794 



THROSCUS THRUSH. 



when disturbed. At such times also they elevate 

 the posterior extremity of the body like a Staphylinus, 

 giving it various movements. They are found upon 

 flowers and plants, and under the bark of trees. The 

 different species of this genus are well known to 

 gardeners from their attacks upon different trees, 

 cucumbers, &c., their punctures upon the leaves giv- 

 ing them a dead appearance, curling them up at the 

 sides, and appearing as soon as the least verdure is 

 seen, at which time they are in the larva state, 

 although some are perfect. The larvae are long and 

 of a faint yellow, and when fully grown are nearly 

 the size which they attain in the winged state, which 

 is very small. For some time after the insect attains 

 the winged state, it retains nearly its original colour, 

 but afterwards turns nearly black. They especially 

 infest melons, cucumbers, vines, kidney-beans, &c., 

 particularly attacking the blossoms ; the marks which 

 they produce being in patches, and deeply scalloped. 

 They also attack the young leaves of peaches and 

 nectarines as soon as they appear in the spring, which 

 causes them to shrink up, and they also prey upon 

 the bloom before it expands. They feed in the in- 

 terior or fructification part, which weakens it mate- 

 rially, and causes the blossom-bud to fall off before it 

 is formed into fruit (Major on the Insects injurious to 

 Fruit Trees). 



The student must consult Mr. Halliday's Memoirs 

 upon these insects, published in the Entomological 

 Magazine, where numerous species are described. 



THROSCUS (Latreille). A genus of coleopte- 

 rous insects, belonging to the section Pcntamera, ap- 

 parently forming the connecting link between the 

 families Elateridce (having the elongated form and 

 the produced prosternurn of that family), and the 

 Byrrhidce or Dermestoid(E, having the antennae termi- 

 nated by a three-jointed club. The species are of a 

 small size, and are found in sand-pits or upon trees. 

 The type is the Elater dcrmestoides, Linnaeus, of a 

 brown colour. 



THRUSH (Turdus, perhaps rather Turdidts, the 

 thrush family, or Merulidce, the blackbird family), 

 a family of dentirostral birds, of the order Passeres. 

 which, after all the reductions that have been made, 

 is still both numerous and interesting. Thrushes, or 

 birds bearing considerable resemblance to thrushes, 

 are found in almost every part of the world. Those 

 which inhabit the high latitudes, and places which 

 are otherwise very seasonal in their character, are in 

 general migratory ; and those which inhabit places of 

 more mild and uniform character are in general sta- 

 tionary ; but a good deal depends on the particular 

 kind of places which the birds haunt. Thus, a bird 

 whose habit it is to reside in the copses, gardens, and 

 hedge> rows of the warm and cultivated districts of a 

 country, can find food all the year round ; while in 

 the wilds a bird finds no food in the winter. 



Among birds which are so widely spread over the 

 world, there must of course be many differences of 

 habit, to suit them to the different localities in which 

 they are placed, and the different purposes which 

 they have to answer in the grand system of nature. 

 It is therefore not possible to give any description of 

 the manners of a thrush that will apply to all thrushes, 

 even in the most restricted view that we can take of 

 the family. Their use in nature must obviously be 

 very general ; for all the children of nature, and all 

 their organs and adaptations, are made for uses ; 

 and then, as the use varies, the structure must vary 



along with it, so as that the two may be always in 

 harmony. 



Thrushes have been celebrated birds from very 

 remote antiquity, not only on account of their songs, 

 but of their flesh. A distinction is made among them 

 of merles and thrushes, the former having the colour 

 entire, and the latter broken and mottled. The 

 blackbird and the common song-thrush are instances 

 of these, but the distinction is not a very important 

 one. When we mention that the number of species 

 that have been described amounts, exclusive of doubt- 

 ful ones, to between 140 and 150, it will readily be 

 understood that a minute description of them all 

 would be incompatible with the character of the pre- 

 sent work. Nor is it necessary, for there is a con- 

 siderable resemblance among them, varying chiefly 

 with the different characters of the places they 

 inhabit. 



The other genus which they resemble most are 

 the shrikes (see LANIUS) ; but they are not so exclu- 

 sively animal in their feeding, many of them subsist- 

 ing upon wild berries in the autumn and winter, 

 though they prefer small animals, especially mollusca 

 and worms, when these can be obtained. 



The generic characters are : the bill of middle size, 

 sharp edged, compressed, and recurved at the tip, 

 with a notch near the point, and a few loose hairs 

 over the base ; the nostrils oval, lateral, half concealed 

 by membrane ; middle toe not so long as the tarsus, 

 and the outer toes joined to it at the base. We can 

 afford to give only an outline of a few of the species. 



MISSEL THRUSH (T. vlscivoms}. The largest of 

 the European species, weighing about five ounces, 

 and measuring eleven inches in length, and between 

 sixteen and seventeen in the stretch of the wings. 

 The general colour greyish on the upper part, and 

 yellowish-white on the under, mottled with dusky 

 spots, and with some white on the exterior feathers 

 of the tail. The female paler on the upper part, and 

 with a tinge of russet on the under. The colours are 

 not very constant, however ; but vary in different 

 habitats^ and even in different individuals in the same. 

 It is common in the middle and cold parts of Europe, 

 from the latter of which it in general migrates in the 

 winter. It is a woodland bird, but it prefers the 

 woods of low and fertile places. In Britain it is more 

 abundant in the south than the north. The song of 

 the male is loud and clear, and far from unpleasant ; 

 and it is one of the first songs of the year, being be- 

 gun as early us January if the weather is genial ; and 

 if the song is once begun, the bird goes on despite 

 the storm, even though one should ensue. The call- 

 note, or usual cry of the bird, is not a song, but a 

 harsh and grating' scream. The nest is formed about 

 March, rather in copses than in the wild and exten- 

 sive woods, and in an orchard in preference to any 

 other place. The external part is made of sticks, 

 coarse vegetable fibres, moss, and an admixture of 

 earth ; and lined with finer vegetable matters and 

 with wool. The eggs rarely exceed four or five ; 

 they are of a flesh-colour with dark rusty spots. The 

 male continues his song during the incubation, and 

 also shares in that labour; but when the young make 

 their appearance, the providing of food for them 

 leaves no time for singing. If the season is favour- 

 able there is a second brood, in providing for which 

 contributions are levied on the small succulent fruits 

 of the garden, whereas the brood of the spring are 

 fed upon snails, slugs, and other small animals which 



