." Richards. North. Zool. ii. p. 177. 



WILSON'S THRUSH. 



(Tardus Wilsonii, Bonap. Nutt. Man. Orn. i. p. 349. &c. Merula 

 minor, Swains. North. Zool. ii. p. 179. pi. 86. [very accurate].) 



It appears from Dr. Richardson, that this Thrush, so 

 common in New England, likewise extends its vernal mi^ra- 

 tions into the distant fur countries, making its appearance 

 on the banks of the Saskatchewan in the month of May. 

 That this is the species intended by the Prince of Musig- 

 nano for his T. Wilsonii, appears to us unquestionable, and 

 that it is also the long lost and disputed T. minor, appears 

 equally certain. But, as Mr. Swainson himself justly ac- 

 knowledges the necessity of some fixed nomenclature, es- 

 tablished either by good figures or passable and intelligible 

 descriptions, we retain for the present species, the name 

 imposed on it by Bonaparte, adding at the same time, the 

 additional distinctive phrase of Mr. S. ; — that the 2d, 3d, and 

 4th quills are longest, and the 2d, shorter than the 4th ; also 

 the bill from the angle of the mouth is 11 lines. 



We cannot call to mind any thing which suits the charac- 

 ter of Swainson's Merula Wilsonii, ("obscure olive-hTown ; 

 beneath whitish ; throat and hreast marked with dusky 

 spots ; " — and " the 2d quill equal to the 4th") except an 

 early spring visiter in dark w^oods, with a very shy and re- 

 tiring habit like that of the Hermit Thrush, and of which 

 we have no specimen. 



