TURDIDAE 509 



Smicrornis clings to the branches like a Tit ; Niltava and other 

 forms eat berries and the like in late summer ; Eopsaltria and 

 Gerygone are very fond of insect-larvae. The voice is usually 

 faint, but is harsh in Terpsiphone, Smithornis, and Batis, croak- 

 ing in Piezorhynchus and Lanioturdus ; Sisura whistles ; Gery- 

 gone, Malurus, and our Pied Flycatcher, have pleasing Eedstart- 

 like songs ; while that of Microeca, which often soars aloft when 

 singing, is said to resemble the strain of the Chaffinch. The neat 

 nest, usually formed of grass, moss, leaves, bark, fibres, or hair, and 

 not infrequently decorated with lichens or cobwebs, is placed in low 

 forks or cavities of trees, if not among creepers or outgrowths on 

 banks, Terjpsiphone preferring higher situations. Gerygone builds 

 a covered pear-shaped structure, with or without a protecting 

 porch, of like materials, lined with fur or feathers, and suspends it 

 in shrubs ; Malurus and Smicrornis make rounder fabrics ; while 

 that of Ochromela is somewhat similar, but is composed of grass 

 and ferns, and usually placed in low vegetation. The eggs, in 

 number from two to six, are greenish- or buffish-white, with red, 

 brown, or rarely grey, spots and blotches ; exceptionally they are 

 uniform light blue, as in Muscicapa atricapilla ; white, as in 

 Chelidorhynx ; apple-green, green-blue, or whitish, with reddish- 

 brown, yellowish, or lilac markings, as in Uopsaltria ; or white, with 

 red or purplish spots, as in Malurus, Cliasiempis, and Gerygone. 



Fam. VII. Turdidae. — This group is here divided into five 

 Sub-families, (1) Turdinae or Thrushes and their allies ; (2) Myio- 

 dectinae ; (3) Sylviinae or Warblers; (4) Polioptilinae ; and (5) 

 Miminae or Mocking-birds. The first and third of these are 

 often considered separate Families, but they are so closely con- 

 nected by the Saxicoline and Euticilline forms that they can 

 hardly lay claim to such rank, while the Accentorinae and Eegu- 

 linae of certain authors seem imnecessary. The Miminae shew 

 some affinity to the Wrens (Troglodytidae). 



Sub-fam. 1. Turdinae. — In this section the bill is usually rather 

 long and stout, being notched but hardly curved, with few, if any, 

 basal bristles; it is somewhat hooked in the so-called genus Geocichla 

 — where it is much lengthened in five species, and abbreviated in G. 

 princii ; large, broad, and arched in Turnagra (a doubtful member 

 of the Family) ; comparatively short and slender in Sialia, Muti- 

 cilla, JErithacus, Saxicola, and so forth ; more robust in Accentor. 

 The metatarsus is long in Cathartis, Calliope, and Notodela, but 



