xoRTH america:n^ birds. 



Family TURDIDiE. — The Thrushes. 



The Tiir(lidn\ with the Scwirolida^ and Clnclidcr, form a group closely 

 related, hy coininon characters, and appreciably diflerent from tlie other 

 Oxn'ncs with slender l>ills and specially insectivorous habits, having, like 

 them, ten primaries (the first much shorter than the second, but nearly 

 always ap]»reciable), and tlie nostrils uncovered. The great family of 

 SnlriroJ'uhr, with similar characters of the bill, never present more than 

 nine primaries. The most striking of these common characters is seen 

 in the deeply cleft toes, of which the outer is united V»y tlie basal joint 

 alone to tlie middle toe, while the inner is separated almost to the very 

 base of its first joint.^ The frontal feathers extend, with rare exceptions, 

 to the very nostrils. The bill is elongated and subulate, moderately slender, 

 and usually notched at tip ; the culmeii moderately curved from the base, 

 and the mouth well provided with bristles, except in a few cases. Usually 

 the scutellic covering the front and sides of the tarsus are fused into one 

 continuous plate, or else scarcely appreciable, except on the inner edge 

 onlv ; in the ^Fockini; Thrushes thev are, however, distinctly marked. The 

 lateral toes are nearly ecpial, the outer rather the longer. With these as 

 some of the principal characteristics, they may be distinguished from each 

 other as follows : — 



XoTE. — In tlie prosont work the lencrth of tlio tail i« mcaenrfd from the coccyx, in«i<lo of the skin, 

 and not, as usnally the case, from the base of the quills at their insertiou. The wiugs are measured 

 from the carpal joint, with dividers. 



1 In a perfectly freslj specimen of Tunhin mvfifeh'nux, the basal ha'Tof the first phalanx of the 

 inner tw is connected with the first joint of the middle toe by a membrane- which stretches 

 amoss to within two fifths of the <'nd of the latter ; there ap}>ears, however, to be no lii^amentous 

 adhesion. The basal joint of the outer toe is entiifly adher«'nt, and a membrane extends from 

 nearly the basal half of the second joint to the distal end of the fii-st ji»int of the mi«hlle toe. 

 "When this connecting membrane becomes diied the division of the toes api>ears consid»;ral)ly 

 f,'reater. 



"Wlu'u the toes are all extended in line with the tarsus, the hind claw stretches a little lieyond 

 the lateml and scarcely reaches the base of the middle claw. 



Tlii^ plates at the upper surface of the basal joints of tlie toes are quadrangular and opposite 

 each other. 



ir'O'- 



.„. BRAINY 



