17() EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



inhabits the eastern half of the North American Continent, breed- 

 ing as far north as Labrador, and as far south as Georgia and 

 Texas. In winter it is found in Mexico, Central America, some 

 of the West Indian Islands, and the northern portions of South 

 America. 



The habits of this bird differ little from those of the Yellow- 

 billed Cuckoo, and, like the last-named species, it builds its own 

 nest. 



The eggs of the Black-billed Cuckoo vary in length from 1'15 

 to 1'05 inch, and in breadth from 0'9 to 0'8 inch, and are on an 

 average smaller than those of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo ; but small 

 eggs of the latter are indistinguishable from large eggs of the 

 former. 



THE FAMILY PASSERIDsE, 

 OB SINGING BIRDS. 



Of these there are one hundred and forty species, of which fifty 

 are resident and fifty migrants, while forty are occasional or rare 

 visitors. 



WHITE'S GROUND THRUSH. 

 (GeocicJUa varia.)* 



Plate 50, Fig. 1. 



This handsome bird has occurred in the British Islands at least 

 a dozen times. It winters in South Japan, South-west China, 

 and the Philippine Islands, occasionally straying as far west as 

 Sumatra. 



A nest of this species was obtained by Swinhoe near Ningpo, 

 and is now in my collection. It was built on a fork on a hori- 

 zontal pine-branch, and is about two-and-a-half inches deep inside 

 and about four inches outside, seven inches in outer, and four-and- 

 a-half inches in inner, diameter. The outside is composed of 

 withered rushes, fine and coarse grass, and moss, with an occa- 

 sional twig and withered leaf, and plastered most copiously with 

 mud. Here and there are a few pieces of some green weed, 

 apparently conveyed in the mud from the swamps. The inside 

 is lined with a thick coating of mud, like the nests of our own 



* Turdus varius — Saunders, Manual, p. 11. Ortoachla varia — Sharpe, Handb., I., p. 213. 



