MISSEL THRUSH. 115 



Male. — The Missel Thrush, which is the largest European 

 bird of the genus, differs little in form from the species already 

 described, being however proportionally stouter, with the feet 

 and bill smaller, and the tail shorter. Its proportions are nearly 

 the same as those of the Song Thrush, which however it greatly 

 exceeds in size, and its style of colouring is similar. The body 

 is full, the neck rather short, the head of moderate size, the 

 wings long, the tail rather long, and the feet rather small. 



The bill is shortish, straight, slightly ascending, broader than 

 high at the base, compressed towards the end, acute ; the edges 

 sharp, direct, the upper overlapping a little, with a distinct 

 notch close to the tip ; the upper mandible has its outline 

 arcuato-declinate, the ridge rather narrow, the sides convex, 

 the tip narrow and rounded ; the lower mandible has the angle 

 of moderate length, rather narrow, rounded, the back flattened 

 at the base, narrow towards the end, the dorsal outline slightly 

 convex, the sides convex, the edges considerably inflected ; the 

 gape-line slightly arched. Both mandibles are internally deeply 

 concave, with a prominent median line ; the palate flat, with 

 two prominent lines ; the posterior aperture of the nares ob- 

 longo-linear. The tongue is slender, sagittate with longish pa- 

 pillae at the base, its tip bristly and slit. The oesophagus is 

 four inches long, without dilatation, but rather wide, its ave- 

 rage diameter being about four-twelfths and a half The sto- 

 mach is a gizzard of moderate strength, irregularly oblong, 

 compressed, its muscles distinct, the right tendon largest, its 

 greatest diameter an inch and five -twelfths. The intestine is 

 nineteen inches long, its diameter in the duodenal portion five- 

 twelfths, afterwards contracting gradually to three-twelfths at 

 the coeca, which are cylindrical, three-twelfths long, and situ- 

 ated at the distance of an inch and a half from the anus. 



The eyes are of moderate size, their aperture being two- 

 twelfths and three-fourths. That of the ear is circular, and 

 three and a half twelfths in diameter. The legs are rather 

 slender, and of ordinary length ; the tarsus compressed, an- 

 teriorly covered with a long undivided plate, and four inferior 

 scutella, posteriorly with two long plates meeting at an acute 

 angle. The toes are of moderate size, the first with eight, tho 



