236 MERULIDA. 
Joseph Trigg who shot it at Therfield near Royston, in 
Hertfordshire, while it was sitting on an ash tree in the 
evening of the day mentioned. I saw the specimen before 
it was skinned for preservation by Mr. John Norman of 
Royston, and received the first notice of the occurrence 
from my friend Thomas Wortham, Esq., whose influence 
with Mr. Trigg obtained for me the loan of the bird for 
my use in this work, and I beg to return my best 
thanks to all the parties, for the opportunity thus afforded 
me of figuring and describing the first example of the - 
Rock Thrush that has been known to occur in this coun- 
try. I have now very recently heard of another specimen 
shot by a gamekeeper, who not aware of the interest 
attached to such a bird, saved only the head and neck, but 
this portion having been shown to a gentleman conversant 
with ornithology, the species was identified without diffi- 
culty from its peculiar colouring. 
The habits of this Thrush, and the localities it prefers, 
induced M. Temminck in his Manual, to separate it and 
some others of the same character, from the true Wood or 
Sylvan Thrushes, and to include them im a distinct and 
separate section. Mr. Vigors, carrying out this view still 
farther, proposed for this group of ground Thrushes the 
generic title and characters here adopted, and named the 
Rock Thrush as the typical species of his new genus. 
These birds inhabit rocky and mountainous countries, their 
stout legs and short tails, as compared with the Wood 
Thrushes, enabling them to traverse rough ground with 
ease. They frequent the wildest parts of rocky countries, 
and are found in summer on the Uralian mountains, the 
Alps and Pyrenees ; they inhabit Germany, France, Swit- 
zerland and the Tyrol; they are found in several parts of 
Spain, particularly the rocky districts about Aragon; they 
