ie 
TURDID®, THRUSHES. —GEN. 1. 73 
34-4, tail 23-3. North America, except perhaps south-west U.S. Nest in 
bushes ; eggs speckled. Wuus., v, pl. 45, f. 2, but not his description on p. 
Siete German cet Pah Hate cR ed sy: rehome Med cle SSWEAINSONT: 
Var. aliciew. Alice’s Thrush. Similar; but without any buffy tint about head, 
nor yellowish ring around eye; averaging a trifle larger, with longer, slenderer bill. 
Much the same distribution, but breeds further north. Nest and eggs similar. 
Bp., 217, and Rey. 21. : 
Var. ustulatus. Similar; but with the upper parts slightly suffused with 
tawny, and the spots below smaller, fewer and paler; thus approximating to the 
following species. -Nest and eggs, however, as in swainsoni. Pacific Coast, U.S. 
Norr., 2d ed. i, 400; Bp., 215; Coor., 5. 
—-— Upper parts tawny. 
Wilson’s Thrush. Veery. Under parts white, with olive shade on sides, 
and strong fulvous (almost pinkish-brown) tint on breast; breast and sides 
of neck with very small, sparse, sometimes indistinct dusky spots. 7-73 
long; wing 4-44, tail 34. Eastern N. Am. Nest built on the ground; 
egos plain. Wiuts., v, 98, pl. 43; Nurr., i, 349; Avup., iii, 27, pl. 145; 
sie lee ema hats a Sk Thicey ee ws, cs Oe av “a MABUSCESCENS. 
Subfamily MIMIN AE. Mocking Thrushes. 
Distinguished from the last by having the tarsus scutellate in front, the tail 
longer and rounder (usually longer than the wings, but not so in Oreoscoptes), the 
wings shorter and rounder, with 1st primary hardly to be called spurious. Birds 
very much like overgrown wrens (with which they used to be associated), but dis- 
tinguished therefrom by more deeply cleft toes, different nostrils, and bristly rictus 
(compare diagnoses of the two families). The 
bill is usually longer, or at least slenderer, and 
more curved than in the typical thrushes: in ~-——~_ 
some species of Harporhynchus it attains ex- Ze as Oe gee i 
traordinary length and curvature. As a group ») lj rec a 
they are rather southern, hardly passing be- ria ( 
yond the United States; and attaining their / ee ees, 
maximum development in Central and South ee 
. na ~ 
America. The Mimine may be properly re- 
stricted to these American birds, represented 
by the genera Mimus, Harporhynchus, and five or six other closely related forms. 
Upwards of forty species are recorded, about two-thirds of which are certainly 
\ 
~ 
Fig. 15. Bills of Harporhynchi; natural size. 
- genuine. About one-half of the current species fall in the genus Mimus alone; of 
Harporhynchus, all but one of the known species occur within our own limits. In 
their general habits they resemble the true thrushes; but they habitually reside 
nearer the ground, relying for self-preservation more upon the concealment of the 
shrubbery, than upon their own activity and vigilance. They are all melodious, 
and some, like the mockingbird, are celebrated songsters, famous for their powers 
of mimicry, and their brilliant vocal execution. In compensation, perhaps, for this 
great gift, they are plainly clad, grays and browns being the prevailing colors. The 
nest is generally placed in a bush; the eggs, four or five in number, are greenish- 
blue, plain or speckled. 
KEY TO N. A. BIRDS. 10 
