12 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



abundant at Valparaiso, and also further in the in- 

 terior in small thickets and copses. 0. L. Landbeck 

 says of it: "In the Cordillera this Thrush does not 

 extend higher than the wooded region ; it lives in 

 woods and. shrubberies, by preference where it can get 

 plenty of orchard-fruits, which in summer form its 

 chief article of food, whilst at the same time it also 

 eats insects and, especially in winter, eagerly seeks for 

 worms. As a very lively bird it has in its bearing a 

 great resemblance to our European Blackbird. At the 

 pairing-season it sings zealously quite early in the morn- 

 ing and until it is quite dark in the evening. The song 

 .is variable, entirely differing in individual birds, 

 tolerably pleasing, and it might hold a middle posi- 

 tion between those of its European relative the S-ong 

 Thrush and Blackbird, yet it is inferior to each of these 

 European songsters, inasmuch as it is neither so lull 

 and powerful as the Blackbird's song nor so much modu- 

 lated as the song of the Song-thrush. The call-note is 

 a protracted groog (probably in English grercrg or 

 i/r< ITIJ). The song may be rendered somewhat in the 

 following words: tiwi, toi/o, grohg, hoi/i:li . titlrli, djiiJti. 

 fi'ii. il jiff if. j<>. djiiff. zih, troJi, fiirich. j'Kj'tf, j'"J' fi . 

 hoyeJi, li'it/vli. ftodich, jatie, etc. As, however, there is 

 no better singing Thrush here, it is so beloved by the 

 Chilians that they keep it in cages in thousands. It 

 is the pet bird of the poor, as they can easily obtain it 

 from the nest and rear it without trouble. This Thrush, 

 although it nests in numbers in the vicinity of human 

 dwellings, moves about in gardens, and is rarely afraid 

 of men, nevertheless rarely becomes tame in captivity, 

 but always remains shy and nervous. Its movements 

 are quick and vigorous. The nest bears the closest re- 

 semblance to that of the European Blackbird, and even 

 the eggs resemble those of this species. At least twice 

 in summer it lays five to six eggs. The nest is usually 

 situated in the gardens in bushes and on all kinds of 

 fruit-trees, 'by preference in thick rose-hedges and 

 orange-trees. It does much mischief to the fruit, par- 

 ticularly to the sweet cherries, figs, and the like." 



Although said to be so common a cage-bird in Chili, 

 Dr. Russ speaks of it as one of the rarest species brought 

 home alive. Mr. L. Ruhe, of Alfeld, imported a con- 

 signment in 1889, one of which Dr. Russ secured. It 

 has been exhibited at the Berlin exhibition of the 

 <( Ornis " Society, has once appeared at our Zoological 

 Gardens, and also at those of Hamburg and Berlin. 

 RED-BELLIED THRUSH (Turdus rufivmtris}. 



Upper surface olive-grey, head greyer ; throat reddish 

 white, streaked with dark brown as far as the chest ; 

 upper chest washed with greyish olive, but the rest of 

 under surface deep rust-red, under wing-coverts paler 

 red ; upper mandible dark horn-grey (" brownish-yellow " 

 according to Sclater and Hudson), the tip greyish horn- 

 yellow, under mandible clearer ; eyes brown : feet 

 brownish horn-grey. Female much more fawn coloured, 

 greyer on back and under surface. Young plumage : 

 Crown with every feather pale edged ; feathers of wing- 

 coverts with rust-red shaft-stripes and tips ; chin and 

 front of throat pale yellow, spotted with pale brown. 

 Habitat, South-east Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and 

 La Plata. 



According to Hudson, this is a noisy, quarrelsome 

 ftird : "It inhabits forests, runs on the ground in search 

 of food, and when approached darts away with loud 

 chuckling notes, flying close to the ground. " These birds 

 are also often seen pursuing each other through the trees 

 with loud harsh screams. The song has a taint resem- 

 blance to that of the English Song Thrush, being com- 

 posed of a variety of notes uttered in the same discon- 

 nected manner, with frequent pauses ; but it is, both in 

 sweetness and strength, inferior to that of the English 



bird. As a rule, this Thrush sings concealed in a thick 

 bush or tree. 



