16 WOOD THRUSIL. 
with pointed spots o. o.ack or dusky, running in chains from the sides 
of the mouth, and intersecting each other over the breast to the 
belly, which, with the vent, is of a pure white; a narrow circle of 
white surrounds the eye, which is large, full, the pupil black, and the 
iris of a dark chocolate color ; ‘the inside of the mouthis yellow. The 
male and female of this species, as, indeed, of almost the whole genus 
of Thrushes, Uiffer so little, as scarcely to be ‘distinguished from each 
other. It is culled by some the Wood Robin, by others the Ground 
Robin, and by some of our American ornithologists Turdus minor, 
thongh, as will hereafter appear, improperly. The present name has 
been adopted from Mr. William Bartram, who seems to have.been the 
first and almost only naturalist who has taken notice of the merits of. 
this bird.* ; - 
This sweet and solitary songster inhabits the whole of North Amer- 
ica, from Hudson’s Bay to the peninsula of Florida. He. arrives in 
Pennsylvania about the 20th of April, or soon after, and returns to the: 
south about the beginning of October. The lateness or earliness of 
the season seeras to make less difference in the times of arrival of our 
birds of passage than is generally imagined. Early in April the woods 
are. often in considerable forwardness, and scarce a summer bird to 
be seen. On the other hand, vegetation is sometimes no further 
advanced on the 20th of April, at which time (e.g. this present year, 
1807) numbers of Wood Thrushes are seen flitting through the moist, 
woody hollows, and a variety of the Motacilla: cee chattering from 
almost every bush, with scarce an expanded leaf to conceal them. 
But at whatever time the Wood Thrush may arrive, he soon announces 
lris presence in the woods. With the dawn of the succeeding morning, 
- mounting to the top of some tall trée that rises from a low, thick-shaded 
* Almost every county nus its peculiar and favorite songsters, and even amon, 
the rudest nations the cries #nd songs of birds are listened to, and associated with 
their general occupations, their superstitions, or religion. In America, the Wood 
Thrush appears to hold a rank equal to the Nightingale and Song Thrush of Europe : 
Jike the latter, he may be oftentimes seen perched on the summit of a topmost 
branch, during a warm and balmy evening or morning, pouring forth in rich melody 
- his full voice, and will produce associations which a forcigner would assimilate 
with the warblers of his own land. 
“The song of the Wood Thrush,” says Mr. Audubon, “ although composed of but 
few noles, is so powerful, distinct, clear, and mellow, that it is Impossible for any 
person to hear it without being struck with the effect it produces on the mind. 1 
do not know to what instrumental sounds I can compare these notes, for I really 
know none so meJodious and barmonical. They gradually rise in strength, and 
then fall in gentle cadence, becoming at length so low as to be scarcely audible.” 
Nhey ze easily reared from ‘the nest, and sing nearly as well in confinement ‘as 
when free, ‘ . 
Prince C. L. Bonaparte, in his Nomenclature of Wilson’s North American Orni- 
thology, remarks, that our author was the first. to distinguish the three closely 
allied species of North American Thrushes by decided characters, but that he has 
nevertheless embroiled the nomenclature of this and his 7" mustelinus : —“This 
bird being evidently the J’. mustelinus of Gmelin and Latham, Wilson's new name, 
which is not irate agreeably to any language, must be rejected.” ° 
The title for our present species, allowing Bonaparte to be correct, and of which 
there appears little doubt, will therefore now stand, Wood Thrush, Wilson; Tur- 
dus mustelinus. Gmelin 3 and T. melodus wil] come in as ¢ synonyme; while Wil- 
son’s 7. mustelinus, being without a ame, has been most deservedly dedicated to 
the memory of the great Americ ornithologist himself. — Ep. 
