246 MERULIDJ5. 



Joseph Trigg, who shot it at Therfield, near Royston, in 

 Hertfordshire, while it was sitting on an ash-tree in the 

 evening of the day mentioned. I saw the specimen before 

 it was skinned for preservation by Mr. John Norman of 

 Royston, and received the first notice of the occurrence 

 from my friend Thomas Wortham, Esq., whose influence 

 with Mr. Trigg obtained for me the loan of the bird for 

 my use in this work ; and I beg to return my best thanks 

 to all the parties, for the opportunity thus afforded me of 

 figuring and describing the first example of the Rock 

 Thrush that has been known to occur in this country. I 

 have now very recently heard of another specimen shot by 

 a gamekeeper, who, not aware of the interest attached to 

 such a bird, saved only the head and neck ; but this portion 

 having been shown to a gentleman conversant with ornitho- 

 logy, the species was identified without difficulty from its 

 peculiar colouring. 



The habits of this Thrush, and the localities it prefers, 

 induced M. Temminck, in his Manual, to separate it and 

 some others of the same character, from the true Wood or 

 Sylvan Thrushes, and to include them in a distinct and se- 

 parate section. Mr. Vigors, carrying out this view still 

 further, proposed for this group of ground Thrushes the 

 generic title and characters here adopted, and named the 

 Rock Thrush as the typical species of his new genus. 

 These birds inhabit rocky and mountainous countries, their 

 stout legs and short tails, as compared with the Wood 

 Thrushes, enabling them to traverse rough ground with 

 ease. They frequent the wildest parts of rocky countries, 

 and are found in summer on the Uralian mountains, the 

 Alps and Pyrenees ; they inhabit Germany, France, Swit- 

 zerland, and the Tyrol ; they are found in several parts of 

 Spain, particularly the rocky districts about Arragon ; they 

 breed also in Provence and in the north of Italy, retreating 



