CHAPTER V. 



THE PERCHING BIRDS, continued. 





 THRUSHES AND WARBLER'S TO SWALLOWS. 



Families TURDIDJE to HlRUNDlNlD^E. 



IF we follow Dr. Sharpe, in including the warblers in this family, it will be an 

 extensive one, embracing not only the thrushes proper, but likewise the chats, 

 ouzels, warblers, grasshopper- warblers, and leaf- warblers. Mr. Gates, on the other 

 hand, regards the warblers as a distinct family, which he does not even place in 

 juxtaposition with the thrushes. Used in the wider sense, the family is charac- 

 terised by the beak being slender but rather depressed, arid variably modified in 

 the different groups ; the wings are comparatively long and slender, with ten 

 primary quills ; while the tail-feathers may be either ten, twelve, or fourteen in 

 number. Although variable, the feet are generally slender, and the metatarsus is 

 elongated ; while the nostrils are free from hairs. In the typical members of 

 the family, the plumage of the nestling is mottled or squamated, but in the 

 warblers it is like that of the adult female, but more brightly coloured. With 

 the exception of New Zealand, members of the family are found throughout the 

 world. 



The true thrushes (Turdus) and their allies constitute a subfamily 

 (Turdince), the members of which, together with the chats and red- 

 starts, agree in the mottled or squamated plumage of the nestlings ; there is but 

 one complete moult in the year, the number of tail-feathers is never less than twelve, 

 and the metatarsus is smooth behind. In the present subfamily bristles are present 

 at the rictus of the gape. More frugivorous in their tastes than the chats, the 

 thrushes spend a larger proportion of their time on the ground, more especially in 

 open meadowlands, searching for worms and slugs. All possess fine vocal powers ; 

 and they all build cup-shaped nests, generally composed in part of mud. The 

 true or spotted thrushes (Turdus) have the beak of moderate size, decurved and 

 notched near the extremity ; the w r ings and tail are long, and the tail is slightly 

 graduated ; there is no pattern on the underside of the wing ; and the metatarsus 

 is longer than the fourth toe. The feathers of the throat and breast are more or 

 less spotted at all ages. The true thrushes are most abundant in South America, 

 which is the home of no fewer than twenty-four species. Ten breed in North 

 America, while only five breed in Europe and Northern Asia, namely, Pere David's 

 thrush, and the four species next described. Nine species are peculiar to Africa, 

 such as the olivaceous thrush of the Transvaal, another species from Natal, and 



