180 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



The great confusion in which the nomenclature of the small North American 

 Thrushes has long remained, compels us again to make a digression on syno- 

 nymes, and to occupy time and space which might be devoted to matters of more 

 lasting interest. The Prince of Musignano, in his valuable " Observations " and 

 " Synopsis/' is of opinion that the Tardus mustelinus of Wilson is a new species, 

 first described in the American Ornithology, and that Wilson's solitarius is the 

 minor ofGmelin and Latham ; the first being described as "tawny-brown" on 

 the upper plumage, and the second as " olive-brown, inclining to reddish on the 

 tail." — Syn., pp. 75, 76. 



In the first of these opinions we perfectly coincide ; the second requires some 

 investigation ; we must, therefore, go back to original authorities. The first 

 systematist in whose works we find the name of Turdus minor is Gmelin ; for it is 

 very remarkable, that although the valuable work of Edwards is frequently cited 

 in the 1767 edition of the Sy sterna Natures, we can discover no reference to the 

 " Little Thrush " figured in the 296th plate of this author's Gleanings. Gmelin, 

 therefore, is the first who describes it in systematic language, and his words are 

 these : " T. spadiceus, subtus albus, pectore flavicante maculis atris vario :" and 

 here, among other synonymes, we find for the first time a reference to the above 

 plate. To this species, therefore, we shall confine our remarks, because the accu- 

 racy of Edwards is perhaps greater than that of any naturalist of his day, and 

 because he is the only one quoted by Gmelin, with the exception of Catesby, 

 whose description is rendered more intelligible by a coloured plate. Edwards 

 says of his bird, " The head, upper sides of the neck, back, wings, and tail, are 

 all of a reddish-brown, or clay-colour, not at all varying in the shades of the fea- 

 thers, as they do in our English Thrushes. The throat just beneath the bill is 

 whitish, the breast yellowish, with dusky spots." He then goes on to state, that 

 this description by no means agrees with the slight account given by Catesby of 

 another bird, called by the name of Little Thrush. Brisson comes next, and we 

 never consult his valuable pages without deriving solid information. Of his 

 Turdus iliacus Carolinensis he observes, that all the upper parts, wings, and tail, 

 " sont d'un brun-roux. La gorge, la partie inferieure du col et la poitrine sont 

 d'un roussatre, marque de taches d'un brun-roux." — Orn., ii., p. 214. This 

 description was made from a bird sent from Canada, as that of Edwards was 

 drawn up from a Philadelphian specimen. 



It thus appears that both these original writers describe one and the same spe- 

 cies. It is also clear that Gmelin borrowed his specific character, not from 



