MERUUDjE. 185 



was procured by us in the spring on the north side of Lake Huron; but it was 

 not seen by the Expedition in any other quarter ; it may, nevertheless, be a 

 visitor to the more northern regions, as it might have been readily overlooked, 

 owing to its great similarity to some of the other small Thrushes. Wilson found 

 numbers breeding, in May, in the Chactaw nation. He describes a nest which 

 he discovered on the 12th of that month, as being attached to the upper part 

 of the body of the horizontal branch of a tree. It was constructed with great 

 neatness, without mud or plaster ; the outside composed of coarse rooty grass, 

 intermixed with horsehair ; and the lining of a fine green-coloured grass, perfectly 

 dry and laid circularly. The eggs were four, of a pale greenish-blue, marked 

 with specks and blotches of olive, particularly at the great end. The food of the 

 Hermit Thrush consists chiefly of berries, that occur in a perpetual succession in 

 the low southern swamps which it frequents. — R. 



DESCRIPTION 



Of a specimen, killed at Penetanguishene, on the north shore of Lake Huron. 



Colour of the dorsal aspect yellowish-brown, approaching, on the exterior webs of the 

 quill feathers, the tail coverts, and tail, to dull reddish-orange : this latter tint is deepest on 

 the tail coverts. The inner webs of the quill feathers are pale clove-brown. The auriculars 

 have a dull hair-brown colour. The chin is grey sh-white ; the under surface of the neck 

 and the breast are white, slightly tinged with wood-brown ; and there is a pretty large trian- 

 gular mark of blackish-brown on the tip of each feather. The middle of the belly and vent 

 feathers have a very pale french-grey colour, approaching to white ; and the sides of the 

 breast and flanks have a pure hair-brown tint. The inner wing coverts have a pale tinge of 

 wood-brown, and the insides of the quill feathers are clove-brown ; their inner margins 

 towards their bases being pale buff-orange *. The bill is dark umber-brown above, the under 

 mandible ye\ wish, becoming dark-brown at the tip. Legs clay-coloured. 



Form, &c. — Bill shorter than that of M. minor, and a little narrower at the base ; longer 

 than that of M. Wilsonii; and of the same length with M. silens, but broader. The notch 

 on each side of the tip is small, but distinct. The folded wings are an inch shorter than the 

 tail. The first quill feather is less than an inch in length ; the fourth is the longest, the third 

 is scarcely perceptibly shorter, the fifth is not a line shorter, and the second, which is two 

 lines shorter, is a little longer than the sixth : the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth are sinuated 

 exteriorly, the last-mentioned one very obliquely. Tail slightly emarginated, the central 

 feathers being about two lines shorter than the exterior ones. Tarsi, like those of the pre- 



* In Merula minor and M. Wilsonii, this part is white, or yellowish-white, without any approach to buff. In M 

 rilem, it is cream-yellow. — R. 



2 B 



