16 HISTORY OF THE VARIED THRUSH 



of Sir Joseph Banks, and were described both by Latham and 

 by Pennant; the latter also giving a figure of the male. 

 "Varied Thrash" and "Spotted Thrush" were the names 

 bestowed by these writers, upon whose accounts Gmelin, in 

 1788, based his Turdus naevius. In 1831, Swainson figured and 

 accurately described the species under the name of Orpheus 

 meruloides, given, however, in opposition to the prime rule of 

 nomenclature, for no better reason than that such designation 

 appeared to him to be more expressive. These two terms are 

 the only ones to be found in current quotations ; a third, how- 

 ever, is to be added ; for Pallas received from Kodiak, through 

 his friend Billings, specimens of the same species, to which he 

 applied the name of Turdus auroreus. That he had no other 

 bird in view will be evident upon consideration of the descrip- 

 tion given in the Zoographia liosso-Asiatica ; all the terms of 

 that account being in strictness applicable to the female or 

 immature male, in which the black pectoral collar is incom- 

 plete. 



Neither of the earlier authors mentioned gave any account of 

 the bird's habits. Pallas merely remarks that it was often 

 killed on the island of Kodiak, where it remains all winter ; 

 that it begins to sing late in March, nests on the ground among 

 bushes, and lays four or five eggs. Sir John Eichardson's speci- 

 men, figured in the Fauna Boreali-Americana, was procured 

 at Port Franklin, latitude 65° 30', in the spring of 1826. The 

 bird is said by this author to nest in bushes, like the common 

 Eobin, but no further information is given. Two American 

 naturalists, Thomas Nuttall and J. K. Townsend, gave the 

 next glimpses of the life of this bird. Mr. Nuttall observed 

 that it reached the Columbia Eiver in October, and remained 

 in some numbers through the winter ; " at this time," says he, 

 " they flit through the forest in small flocks, frequenting 

 usually low trees, on which they perch in perfect silence, and 

 are at times very timorous and difficult of approach, having all 

 the shy sagacit^^ of the Kobin." Mr. Townsend's notice is to a 

 similar effect ; but, in addition, he states that the voice of the 

 bird is different from that of the Eobin, being louder, sharper, 

 and quicker, and alludes to a pleasant song which the bird 

 utters in the spring, just before it sets out on its northern 

 journey. Audubon's account is almost entirely made up of 

 quotations from the three authors last mentioned. 



In Oregon and Washington Territories, Drs. Cooper and 



