182 



NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



Form, &c. — Bill depressed at the base, its breadth there considerably exceeding its height. 

 Its length from the forehead is more than twice its width at the nostrils. There is an elevated 

 ridge between the nostrils. The angles of the mouth are furnished with strong bristles, as in 

 the other Thrushes we have to describe. The wings, when folded, are about an inch and a 

 half shorter than the tail. The first or spurious quill feather is very narrow, and barely ex- 

 ceeds half an inch in length ; the second is shorter than the third or fourth, but much longer 

 than the fifth : the third is the longest. The outer webs of the third and fourth are obliquely 

 sinuated near their tips. The tail is even, the two central feathers being a very little shorter 

 than the rest *. The hind toe is more robust than the others, and has the longest claw ; it 

 is equal to the inner one in length : the outer toe is a little longer. The latter is united, a 

 little beyond its first joint, to the base of the middle toe. The hind claw is more curved 

 than the others. 



Length from the tip of the bill to the end of 

 the tail ...... 



,, of the tail .... 



„ of the folded wing . 



„ of the bill, from the angle of the 

 mouth ...... 



Dimensions 

 Of the male. 



Inches. Liues. 



6 

 

 



11 



Length of the bill, measured 

 of the tarsus 

 of the middle toe 

 of its claw 

 of the hind toe 

 of its claw 



Inches. 

 the ridge 



. 1 

 



. 

 



. 



Lines. 



n 



3 

 9 

 3 

 5 

 31 



[39.] 3. Merula Wilsonii. (Bonaparte.) Wilsons Thrush. 



Genus, Merula. Ray. (Turdus. Linn.) 



Tawny Thrush. {Turdus mustelinus.) Wilson -j-, v., p. 98, pi. 43, f. iii. 



Turdus Wilsonii. Bonap. Syn., p. 75, No. 100. Observ., p. 34, No. 73. 



Ch. Sp. Meiiula Wilsonii, olivaceo-brunnescens subtus albescens, gutture pectoreque maculis fuligneis inter stinctis, 



remigibus 2 — 3 — 4 longissimis ; remige secunda quartam mquanti. 

 Sp. Ch. Wilson's Thrush, obscure olive-brown; beneath whitish; throat and breast marked with dusky spots ; 



the second, third, and fourth quill feathers the longest, the second equal to the fourth. 



This Thrush arrives on the banks of the Saskatchewan in May, and, during 

 summer, haunts the alder thickets and dense willow groves that skirt the 



* In a specimen in Mr. Swainson's museum the two outer tail feathers are slightly shorter than the others, and its 

 closed wing is also two lines shorter than the one described above. 



-}• This Thrush was first described by Wilson; but the name of Mustelinus, which he gave it, was preoccupied. Vide 

 Bonap., Observ., Trans. Phil. Soc. Phil., iv., p. 34, No. 73. 



