TURDUS. 11 
not agree exactly with Mr. Gould’s description, but is probably the 
same species. 
-Catharus mexicanus. 
Malacocichla mexicana, Bon. Comptes Rendus, XLIII, Nov. 1856, 998 
(Xalapa).—Catharus mexicanus, Scuater, P. Z. 8. 1859, 324.—Ib. 
Catal. 1861, 1, no. 4. 
Hab. S. Mexico; Guatemala. 
Above yellowish olive, with a tinge of rufous in the rump and 
base of tail. Top and sides of head black, this color not extending 
to sides of lower jaw, which are dark ash. Benéath ashy; the chin 
and throat whitish; middle of belly and crissum white; breast and 
sides tinged with olive. Bill yellow; dusky along culmen; tip 
brownish yellow or very pale corneous. 
Length, 6.00; wing, 3.55; Ist primary, .90; tail, 2.80; bill, from 
nostril, .40, from gape, .90; tarsus, 1.30; middle toe and claw, .88. 
Specimen examined, No. 32 of Mr. Salvin’s collection, Rio Poto- 
chic, Tileman, Guatemala, Jan. 1861 (lent by Mr. Salvin). 
This species is easily distinguished by the combination of the yel- 
lowish olive back, black head, and absence of spots beneath. The 
olive has a more gamboge tinge than in dryas, and the black of the 
head does not extend over the lower jaw. There is nothing of the 
ochry yellow of the under parts, nor the spots of dryas. 
TURDUS, Lixy. 
Turdus, Lixy. Syst. Nat. ed. 10th, 1758, 168. (Type T. viscivorus of Europe.) 
The genus Jurdus is an exceedingly cosmopolitan one, embracing 
species from nearly all parts of the world excepting Australia. 
There are many minor variations in external anatomy and style of 
coloration ; but the transition is so gradual from one form to another 
as to render it exceedingly difficult to separate them generically to any 
considerable extent. They agree in the conical subulate bill, shorter 
than the head; the tip gently decurved and notched (except in 
Hesperocichia) ; the rictus with moderate bristles ; the wings rather 
long and pointed, with small Ist primary (less than one-fourth the 
second) ; considerably longer than the tail, which is firm, nearly even, 
with broad feathers. Tarsi variable, seldom as long as the skull, 
the scutelle fused into a continuous plate; only in rare individual 
instances showing indications of the lines of separation. 
The following arrangement of the genus is proposed as expressing, 
with some accuracy, the characters of the American species :— 
