British Thrush-Like Birds. 



9 



ochreous yellow. Nestling birds much resemble the hen in general 

 appearance, but the cocks are slightly larger and more deeply 

 coloured than the hens. 



The Ring-Ouzel {Merula torquata). 



The female is paler and browner than the male, and the belt on 

 the throat is brownish instead of white. I have adopted the generic 

 name Merula for the Ouzels or Blackbirds as a convenience, to 

 distinguish them from the Throstles ; with these we begin to see 

 good reliable colour-differences in the sexes. 



MALE BLACKBIRD. 



FEMALE BLACKBIKI). 



The Robin (Erithacus rubecula). 



The actions°of this bird are very similar to those of the Blackbird, 

 and among the foreign relatives of the latter are certain Thrushes, 

 which, from their cinnamon breasts, seem to me to link the Red- 

 breast to the preceding larger types more closely than the Chats. 

 As I have shown in Hints on Cage-Birds, p. 32, the structural 

 differences in the Robin are similar to those ot the larger Thrushes. 

 In addition to the above, the female has the forehead, sides of face 

 behind the bill, and the chin more smoky, and the middle of the 

 throat of a duller and more sandy hue than in the male ; thus it is 

 easy to distinguish a cock Robin at a glance by the uniform bright 

 cinnamon of its forehead, chin, and throat. 



