130 SAXICOLIN.E. ACCENTOR. 



reside chiefly in stony places and open pastures, espe- 

 cially those covered with small shrubs, but some frequent 

 woods and thickets. On the ground they advance by hop- 

 ping ; their flight is moderately rapid ; they feed on in- 

 sects and worms ; form large nests, lined with soft mate- 

 rials, and lay five or more eggs, generally blue. Most of 

 them are migratory. 



GENUS XXXVIII. ACCENTOR. CHANTER. 



Bill short, straight, somewhat conical, slender, a little 

 broader than high at the base, compressed toward the end ; 

 upper mandible with its dorsal line declinate and nearly 

 straight, the ridge narrow at the base, then convex and some- 

 what flattened, the edges with a very slight notch close to the 

 slightly decimate, narrow, and rather obtuse tip ; lower man- 

 dible with the edges involute. Mouth rather narrow ; tongue 

 short, sagittate, narrow, terminated by two acute points ; 

 oesophagus of moderate and nearly uniform width ; proveiitri- 

 culus oblong ; stomach rather large, roundish -elliptical, com- 

 pressed, its lateral muscles thick, the cuticular lining dense 

 and longitudinally rugous ; intestine of moderate length and 

 width ; coeca very small, oblong. Eyes of moderate size. 

 Nostrils longish, linear, in the fore part of the large nasal 

 sinus, of which the membrane is bare anteriorly. Aperture 

 of ear large, roundish. Head rather small, ovate ; neck short ; 

 body ovate. Legs of ordinary length, rather slender ; tarsus 

 compressed, with seven anterior scutella ; toes of moderate 

 length, much compressed ; the first large, the lateral nearly 

 equal, the third and fourth united at the base, all scutellate ; 

 claws rather long, arcuate, much compressed, laterally grooved, 

 acute. Plumage soft, blended, slightly glossed ; no distinct 

 bristles ; wings rather short, broad, much rounded, of eighteen 

 quills ; the first very small, the fourth and fifth longest ; tail 

 rather long, slightly arcuate, rounded. 



This genus is intimately allied to Turdus, Sylvia, and Saxi- 

 cola, from which it differs chiefly in the involution of the 

 edges of the lower mandible. The stomach being very mus- 

 cular, the species are partly granivorous. 





