6 
MERULID.E. 
The eggs of this species vary somewhat in colour and 
markings ; some are greenish-white, spotted with brownish- 
red and purple, others are reddish-white in the ground-colour, 
with large blotches of red-brown : they also differ much in 
size, the one figured in our plate being a large specimen. 
They are usully four or five in number. 
The entire length of the Missel Thrush is eleven inches ; 
the wing, from the carpus to the tip, six inches ; the tarsus 
one inch and a quarter; the middle toe one inch ; the bill, 
from the forehead, three quarters of an inch. 
The generic characters of MerulidcE are :—Bill, of mode¬ 
rate length, slightly notched near the tip, straight at the base, 
and inclining downwards at the point; nostrils partly covered 
with a membrane ; gape fringed with bristles ; legs of mode¬ 
rate length and strength, the tarsus longer than the middle 
toe ; the outer and middle toes united at the base. The 
first quill-feather very short, the third and fourth the longest 
in the wing, The flesh of all this genus is remarkably good. 
The egg No. 46 belongs to the Missel Thrush. 
