SAXICOLIN.E. 57 



The Turdidce, or Chats, Robins, Thrushes, Dippers, and Accen- 

 tors, form a very large family of the Passereg. The only character 

 which links all the species together is the mottled or squamated 

 plumage of the nestling. In this character the Turdidce agree 

 with the Muscicapidce, bat they differ from this family in having 

 long or moderate tarsi and in having the nostrils and base of the 

 upper mandible quite free from all hairs. The only exception to 

 this latter feature appears to be in Zoothera, in which genus the 

 frontal hairs are developed and reach over the nostrils. The long 

 tarsus of the birds of this genus, however, will prevent them from 

 being confounded with any of the Flycatchers. In some few genera, 

 especially Buticitta and Pratincola, the shafts of the feathers of the 

 forehead are somewhat elongated and the webs disintegrated, but 

 these cannot be considered hairs nor do they lie over the nostrils 

 as is always the case with the Muscicapidcv. 



The Turdidce axe found over nearly the whole globe and their 

 migratory instincts are generally very strong. 



The Turdidce may be divided into five subfamilies, characterized 

 partly by habits and partly by structural characters. 



Tarsus smooth ; rictal bristles present ; habits 



Muscicapine, the insect-food captured 



by sallies from a fixed perch Scwicolince, p. 57. 



Tarsus smooth, with hardly an exception*; 



rictal bristles present : habits terrestrial, 



the insect-food captured on the ground. Buticillince, p. 81. 

 Tarsus smooth ; rictal bristles present : habits 



terrestrial and arboreal, the species being 



both insectivorous and frugivorous .... Turdince, p. 120. 

 Tarsus smooth ; rictal bristles absent : habits 



aquatic; eggs unspotted white Cinclince, p. 161. 



Tarsus scutellated ; rictal bristles present : 



habits terrestrial ; eggs unspotted blue. . Accentorince,j>. 165. 



Subfamily SAXICOLIN^. 



The Sancicolinee or Chats form a natural section of the Thrushes 

 very nearly related to the Flycatchers and with many of their habits. 

 The Chats feed entirely on insects, which they capture generally on 

 the ground from a fixed perch, such as the summit of a stone, a stalk 

 of grass, or a branch of a bush, and then return at once to their post 

 of observation. The characteristic habit of the Chats is the fre- 

 quent movement and expansion of the tail. The majority of this 

 subfamily are migratory, and tbey have a very marked seasonal 

 change of plumage caused by the abrasion of the margins of the 

 feathers in the late autumn or early spring. The sexes usually 

 differ very much in colour. 



* The only exception I know of is Thamnobia. 



