GOLD-VENTED THEUSH. REDBREAST. 39 



SPECIES 36 THE GOLD-VENTED THRUSH. 



Turdus aurigaster. Viellot. 

 Turdus chrysorhcens. Temm. 



OF great rarity in its occurrence, this beautiful species 

 claims a place in our Fauna from a specimen in the pos- 

 session of Dr. Burkitt, of Waterford : "It was purchased 

 by that gentleman from a country lad who brought it into 

 Waterford, in 1838, with a number of blackbirds (Turdus me- 

 rula) and snipes, and who believed it to be a hen blackbird ; 

 he shot it at Mount Beresford, three miles and a half from 

 Waterford."* The unusual interest attached to this specimen 

 may at once be understood, from its being the only bird of 

 the kind ever obtained in Europe. Even in its own country 

 we are ignorant of its habits and history. 

 Habitat Western Africa. 



FAMILY VII. SAXICOLINJE (STONECHATS). 



GENUS XVIII. ERITHACUS (KEDBREASTS). 

 SPECIES 37 THE COMMON REDBREAST. 



Erithacus rubecula. Linn, 

 Bee Jin rouge-gorge. Temm. 



THIS privileged, pert, and lively little fellow is a general fa- 

 vourite with all ; and of nearly a hundred perching birds 

 occurring in Ireland, it is the only species which places un- 

 bounded confidence in man. True it is, that the swallow 

 and martin exhibit a decided preference for the neighbour- 

 hood of civilization, and are found to nidify in the immediate 

 vicinity of man, yet they are as fearful of his presence as the 

 most solitary and timid of our native birds. The boldness of 

 the redbreast may be at once traced to the fact of its never 

 being molested, and its fearless familiarity seldom taken ad- 

 vantage of; as, " confiding in his ruddy breast," 



" Half afraid at first, 



Against the window beats, then brisk alights 

 On the warm hearth, then, hopping on the floor, 

 Eyes all the smiling family askance, 

 And pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is, 

 Till, more familiar grown, the table crumbs 

 Attract his slender feet." 



* Thompson. 



