156 THRUSH. 



208.— WHITE-BACKED THRUSH. 



Turdus Alapi, Ind. Orn. i. 359. Gm. Lin. i. 826. 

 L'Alapi de Cayenne, Eiif. iv. 485. PI. enl. 701. 2. 

 White-backed Thrush, Gen. Syn. iii. 82. Shaw's Zool. x. 284. 



LENGTH six inches. The upper part of the head, neck, and 

 back, are olive-brown ; wings deep cinereous brown, on the middle 

 of the back a white spot ; throat, fore part of the neck, and breast 

 black ; the rest of the under parts ash-colour ; wing coverts marked 

 with small white spots ; tail cuneiform, and blackish ; legs pale 

 yellow. The female wants the white spot on the back ; chin white ; 

 the rest of the under parts incline to rufous ; sides of the vent, and 

 under tail coverts greyish-ash ; and the tips of the wing coverts pale 

 rufous ; it has also the upper parts of the body paler than in the 

 male. Both sexes vary considerably at different periods of age. 



Inhabits the thick woods of Guiana, in vast troops, running on 

 the ground, leaping at times on the low branches, but rarely flying to 

 any distance ; are very agile birds ; feed on ants ; have a quavering 

 kind of note, followed by a sharp cry, often repeated when answering 

 one another. 



209.— BLACK-CRESTED THRUSH. 



Turdus cirrhatus, Ind. Orn. i. 359. Gm. Lin. i. 826. 



Fourmillier huppe, Buf. iv. 476. 



Black-crested Thrush, Gen. Syn. iii. 83. Shaw's Zool. x. 311. 



LENGTH six inches. Irides black ; the top of the head furnished 

 with a crest of long black feathers, which can be erected at pleasure; 

 throat black and white mixed ; fore part of the neck and breast 

 black, the rest of the plumage greyish ash-colour ; wing coverts tip- 

 ped with white ; tail two inches and one-third in length, cuneiform, 



