132 



SAXICOLIN^E. ERITHACUS. 



hair, and generally placed in a hedge or bush. The eggs, five 

 or six in number, are greenish-blue, oval, rather pointed, nine 

 or ten twelfths long, seven-twelfths in breadth. There are ge- 

 nerally two broods in the season. The eyelids and base of 

 the bill are frequently affected with tubercular excrescences, 

 apparently of a carcinomatous nature. 



Hedge Sparrow. Hedge Warbler. Dunnock, Dick-Dun- 

 nock. Shuffle-wing. 



Motacilla modularis, Linn. Syst. i. 329. Accentor modu- 

 laris, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 249. Accentor modularis, 

 Hedge- Chanter, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, ii. 251. 



GENUS XXXIX. ERITHACUS. REDBREAST. 



Bill rather short, straight, slender, broader than high at 

 the base, compressed toward the end ; upper mandible with 

 its dorsal line slightly convexo-declinate, the ridge rather ob- 

 tuse, the notches small but distinct, the tip narrow and ab- 

 ruptly rounded ; lower mandible with the dorsal line ascend- 

 ing and slightly convex, the tip acute. Mouth narrow ; 

 tongue oblong, sagittate and papillate at the base, a little 

 concave above, the tip rounded and lacerated ; oesophagus of 

 moderate width, nearly uniform ; proventriculus oblong ; sto- 

 mach of moderate size, roundish-elliptical, with strong lateral 

 muscles, large tendons, and dense longitudinally rugous epi- 

 thelium ; intestine of moderate length and width ; coeca very 

 small, cylindrical. Eyes of moderate size. Nostrils longish , 

 linear, straight, in the fore part of the rather large nasal si- 

 nus, which is feathered in the greater part of its extent. Aper- 

 ture of ear, large, roundish. Head of moderate size, oblong ; 

 neck short ; body ovate. Legs longish, slender ; tarsus much 

 compressed, anteriorly with a long undivided piece and three 

 inferior scutella ; toes of moderate size, much compressed ; 

 the first stout, the lateral about equal ; claws of ordinary 

 length, arcuate, extremely compressed, laterally grooved, 

 acute. Plumage full, soft, blended ; basirostral bristles pretty 

 long ; wing short, broad, concave, much rounded, of eighteen 

 quills, the first half the length of the second, the fourth long- 

 est ; tail of moderate length, slightly decurved, nearly even. 



The form of the bill is very similar to that of the Thrushes, 

 to which the Robins are closely allied in habits. They fre- 



