Mr. R. F. Tomes on White's Thrush. 379 



as private persons. But there is one gentleman, with whom, 

 from his position as Editor of ' The Ibis,' this excuse would 

 not be valid ; and therefore in exceptionally particularizing Mr. 

 P. L. Sclater as one of those to whom whatever merit there 

 may be in this paper is largely due, we offer our best thanks 

 equally to our unnamed friends, especially those resident in that 

 island for whose prosperity we most fervently wish. 



XXXVI. — On the occurrence of White's Thrush (Oreocincla 

 aurea) near Stratford-on-Avon, with remarks on the genera 

 Oreocincla, Turdus, and Morula, By Robert F. Tomes. 



The opportunity of examining a recently-killed specimen of the 

 Turdus aureus of M. Hollandre {T. Whitii of Yarrell's 'British 

 Birds'), occurs so rarely, that on the receipt of a recently-shot 

 specimen, I thought it desirable to make an examination of it 

 at once, before it had undergone mutilation of any of its parts 

 in the process of preservation. Afterwards I examined with 

 care the digestive organs, and the form and proportion of its 

 sternum and other bones. The record of these peculiarities, 

 with the addition of some remarks which I am able to give 

 relative to its habits, will, I believe, render the following de- 

 scription more complete than any one which has yet appeared. 

 When examining the osteology, I had occasion to make a 

 comparative use of the skeleton of some other of our British 

 Thrushes, and shall take the present opportunity of adding a 

 few comments on the value of some of the divisions into which 

 the genus Turdus has been divided. 



I may commence by stating that the village of Welford, five 

 miles west of Stratford-on-Avon, where the specimen was 

 obtained, is situated in a bend of the Avon, and that the soil is 

 a rich alluvium. Its position is highly favourable for the 

 growth of timber and fruit trees ; and it is well shrouded in 

 orchards and small enclosures, fringed with their hedge-rows and 

 ivied elms, affording a favourite haunt for many of the smaller 

 birds, with a good supply of cherries and other fruits in the 

 summer months, and of berries through the autumn and winter 

 seasons. From a cherry orchard, a few miles down stream, I 



