4 CHARACTERS OF TURDID^ 



Turdida\ or Thrushes. 



CHARS.* Oscine Passeres, in which the characters of this 

 great group are highly developed. Lateral tarsal plates lami- 

 nar, meeting in a sharp ridge posteriorly; anterior scutella 

 often fused in a 'continuous lamina. Toes deeply cleft the 

 outer anterior one to the distal end of its basal joint, the inner 

 anterior almost to its very base. Bill more or less subulate, as 

 usual in insectivorous birds, usually notched near the end, the 

 commissure not angulated, nor very deeply cleft. Nostrils 

 oval, nearly or quite reached but not covered by feathers. Kic- 

 tus with well-developed bristles. Primaries ten, the first of 

 which is spurious, or short ; second* shorter than the fourth. 

 Tail-feathers twelve, not stiffened nor acute. 



The Turdidce are very closely related both to the Saxicolidce 

 and Cinclidce among American forms, as well as to certain 

 exotic groups perhaps too closely to justify their separation 

 when all their interrelationships are taken into consideration. 

 Viewing, however, the North American forms alone, very fair 

 diagnostic points may be determined, as will be seen on com- 

 paring the characters given in Chapters II. and III. 



The vocal apparatus of the Thrushes is highly developed, 

 and some of the members of this family, like the Wood Thrush 

 and Mockingbird, are among the most famous of songsters. 



Thrushes are distributed throughout all of temperate North 

 America, as well as most other portions of the globe. Our 

 species are mainly birds of the woodland, though a few kinds 

 enliven with their song the arid and treeless wastes of the 

 Southwestern Territories. A majority of the North American 

 species are represented within the limits of the Coloradan 

 Basin ; they may readily be grouped in three subfamilies, the 

 eading antithetical characters of which are as follows : 



TURDIN^E. Tarsi booted. Bill short, scarcely or not de- 

 pressed, moderately cleft. Legs stout. Tail-feathers widen- 

 ing a little toward the end, the tail thus becoming squarish or 

 fan-shaped. 



MYIADESTIN^E. Tarsi booted. Bill very short, much de- 

 pressed, widened at base, deeply cleft. Legs weak. Tail-feath- 

 ers tapering, the tail being thus rendered somewhat cuueate. 



*The characters of this and of other groups are drawn up with reference 

 to the forms treated in the present work, and may or may not require modifi- 

 cation in order to their equal applicability to extra-limital representatives. 



