ARCTIC BLUE-BIRD. 573 



CAT-BIRD. (Turdus felivox, Bonap. Orpheus felivox, 



SWAINSON.) 



This familiar bird extends its summer residence in the fur coun- 

 tries to the 54th parallel of latitude ; and though flocks proceed in 

 the winter as far south as the Gulph of Mexico, yet many winter 

 also in the sheltered swamps of North and South Carolina, where I 

 have seen them abundant in January. It does not arrive on the 

 banks of the Saskatchewan before the close of May. 



ARCTIC BLUE-BIRD. 



f^iaZia arciica J Nobis. Erythaca arctica, Swai>sox, North, Zool. ii. 



p. 209. pi. 39.) 



Sp. Charact. — Ultramarine-blue; beneath greenish-blue, and 

 whitish on the lower part of the belly and under tail coverts. 



Of this very beautiful and distinct species, only a single 

 specimen was procured by the Arctic Expedition, and this 

 was shot at Fort Franklin, near Great Bear Lake in latitude 

 64i°, July, 1825. It appeared to be a mere summer strag- 

 gler, and nothing was learnt respecting its habits. It is in 

 all probability a Mexican bird. 



Length 7 inches 9 lines ; tail 2 inches 9 lines ; the bill from the 

 rictus 8 lines, from above, 6 lines : tarsus 10 lines; middle too 7^. — 

 Above ultramarine-blue : the webs of the tertiaries, and the tips and 

 inner margins of the quill and tail feathers dull uraber-brown. The 

 base of tlie plumage blackish-grey. — Cheeks, throat, breast, and 

 insides of the wings greenish-bine, fading on the abdomen to grey- 

 ish-white. Vent and under tail coverts white. Tail beneath, and 

 insides of the quill feathers clove-brown, with a strong tinge of blue. 

 Bill and feet pitch-black. — Bill narrower at base than in the common 

 Blue-Bird, also longer, straighter, more faintly notched and less bent 

 at the tip of the upper mandible : its breadth is equal to its depth. 

 Wings I of an inch shorter than the tail, 2d quill longest ; the 1st 

 and 3d equal. Tail deeply emarginated, the central feathers being 

 more than half an inch shorter than the exterior ones. 



