THRUSH. 33 



15— ROCAR THRUSH. 



Le Rocar, Levaill. Afr. iii. 22. pi. 101. 102. 



SIZE of a Blackbird. Bill and legs black ; head and part of 

 the neck blue grey ; back and wings brown, the feathers darker in 

 the middle; beneath from the breast rufous; five of the outer tail 

 feathers on each side rufous, the exterior one marked with a brown 

 line down the shaft, the two middle feathers brown. M. Levaillant 

 adds, that the tail is even at the end, longer than in the European 

 Species, and the wings shorter. In the African one the wings do 

 not reach further than to the middle of the tail, but in the other to 

 nearly the end of it ; in the latter the lower part of the back is whitish, 

 and the whole plumage of a much darker brown ; but in M. L.'s bird 

 no white is visible on the back. 



The female differs, in having the head and neck brown, and the 

 colours less vivid. Both sexes, while young, appear as females. 



This is common at the Cape of Good Hope, as also in the interior 

 parts of it; chiefly in the dry, and rocky parts ; is a wild bird, and 

 difficult to be shot ; builds in the crevices of rocks, has not only a 

 good voice of its own, but will often imitate the notes of other birds. 

 A Variety, with white quills and tail, is figured in the 102d plate, 

 which he supposes to be a young bird. 



A. — Turdus perspicax, Watchful Thrush, Nat. Misc. pi. 961. 

 L'Espionneur, Levail. Afr. iii. 29. pi. 103. 



This does not seem to differ materially from the Rocar, except in 

 haying not only the head, but the whole of the neck, and upper half 

 of the back blue grey; also the wing coverts, the rest of the wing, 

 and quills black, with pale margins ; lower half of the back, and all 

 beneath from the breast rufous ; the tail is a trifle rounded, and 



VOL. V. F 



