THE ROCK THRUSH. 201 



The beak is an inch long, raven gray, yellowish white at the 

 base of the lower mandible, and yellow at the angles as well 

 as inside : the iris is chestnut brown ; the shanks dark brown, 

 and fourteen lines high ; the upper part of the body is black ; 

 and it is the principal colour of the under part also ; but the 

 feathers of the belly and the coverts of the wings are edged 

 with white ; the quill- feathers, and the outside feathers of the 

 tail are grayisli white : a white spot, tinged with red, and the 

 size of the finger, placed transversely on the breast, serves to 

 characterize the species, and gives it its name. 



The female is of a brownish black ; the transverse band on 

 the breast is narrower, and of a reddish ash-colour, shaded 

 with broAvn. 



Those individuals which combine the brown colour of the 

 female with the pectoral band, large, and of a reddish white, 

 are young males ; the others, in which it is scarcely discern- 

 ible, are young females. 



Observations. — Though the ring blackbird traverses the whole of Eu- 

 rope, it builds only in the north*. It arrives in Germany and England 

 on the foggy days of the end of October and beginning of November. It 

 moves always in small flights, stopping generally in spots covered with 

 briers and juniper bushes, where it may be caught with a noose. Its food, 

 when free and in confinement, is the same as that of the common black- 

 bird, with which it has the most striking resemblance in its gait, the mo- 

 tion of its wings and tail, and its call, '■■ tak/' Its voice, though hoarser 

 and deeper, is nevertheless more harmonious and agreeable. It is so weak 

 that a redbreast may overpower it. It continues singing at nil times, 

 except when moulting. It will Htc in confinement from six to ten years. 



THE ROCK THRUSH. 



Tardus saxatilis, Linn^us ; Le Merle de Roche, Buffon ; Die Steindrossel, 

 Bechstein. 



This rare and striking bird is unknown in many parts of 

 Germany t. Though its principal characteristics place it in 

 the genus of the blackbird, it has more resemblance to the 

 starling, both in its manners and gait, which are varied and 

 agreeable. Its length is seven inches and a half, two and 



* I have seen the nest in Scotland Translator. 



t It occurs on the Riiine at EhrenbreiUen, and I have seen it on the Siebengo- 

 birge.— Translatoh, 