" The nest is deep, well made, plastered inside with 

 mud, and concealed in the centre of a large bush or low 

 tree. The eggs are four, pale blue in colour, and thickly 

 spotted with brown." (Arg. Rep., 1, p. 3). 



According to Dr. Russ, this is also one of the rarest 

 Thrushes in the bird market ; it has, however, been 

 received by Miss Hagenbeck, Mr. Mieth, and Mr. 

 Maageldortt' in Germany, and has appeared in our 

 Zoological Gardens.* 



DIJSKY THRUSH (Turd us Icurrimrfas). 



Upper surface olive-grey, with a wash of brown on 

 head and neck ; throat white, more or less streaked 

 with brown, a clear white neck-patch; middle of 

 abdomen and under tail-coverts white ; remainder of 

 under surface pale grey ; under wing-coverts and inner 

 margins of wing-feathers fulvous ; bill yellow, upper 

 mandible somewhat brownish ; eyes brown ; feet 

 horn-grey ('' hazel," according to Hudson). The female is 

 rather smaller, duller in all her colours ; throat pale 

 yellow, with paler streaks and no white neck-patch ; 

 middle of abdomen and vent yellowish. Young only 

 distinguishable by its paler colouring, the absence of the 

 white neck-patch, as well as by the darker brown bill 

 and darker feet. Habitat, Eastern South America, 

 from Cayenne to Buenos Ayres. 



According to Hudson, this "is quite common in the 

 woods along the Plata River. It is a shy forest bird, a 

 fruit and insect eater, abrupt in its motions, runs 

 rapidly on the ground with beak elevated, and at intervals 

 pauses and shakes its tail, pugnacious in temper, strong 

 on the wing, its flight not being over the trees, but 

 masked by their shadows. It can always be easily dis- 

 tinguished, even at a distance, from other species by its 

 peculiar short, metallic chirp a melodious sound indi- 

 cating alarm or curiosity, and utteied before flight in 

 contrast to the harsh screams and chuckling notes of 

 cither Thrushes in this district. 



" Whether it is a fine singer or not within the Tropics 

 I am unable to say, its vocal powers having received no 

 attention from the naturalists Avho have observed it. 

 With us in the temperate climate of Buenos Ayres, 

 where it commences to sing in September, it has the 

 finest song of any bird I know, excepting only .Miin-< 

 triuntf.^ Like the English Song Thrush, but unlike its 

 near neighbours the Red-bellied Thrush and the Magel- 

 lanic Thrush, it perches on the summit of a tree to sing. 

 Its song is, however, unlike that of the English bird, 

 which is so fragmentary and, as Mr. Barrows describes 

 it, made up of 'vocal attitudes and poses.' The two 

 birds differ also in voice as much as in manner. The 

 strains of the Dusky Thrush are poured forth in a con- 

 tinous stream, with all the hurry and freedom of the 

 Skylark's song ; but though so raj idly uttered, eveiy note 

 is distinct and clear, and the voice singularly sweet and 

 far-reaching. At intervals in the song there recurs a 

 two-syllabled note twice repeated, unlike in sound any 

 other bird-music I have heard, for it is purely metallic, 

 and its joyous bell-like ' te-ling, te-ling,' always comes 

 like a delightful surprise to the listener, being in strange 

 contrast with the prevailing tone. 



" The song is altogether a very fine one, its peculiar 

 charm being that it seems to combine two opposite 



* Dr. Russ enumerated the White-throated Thrush (T. al 

 as a well-known Brazilian cage-bird, but he says it only comes by 

 chance and singly into the market ; indeed, he seems never to have 

 met with it. It is related to T. rvfiventris. 



t The White-banded Mockiiijr-binl, a very beautiful species 

 inhabiting Paraguay, the Argentine Republic and Bolivia. 



