196 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



are yellower above (Plate 80, upper bird), and the head, back 

 and wings, especially the upper wing-coverts, are spotted with 

 huffish white. In this speckled dress it has been mistaken for 

 White's Thrush. Length, 11 ins. Wing, 6*2 ins. Tarsus, 

 I '3 ins. 



Song-Thrush. Turdtis ?jtusicns Linn. 



The British Song-Thrush (Plate 80) has been separated from 

 the Continental bird under the name T. in. clarkii Hart., it being 

 darker than the typical T. in. miisicus — more rufous and not so 

 olive. These colour distinctions are fine, and there is con- 

 siderable variation in our birds. I have examined ranges of the 

 two sub-species, but should hesitate to identify a bird in the 

 field. A still darker race, T, in. hebridensis Clarke, inhabits the 

 Outer Hebrides ; the breast spots in this form are very black. 

 Our bird is a common resident in most parts of the British 

 Isles. As large numbers emigrate in autumn and return early 

 in spring, it is also a summer resident. The Song-Thrush is 

 found throughout Europe, except in the south, and its range 

 extends into Siberia ; great numbers of Continental immigrants 

 arrive in September and October, some as winter visitors, others 

 as birds of passage towards winter quarters in southern Europe 

 and north Africa, and many of these have been recognised as 

 the Continental form, though it is reported that our bird nests in 

 Holland. Along our western shores and further inland there is 

 in spring and autumn a migratory movement of dark and appa- 

 rently small Song-Thrushes, but their destination is unknown. 

 I see these birds annually in Cheshire in small flocks ; in spring 

 they pass about the middle of March, in autumn, in September 

 and October. Mr. Gladstone reports them in autumn in Dum- 

 friesshire, and Mr. Aplin, at the end of January, found dark and 

 richly coloured birds wintering in the Lleyn fields. The 

 suggestion that these are the Hebridean form seems hardly 



