KOCK-THUUSH. 293 



with Mr. Trigg obtained for me the loan of the bird for my 

 use in this work , and I have to return my thanks to all 

 concerned, for the opportunity of thus figuring and describ- 

 ing the first example of the Rock-Thrush known to occur in 

 this country. This specimen is now in the collection of Mr. 

 Newcome. I have since heard of another example shot by 

 a gamekeeper, who saved only its head and neck ; but this 

 portion having been shown to a gentleman conversant with 

 ornithology, the species was identified without difficulty from 

 its peculiar colouring. Mr. Bedlington states (Nat. 1856, 

 p. 21) that in June, 1852, he observed, and followed for two 

 miles, near Robin Hood's Bay, a bird which, on afterwards 

 seeing a coloured figure of the Rock-Thrush, he was able to 

 identify with that species. 



The habits of this Thrush, the localities it prefers and its 

 remarkable style of coloration, have induced several ornitholo- 

 gists to separate it and some others of the same character 

 from the true Thrushes, and to include them in a distinct and 

 separate section. Friedrich Boie, chiefly influenced by the 

 consideration last mentioned, carried this view still further, 

 and, in 1822, proposed for this group of birds the generic 

 title here adopted, naming the Rock-Thrush as the type of 

 his new genus. In 1828, Vigors, possibly unacquainted with 

 the step already taken, conferred the name Petrocincla on 

 the same group. Mr. G. R. Gray has always refused to 

 admit its generic value, and probably is therein justified ; but 

 as in former editions of tbis work the Rock-Thrush was re- 

 moved from the genus Turdus, it seems expedient so to treat 

 it now, with of course the necessary alteration required by 

 the priority of Boie's name. These birds inhabit rocky and 

 mountainous districts, their stout legs and short tails, as 

 compared with the true Thrushes, enabling them to traverse 

 rough ground with ease. 



This Rock-Thrush is an essentially migratory bird with 

 a very wide range, which extends far enough to the northward 

 to justify its being legitimately included in the present work. 

 It is a regular summer-visitant to most of the mountainous 

 parts of temperate Europe and Asia. It has occurred in 



