72 NEW- YORK FAUNA BIRDS. 



THE HERMIT THRUSH. 



Merula solitaria. 



plate xxxvii. fig. 80. 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Turdus solitarius. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 5, p. 95, pi. 43, fig. 2. 

 T. minor. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. Vol. 2, p. 75. 

 • T. id., Hermit Thrush. Audubon, pi. 58; Orn. Biog. Vol. 1, p. 303, and Vol. 5, p. 445. 

 Little or Hermit Thrush. Ndttall, Man. Ornilh. Vol. 1, p. 346. 



Merula solitaria. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 184, pi. 35. s 



T. solitarius. Audubon, Birds of Am. Vol. 3, p. 29, pi. 14C. 

 T. minor. Hermit Thrush. Giraud, Birds of Long island, p. 90. 



Characteristics. Dark ferruginous brown, inclining to reddish on the tail ; beneath white, 

 with arrow-headed spots. Tail short, emarginate ; under tail-coverts 

 pale buff. Third, fourth and fifth primaries longest ; second and fifth 

 subequal. Length, 6-7 inches. 



Description. Bill moderate, with the notch at the tip, small but distinct. 



Color. Above brown, with a ferruginous tinge on the primaries, tail-coverts and tail. 

 Chin greyish white. Sides of the head and neck dull yellowish, with a dark brown arrow- 

 headed spot on the tips of many of the feathers of the breast. Upper mandible blackish ; 

 lower yellowish, darker towards the tip. 



Length, 6* 5 -7* 5. Alar extent, 10-5- 11 -0. 



The Hermit Thrush, as its name implies, is a shy solitary bird, resembling in its general 

 color the European Nightingale, and scarcely inferior to that bird in its low-toned and 

 melodious notes. It is readily distinguished from the preceding, by its smaller size, and the 

 peculiar shape of its spots beneath. It is found in every part of the State, which it reaches 

 from the south about the middle of May. Its eggs are pale greenish blue, spotted with olive. 

 It ranges from Mexico- to the fiftieth parallel of latitude. 



