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146 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
TURDUS, Linnzvs. 
Turdus, Linn xus, Syst. Nat. (1735). (Type T. viscivorus, fide G. R. Gray.) 
Bill rather stout; commissure straight to near the tip, which is quite abruptly 
decurved, and usually distinctly notched; culmen gently convex from base; bill 
shorter than the head, both outlines curved; tarsi longer than the middle toe; lateral 
toes nearly equal, outer longer; wings much longer than the tail, pointed; the first 
quill spurious and very small, not one-fourth the length of longest; tail short, nearly 
even, or slightly emarginate. 
TURDUS MUSTELINUS. — Gmelin. 
The Song Thrush; Wood Thrush. 
Turdus mustelinus, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 817. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 3438. 
Aud. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 372; V. (1839) 446. 
Turdus melodus, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 35, pl. ii. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Above, clear cinnamon-brown, on the top of the head becoming more rufous, on 
the rump and tail olivaceous; the under parts are clear-white, sometimes tinged with 
buff on the breast or anteriorly, and thickly marked beneath, except on the chin 
and throat, and about the vent and tail coverts, with sub-triangular, sharply defined 
spots of blackish; the sides of the head are dark-brown, streaked with white, and 
there is also a maxillary series of streaks on each side of the throat, the central por- 
tion of which sometimes has indications of small spots. 
Length, eight and ten-lundredths inches: wing, four and twenty-five one-hun- 
dredths; tail, three and five one-hundredths; tarsus, one and twenty-six one- 
hundredths. 
Hab. — Eastern United States to Missouri River, south to Guatemala. 
HIS beautiful songster is a pretty common summer 
inhabitant of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode 
Island. In the other New-England States, it is rarely seen ; 
and, when we hear of a Song Thrush occurring there, refer- 
ence is probably made either to the Hermit or Olive-backed 
Thrush. It arrives from the South about the 10th of May, 
both sexes making their appearance at about the same time. 
They soon commence pairing, and frequent the moist thick- 
ets and thickly wooded glens, where their amours are con- 
ducted in privacy and peace. 
At this season, the beautiful song of the male is heard at 
early dawn and early twilight: it seldom sings in the middle 
of the day, unless the weather is dark and cloudy. This 
song is a beautiful, melancholy strain, similar to the tone 
