THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 259 



sold and taken to Hamburg. All efforts on my part to get the 

 specimen back have unfortunately proved unsuccessful. 



All the upper parts of this Thrasher, including the tail and the 

 outer webs of all the flight-feathers, are bright rust colour; the larger 

 and middle outer wing-coverts have yellow tips, edged on the 

 upper surface with brownish black. The under side of the bird 

 is whitish, with a tinge of dull rust colour, especially on the neck 

 and upper breast. A row of the small triangular spots charac- 

 teristic of the Thrushes runs down from the lower mandible. The 

 feathers of the upper breast and breast have larger spots of this 

 kind, and on the flanks they assume an oval form. The middle of 

 the breast and belly and the dull rust-coloured under tail-coverts 

 are not spotted. 



The bill is of a horny black colour, the mandibular portion 

 being yellow. The feet .are of a yellowish flesh colour, and the 

 iris, strange to say, light yellow. The wing is short and roundish, 

 its second flight-feather being of the same length as the ninth; 

 the third is a little shorter than the fourth, fifth, and sixth, these 

 being the longest feathers. In the tail, which is rounded, the 

 outermost pair of feathers is -78 in. (20 mm.) shorter than the 

 more median pairs. 



The total length of the bird is 10-23 ins. (260 mm.) ; length of 

 the wings, 4'06 ins. (103 mm.); length of tail, 5*31 ins. (135 mm.); 

 length of tail uncovered by wings, 4'41 ins. (112 mm.); length of 

 bill from forehead to tip, '98 in. (25 mm.); length of tarsus, 

 1-30 in. (33 mm.) 



According to Audubon, the bird is a very common breeder 

 throughout North America, from Texas northwards. Swainson 

 states that it is met with as far as 54 N. lat. Its eggs are of a 

 peculiar beauty, and cannot be confounded with those of any 

 European species. Their ground colour is a very pale bluish 

 green, which is, however, almost entirely hidden by innumerable 

 very small bright ferruginous dots. Their length is 1*02 in. 

 (26 mm.); breadth, 75 in. (19 mm.). 



83. Palestine Bulbul [GELBSTEISS-DROSSEL]. 

 TURDUS XANTHOPYGUS. 1 



Ixos Vaillanti. G. L. Brehm, Vogelfang, p. 221. 



Palestine Bulbul. Dresser, iii. 357. 



Pycnotus xanthopygus. Tristram, Western Palestine, p. 57. 



The primitive ornithologists of this island, Messrs. Koopmann, 

 Reymers, and Oelk, held firmly to the principle : ' It is good 



1 Pycnonotus xanthopygus (Hemp, and Ehr.). 



