PASSERINiE. 



185 



The Black Merle, or BlacWird (T. merida, Lin.)— Maic entireiy black, with the bill and eyelids yellow; female 

 blackish brown, reddish and more or less spotted on the breast, [beak seldom wholly yellow. The pluma^^e is soft, 

 and win<i;s short and rounded]. A mistrustful species, which however is easily tamed, and sin^s finely, having 

 even been taught to speak. [It is generally seen in pairs, and is at no season gregarious : appears to be peculiar 

 to Europe, being replaced by an allied species {T. 2i^dlopteru.s) eastward.] 



The Ring Thnish [T. torquafus, Lin.).— Black, with the feathers bordered with whitish, and a conspicuous white 

 gorget on the breast. [All the proportions of this bird exactly correspond, even to minurite, witli those of the 

 Fieldfare, which is placed by many systematists in a different named division. The Ring Thnish inhabits bleak 

 and upland moors, chiefly in the north of Kurope, and migrates far southward at the close of autumn. It is a loud 

 but inferior songster, and common only in a few districts of Britain.] 



The lofty mountains of the south of Europe sustain two species (T. saxatil/.<!, Lin., and T. cyaneus, Lin.). The 

 first, which is more frequently seen northward, is better known. It sings finely, and nestles in steep rocks, or 

 ruined buildings. [These Birds, which with various others constitute the Peirocinda, Vigors, and have since 

 even been separated into minor groups, fonn a natural division ai>art from the other Thrushes, and are allied to 

 the Chats and Wlieatears, which they much resemble in habit. They are not found in Britain.] 



The term Thrush is apjilied more particularly to the species with spotted plunioge, that is to say, marked with 

 black or brown spots on the breast. There are several in Europe, which assemble in large flocks in wmter, and 

 migi-ate southward. 



The y\ issel Thrush (T. viscivorus, Lin.)— Is the largest [with one exception] of the whole genus. [It is unifomi 

 yellowish-brown above, and tinged with sulphur-yellow on the under parts, which are speckled with transverse 

 spots; beneath the vangs white. Is common throughout Britain, and resident at all seasons; feeding princi- 

 pally on berriee cne young alone associate in large flocks about October, which soon separate and disperse. This 

 bird is very wild and distrustful, except at the season of propagation, when it affects the vicinity of human habi- 

 tations, and is remarkable for the spirit with whicli it attacks and drives away Magpies, &c. frorn near its nest, 

 uttering ^oud rattling screech : it always builds on trees; and is a powerful but monotonous songster, heard 

 nearly thi'oughout the year.] 



The Fieldfare Thrush {T. pi/ar/s, Lin.).— Distinguished by the ash-colour of the neck and rump, [dark reddish 

 colour of tl'.e back, &c. Is remarkable for generally nestling in society, being gregarious throughout the year; 

 visitj Bntain in large flocks about November, and departs late in spring; is the least musical probably of 

 the whole genus]. 



Tlie Song or Mavis Thrush (T. vursiciof, Lin.). — [Brown above, yellowish on the breast, which is spotted with 

 black ; fidvoiis beneath the wings. It is the finest songster of the European species, and is seldom obsci'ved in 

 flocks in Britain, where it is resident at all seasons. This bird is a great destroyer of snails.] 



The Redwing Thrush (T. iliaciis, Lin.) — Smaller than the preceding, the flanks and beneath the wings, deep 

 rufous ; [back brown, inclining to olive green ; a conspicuous pale streak over the eye ; and longitudinal jnarkings 

 on the under parts. This bird is a common winter visitant in Britain, arriving always some weeks bciore the 

 Fieldfare, and keeping in more straggling flocks, the individuals of which depart gradually in spring, and not 

 simultaneously, as in that species. It is an inferior songster. 



Allied to the Fieldfare, Redwing, and Ring Thrushes, are numerous foreign species, two of which — of interme- 

 diate character to those mentioned — occur in Eastern Europe, T. NitumaiDii and T. atrogularls; otliers, related to 

 tlie Redwing and Mavis, all of which are proper to the eastern parts of Asia, including Japan, have slaty-black 

 plumage, more or less relieved, to which group the T. sibiyicus, which has also been met with in the east of 

 Europe, appertains. There are foreign species of this extensive genus intermediate, in every possible way, to all 

 those of Europe : some are found almost everywhere. 



In a group inhabiting Australia, the Indian Archipelago, and slopes of the Asiatic mountains, the dorsal 

 plumage is mottled at all ages ; a character peculiar to the nestling di-ess of the others. One species belonging 

 to it (T. Whitii, Eyton), the largest of ail the Thrushes, resembles the Missel Thrush in its form and proportions, 

 and occasionally strays to the west of Europe, having been met with even in Britain ; it is common on the southern 

 slopes of the Hiramalayas. Another {T, varius, Horsf.) indigenous to Java, conducts to the Innthociiiche, not only 

 by this style of marking, but by its soft pufl'y plumage, short and rounded wings, and large bill and feet. 



Other Thrushes, peculiar to America, and breeding in the northern division of that continent, are solitary in 

 habit, and pass insensibly into the Nightingales; successively diminishing in size; having the bill gradually 

 weaker and tarsi more elongated ; assuming even the russet tint and rufous tail of those birds, gradually losing 

 the bre;<6t-spots, &c. Such are T. musteUnns, Gm., which differs little from the true Thrushes, T. solitarius, 

 y\"ilso)tii, and ininoi-i which last is but arbitrarily separable from the European Nightingales. 



A group now generally distinguished is that of 



The Mockkrs {Miinus, Boie ; Orpheus, Swains.) — 

 Wherein tlie form is mucli more elongated, the wings shorter, and tail in particular longer, and the 

 u]iper mandible more curved. 



The Mocking-bird of North America (rKrtf»5/)0^.i/(7^ti('^;(5', Lin.).— One of the finest of song-birds, and remark- 

 able fur its great facility of imitating almost any sound. 

 There are sevend others, all of them peculiar to America. 

 The Thrushes form a great centre of radiation, which ramifies in every direction, and graduates till the normal 



