THRUSH. 67 



53.— WHITE-RUMPED THRUSH. 



Turdus bicolor, Ind. Orn. i. 350. Gm. Lin.'i. 835. 



grillivorus, Locust-eater, Barroiv. Tr. p. 255. 



Sturnus bicolor, Daud. ii. 311. 



Le Spreo, JLevail. Ois. ii. 155. pi. 8S. 



Merle brun du Cap de B. E. Buf. iii. 378. 



Le Spreuw, Thunb. Trav. ii. 48. 



Locust-eating Thrush, Barrow, Trav. in S. Africa, p. 256. 301. 



White-rumped Thrush, Gen. Syn. iii. 64. Id. Sup. ii. 179. ShauAs Zool. x. 243. 



SIZE of a Blackbird ; length ten inches. General colour brown, 

 with a reflection of dull green in some lights ; the belly and rump 

 white; the wings reach to about the middle of the tail. 



Brought from the Cape of Good Hope by M. Sonnerat. 



Mr. Thunberg observes, that this bird is called Spreuw at the 

 Cape of Good Hope, and that it frequently accompanies the larger 

 cattle and sheep, in the morning and evening, picking the insects, 

 which dropping from " the bushes upon the animals, and biting 

 deep in their skins, stick very fast to them and occasion them great 

 pain ;" that it is a shy bird, and makes the nest in the sides of rivers 

 and brooks, and digs holes in the banks ; observed also to feed on 

 ripe grapes, and to fly in great flocks ; often do much damage to 

 the gardens and vineyards ; however, by such kind of food the flesh 

 is rendered very delicate ; not unfrequently the nest is found in old 

 ruined buildings, or holes of decayed trees ; and they will sometimes 

 rob the swallows of their nests : the eggs are five or six in number, 

 greenish, spotted with brown. It is probably the Locust-eating 

 Thrush mentioned by Mr. Barrow : he observes, that the bird is 

 gregarious, and makes the nest in vast numbers together, not greatly 

 different from the Sociable Grosbeak, appearing as one large fabric, 

 big enough for a Vulture. One of these was made on a clump of 

 low bushes at Sneuwberg, and consisted of a number of cells, each 

 of which was a separate nest, with a tube that led into it, through 



K 2 



