314 TEN YEAES IN SWEDEN. 



(in tlie Japan bird he gives this as 6 in. 4 L). I question 

 whether there can be such an extraordinary difference in the 

 length of the wings of two birds of very much the same size,, 

 for in my Australian specimen this portion of the wing, and 

 I have very accurately measured it, scarcely exceeds 5 in. 

 English in length. His description of the colouring is as correct 

 as can be expected from a general description. I cannot help 

 fancying, however, that Nilsson's descriptions of the measure- 

 ment of Turdus varius are correct, because they are taken, 

 doubtless, from the Jemtland specimen shot in 1837. 



Although we called our Australian bird the mountain 

 thrush, they always bred in our districts, far from the moun- 

 tains in the tea-tree scrub, near water, and they seemed to 

 come down to breed. The nest, placed some length from 

 the ground, resembled that of the common blackbird ; the 

 eggs, three, considerably larger than any of the missel 

 thrush, which I have seen, were fully as large and even 

 thicker than those of the jay ; light ground, covered all over 

 with such minute pale red speckles that the whole egg has a 

 rusty red appearance. 



Morris's figure of the egg of White's thrush, pale light 

 blue, with a few black scrolls on the larger end, does not 

 certainly represent the egg of the Australian bird, and if it 

 is a correct figure of the egg of the Japan bird, there is little 

 doubt that they are two distinct species. 



The mountain thrush in Australia was very shy and soli- 

 tary in its habits ; we never saw more than two together ; 

 they were generally on the ground, very hard to rise, and 

 I never heard one utter a single note. I generally took 

 the nest in August, which is very early in the Australian 

 spring. 



96. T. Musicus, L. Sang Trast. The Song Thrush. D. F. 

 Length 9 in. ; olive brown above ; the lower wing 

 coverts edged with red-yellow ; breast, sides, and belly 

 covered with oval blackish brown spots; throat un- 

 spotted. 

 Common throughout the whole country during the sum- 



