20 ROBIN. 
ROBIN.—TURDUS MIGRATORIUS. — Fic. 5. 
Linn. Syst.i.p. 292, 6. —Turdus Canadensis, Briss. ii. p. 225, 9. — La Litorne de 
Canada, Buff. iii. p. 307.— Grive de Canada, Pl. enl. 556, 1.— Fieldfare of 
Carolina, Cat. Car. i. 29.— Red-breasted Thrush, Arct. Zool. ii. No. 196, — Lath. 
Syn. ii. p. 26.— Bartram, p. 290.— Peale’s Museum, No. 5278. 
TURDUS MIGRATORIUS. * — Linnzus 
Turdus migratorius, Bonap. Synop. p. 15. — Merula migratoria. 
e ""North..Zool. ii. p. 177. fs 
Tuts well-known bird, being familiar to almost every body, will re- 
quire but a short description. It measures nine inches and a half in 
length; the bill is strong, an inch long, and of a full yellow, though 
* In the beautifully wrought out arrangement of the Merwlide, by Mr. Swainson, 
in the second volume of the Northern Zoology, that family will form the second 
among the Dentirostres, or the subtypical ag including, for its five principal 
divisions, the families Merulince, Myotherine, Brachypodine, Orioline, and Cra- 
teropodince ; among these, however, two, or at most three, only, come within the 
range of the northern continent of America, — the first and third. The first, Meru- 
line, or more properly the typical form, will now claim our attention. 
In all the members taken collectively, and in adaptation to their general habits, 
they show considerable perfection, though their form as a part of the Dentirostres 
doés not come up to the typical perfections of that group. The parts are adapted 
for extensive locomotion, either in walking or perching, and in flight ; many perform 
very considerable migrations, and long and rapid flights are often taken in those 
countries even where the climate does not seem to render this necessary. They 
are nearly omnivorous. A great part of their sustenance is‘sought for upon the 
ground, particularly during that season when insects are not indispensable for the 
welfare of their broods ; and their feet and tarsi are admirably formed for walking 
and inspecting the various places where their food is then chiefly to be found. At 
other times they live principally upon fruits and some vegetables, with the larve 
of insects, and the abundant supply of large and succulent caterpillars ; but during 
winter, the harder grains, and more fleshy insects common to low meadows an 
moist woods, such as the various snails, flies, and worms, are nearly their only 
food ; for after the first month of the inclement season has passed, most of the winter 
wild fruits and berries have either fallen from their stocks, or have been already 
consumed by these and many other tribes that subsist upon them. Very few are 
quite solitary : during the breeding season they all separate, but afler the broods 
have been raised, they congregate either in very large flocks or in groups of five or six. 
Those of smaller numbers generally either become more domestic, and approach 
dwellings and cultivated districts on the approach of winter, or retire entirely to the 
depths of solitary forests. Those that congregate in large flocks are always re- 
markably shy, suffer persons to approach with difficulty, and have a sentinel or watch 
on the look-out, to warn them of danger. Their cry is harsh and sharp, or shrill 
and monotonous, except during the season of incubation, when they all produce 
strains of more interest. Some possess great melody, and in others the notes are 
remarkably pensive and melancholy. On this account they are universal favorites ; 
and the early song of the Mavis is watched for, by those residing much in the coun- 
try, as the harbinger of a new season and brighter days. The true Thrushes are all 
inhabitants of woods, and only from the necessity of procuring food resort to the 
open countries. In distribution, they range over the world, and the proportion 
seems pretty equal; India and Southern Europe may, perhaps, have the most ex- 
tensive list, and North America will rank in the least proportion. They are often 
used as articles of food, and the immense havock made among’ the Northern Robins 
of our author, will show the estimation in which they are held as luxuries for the 
