CHAPTER V 

 THE PERCHING BIRDS continued 



THRUSHES AND WARBLERS TO SWALLOWS 

 Families TURDID^E to 



IF WE follow Dr. Sharpe, in including the warblers in this family, it will be an 

 extensive one, embracing not only the thrushes proper, but likewise the chats, ousels, 

 warblers, grasshopper warblers, and leaf warblers. Mr. Gates, on the other hand, 

 regards the warblers as a distinct family, which he does not even place in juxtapo- 

 sition with the thrushes. Used in the wider sense, the family is characterized by 

 the beak being slender but rather depressed, and variably modified in the different 

 groups; the wings are comparatively long and slender, with ten primary quills; 

 while the tail feathers may be either ten, twelve, or fourteen in number. Although 

 variable, the feet are generally slender, and the metatarsus is elongated; while the 

 nostrils are free from hairs. In the typical members of the family the plumage of 

 the nestling 'is mottled or squamated, but in the warblers it is like that of the adult 

 female, but more brightly colored. With the exception of New Zealand, members 

 of the family are found throughout the world. 



The true thrushes ( Turdus} and their allies constitute a subfamily 

 {Turdince), the members of which, together with the chats and red- 

 starts, agree in the mottled or squamated plumage of the nestlings; there is but 

 one complete molt in the year, the number of tail feathers is never less than twelve, 

 and the metatarsus is smooth behind. In the present subfamily bristles are present 

 at the rictus of the gape. More frugivorous in their tastes than the chats, the 

 thrushes spend a larger proportion of their time on the ground, more especially in 

 open meadow-lands, searching for worms and slugs. All possess fine vocal powers, 

 and they all build cup-shaped nests, generally composed in part of mud. The 

 true or spotted thrushes ( Turdus) have the beak of moderate size, decurved and 

 notched near the extremity; the wings and tail are long, and the tail is slightly 

 graduated; there is no pattern on the underside of the wing; and the metatarsus 

 is longer than the fourth toe. The feathers of the throat and breast are more or 

 less spotted at all ages. The true thrushes are most abundant in South America, 

 which is the home of no fewer than twenty-four species. Ten breed in North 

 America, while only five breed in Europe and Northern Asia, namely Pere David's 

 thrush, and the four species next described. Nine species are peculiar to Africa, 

 such as the olivaceous thrush of the Transvaal, another species from Natal, and 



(1643) 



