Letters, Announcements, S^c. 123 



1*25, wing 6*75, tail 5*25, tarsus 1*5. Head, neck, back, 

 rump, tail, aod wings rather light ashy- brown, darkest on the 

 head, back, and wings, a white streak along the middle of the 

 back-feathers, which are also faintly tipped with black. Back of 

 the head, neck, and cheeks faintly dotted with white. Quill- 

 feathers blackish-brown, edged with light brown, a white patch 

 on the bend of the wing ; several of the upper wing-coverts with 

 a white middle and tip ; under wing-coverts pure white, becoming 

 dusky towards the under tail-coverts. Throat, breast, and ab- 

 domen with the tip of each feather blackish brown, giving the 

 appearance of round drops. Bill and legs brownish horn- 

 colour. 



2. 6 juv., from Mundhole, shot in July. Length 8*5 in., 

 bill from gape 1'125, wing 5-125, tail 3, tarsus 1-25. In 

 colouring very like the last, except that it is lighter and the 

 markings Stre very distinct. This example was following its 

 mother when I shot them both. The female is of a uniform 

 slaty-brown above, devoid of all the markings that the young 

 have on their back ; but the wing-feathers are edged with whitish, 

 the breast-spots are more elongated, and the spots on the 

 abdomen darker, larger, and more numerous. 



The resemblance which this species bears to the European 

 Turdus viscivorus is very great, but there is a decided diiFerencc 

 between the two species. For instance a young male of the 

 European bird in my collection, to all appearance about the same 

 age as No. 1, above described, is of a much lighter and more 

 rufous-brown than the Indian; the head also is more considerably 

 albescent, as is the upper part of the back, and both are dotted 

 with blackish-brown, darkest on the back. There is also a well- 

 defined dark superciliary streak, of which the Indian specimen 

 has no trace. In the European bird the secondaries and some 

 of the other wing-feathers are broadly edged with rufous-white, 

 and the flanks are strongly tinged with rufous, which is not the 

 case with the Indian species. Even in the adult female there is 

 a striking difference between the two birds ; for an example from 

 France of that age and sex has the edge of its wing-feathers 

 white, the spots on the lower surface extend almost to the chin, 

 and there is a decided rufous tinge on the flanks ; whereas in 



