HEREDITY ii: 



— heard faintly sung in September, or later — are 

 much alike, and seem to be aimless repetitions of 

 whistled tones and slurs. However, traces of mimicry- 

 are soon observable. Wilson observes {op. cit. vol. i. 

 p. 234) that the notes of the American ferruginous 

 thrush {T. rufus) "have considerable resemblance 

 to those of the song-thrush of Britain." Mr. Hudson 

 tells us that the whistle of the Argentine blackbird 

 is sometimes mistaken by Englishmen for that of 

 the similar home bird {Idle Days in Patagonia, p. 

 155). Gould observed that the Australian little 

 shrike-thrush {C oilier icincla parvula), which may be 

 said to be one of a class intermediate between the 

 thrushes and the shrikes, has " a fine thrush-like tone, 

 very clear, loud, and melodious " {Handbook to Birds 

 of Australia, p. 225). The same authority remarks 

 {op. cit. p. 279) that the song and call-note of the 

 Australian scarlet-breasted robin {Petroica multicolor, 

 Gould) " much resemble those of the European 

 robin, but are more feeble and uttered with a more 

 inward tone." He also states {ibid. p. 281) that 

 " the red-capped robin {P. goodenovii, Gould) has a 

 peculiarly sweet and plaintive song, very much like 

 that of the European robin, but weak and not so 

 continuous." Dr. Saxby heard wheatears which were 

 excellent mimics {Birds of Shetland, p. 6%). Sweet 



