66 NEW- YORK FAUNA — BIRDS. 



the autumn, usually in November, it leaves us for the south as far as Mexico, where it was 

 noticed by Lichtenstein. Along the Atlantic, it ranges to Nova-Scotia. It is very prolific, 

 laying 4-6 blue unspotted eggs, and raising several broods in the year. It is very useful in 

 destroying multitudes of noxious insects. In the autumn they feed on cedar berries, wild 

 cherries, etc. This species has exercised the ingenuity of systematists, having been originally 

 a Motacilla, and then successively a Sylvia, Saxicola, Parus, CEnanthe, Vitiflora, Ampelis, 

 Erythraca and Sialia. I do not admit the propriety of changing its specific name. The 

 genus Sialia, however, is a good one, and forms a natural passage to the next family. 



(EXTRA-LIMITAL.) 



S. occidentalis. (Aud. B. of A pi. 135.) Bright ultramarine blue. A broad band across the back, 



and the scapulars chesnut red. Tail deeply emarginate. Female, light greyish brown tinged 



with blue. Length, 7 inches. Pacific coast, Columbia river, Texas. 

 S. arctica. (Id. pi. 136.) Light azure blue; beneath light greenish blue. Quills and larger coverts 



dusky. Female : breast greyish brown. Length, 7i inches. Columbia river, Northern regions, 



and (according to Mr. Giraud) Texas. 



FAMILY MERVLIDM. 



Bill short or moderate, straight, with bristles at the base. Upper mandible slightly rounded 

 and curved ; the tip small, with a small notch : the lower shorter, straight. Nostrils 

 rounded. External aperture of ears large and rounded. Tarsus compressed, with seven 

 anterior scutellce. Feet rather robust. Wings short or moderate, broad, rounded. Tail 

 various, of twelve feathers. Tongue cartilaginous, bifid at tip. 



Obs. This family, which is essentially the same with the Turdince of Audubon, comprises 

 a portion of the section Saxicolince of the great family Turdid^e of Bonaparte. As we re- 

 strict it, it comprises three American genera, Orpheus, Merula, and Cinclus. 



GENUS ORPHEUS. Swainson. 



Bill elongated, slender, and more curved than the following genus. Feet of moderate length, 

 slender. Wings short and rounded ; fourth and fifth quills longest. Tail very long, straight, 

 much rounded or even graduated. 



