146 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



TURDUS, Linnaeus. 



Turdus, Limn^us, Syst. Nat. (1735). (Type T. visdvorut, fide G. R. Gray.) 

 Bill rather stout; commissure straight to near the tip, which is quite abruptly 

 decurved, and usually distinctly notched; culmen gently convex from base; bill 

 shorter than the head, both outlines curved; tarsi longer than the middle toe; lateral 

 toes nearly equal, outer longer; wings much longer than the tail, pointed; the first 

 quill spurious and very small, not one-fourth the length of longest: tail short, nearly 

 even, or slightly emarginate. 



TURDUS MUSTELINUS. — Gmelin. 



The Song Thrush ; Wood Thrush. 



Tardus mustelinus, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 817. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 848 

 And. Orn. Biog., I. (1832) 372; V. (1839) 446. 



Turdus melodus, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 35, pi ii. 



Description. 



Above, clear cinnamon-brown, on the top of the head becoming more rufous, on 

 the rump and tail olivaceous ; the under parts are clear-white, sometimes tinged with 

 buff on the breast or anteriorly, and thickly mai'ked beneath, except on the chin 

 and throat, and about the vent and tail coverts, with sub-triangular, sharply defined 

 spots of blackish ; the sides of the head are dark-brown, streaked with white, and 

 there is also a maxillary series of streaks on each side of the throat, the central por- 

 tion of which sometimes has indications of small spots. 



Length, eight and ten-hundredths inches: wing, four and twenty-five one-hun- 

 dredths; tail, three and five one-hundredths ; tarsus, one and twenty-six one- 

 hundredths. 



Hab. — Eastern United States to Missouri River, south to Guatemala. 



THIS beautiful songster is a pretty common summer 

 inhabitant of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode 

 Island. In the other New-England States, it is rarely seen ; 

 and, when we hear of a Song Thrush occurring there, refer- 

 ence is probably made either to the Hermit or Olive-backed 

 Thrush. It arrives from the South about the 10th of May, 

 both sexes making their appearance at about the same time. 

 They soon commence pairing, and frequent the moist thick- 

 ets and thickly wooded glens, where their amours are con • 

 ducted in privacy and peace. 



At this season, the beautiful song of the male is heard at 

 early dawn and early twilight : it seldom sings in the middle 

 of the day, unless the weather is dark and cloudy. This 

 song is a beautiful, melancholy strain, similar to the tone 



