491 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



eric forms, as, for instance, the thrush (Nesocichla eremita), which inhabits Tristran 

 d'Acuuha, an island in mid- Atlantic, " one of the most remote and isolated spots on 

 the globe." The family is only scantily represented in America, the thrushes and 

 some few allied forms being only a small proportion of the enormous number of Old 

 World 'warblers.' 



Some of these American forms, however, belong to the most interesting, among 

 which, on account of their apparent relationship to the Old World fly-catchers, the 

 solitaires or fly-catching thrushes (Myadestes) stand first. One species occurs in 

 the middle and western parts of our country, though the headquarters of this genus 

 is Central America and the Antilles, nearly every one of the mountainous islands 

 being inhabited by a distinct species. They are known as exquisite songsters of very 

 retired habits. An abstract of Mr. F. Ober's account of the 'invisible bird' of St. 

 Vincent, one of the smaller Antilles, may not be out of place. Its systematic name 

 is M. sibilans ; it is blackish above and orange-rufous beneath, one of the most distinct 

 species of the group. Mr. Ober writes as follows : " The local name of the ' Sou- 

 friere-bird,' from the French word soufrtere, a sulphur mountain, an inhabitant of the 

 volcano, has been obtained from the Caribs and the negroes, as the bird is rarely heard 

 outside a gunshot limit from the crater. Its habitat is strictly mountainous, and I do 

 not think it is ever found at a lesser height than one thousand feet above the sea; 

 and in the dark ravines and gorges seaming the sides of the cone it finds a congenial 

 retreat. It resembles a, closely-allied bird of Dominica, the ' mountain whistler,' in 

 many particulars, especially in its habits of seclusion, shyness, and melody of sono-. 

 It is, however, much shyer than even the Dominica bird ; and, while the latter seems 

 to prefer the solitude of dark gorges more from a love of retirement than fear of man, 

 the soufriere-bird is timid, even suspiciously watchful of man's presence, and flies from 

 his approach. In its wild, sweet, melancholy music, it strikingly resembles the 

 'mountain whistler,' but the notes are different. From the dense thicket of trees 

 bordering the ti-ail around the crater this bird sends forth its mystic music, and darts 

 away at the slightest indication of human proximity to its haunts. As the earth sup- 

 porting the trees it inhabits is cut into every conceivable shape of hole, rut, and 

 ravine, and as, moreover, the place swarms with monster snakes, the terror of the 

 negroes, almost the only people crossing the mountain, it has been connected with the 

 superstitions of the negro, and has ever remained the ' invisible, mysterious bird with 

 the heavenly song.' The Indians avoided its haunts, and regarded with veneration 

 this bird that filled the air \vith unearthly melody; for generations they have pre- 

 served the tradition of its existence, and vaguely associated it with the tutelar deity 

 of the volcano." 



Not distantly related are our lovely bluebirds (Sialia), a group which has been 

 considerably knocked about in the systems. It is really rather isolated, and the only 

 very nearly allied form is Ridgwayia pinicola, from the high pine woods of Mexico, 

 a rare species of very limited distribution. It is colored very much like a bluebird 

 in the first plumage, but is much larger. 



It will be necessary to confine our remarks to such forms as are illustrated in the 

 accompanying cuts. 



In the first we have two European representatives of the genus Turdits, to which 

 also belong our North American wood-thrush ( T. mustelinus), and its many small 

 allies. Nearest to these, and similarly colored, but with rusty under wing-coverts, 

 comes the figure to the left, the song-thrush (T. musicus), the musical powers of which 



