186 



NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



ceding and following species, covered before and behind with a scale, in which no divisions 

 can be perceived. Hind toe and inner one equal in length. Nails much compressed, 

 slightly curved ; the hind one the largest. 



Inches. 

 Length from the tip of the bill to the end of 



the tail 6 



,, of the tail .... 2 



,, of the folded wing ... 3 

 „ of the bill, from the angle of the 



mouth . . .... 



Dimensions. 





Lines. 



Length 



of the bill on the ridge 



9 



of the tarsus . 



9 



of the middle toe 



6* 



of its claw 



« 



of the hind toe 



10 



of its claw 



Inches. 



Lines 







7 



1 



H 







9 







if 



. 



H 







H 



That the history of the small North American Thrushes may be rendered as complete as possible, we here subjoin a 

 detailed description of the Merula silens, particularly as it seems intermediate between M. solitaria and M. Wilsonii, 

 having the rufous tail of the first, and the greyish olive-brown upper plumage of the second. 



Merula silens. (Svvainson.) Silent Thrush. 

 Merula silens. Swains. Syn. Mex. Birds, No. 31. 



Ch. Sp. Merula silens, olivaceo-hrunnescens subtus albescens, gutture pectoreque maculis fuligneis notatis, cauda 



tectricibusque ejus sub-rufescentibus, marginibus remigum pallentibus ; remige sexto, secundam sub-aquanti, 



unguibus curvatis. 

 Sp. Ch. Silent Thrush, greyish-olive, beneath whitish ; throat and breast marked with dusky spots; tail and 



upper coverts tinged with rufous ; edges of the quills pale, the second and sixth nearly equal ; claws fully 



curved. 



DESCRIPTION 

 Of a specimen in Sir. Swainson's museum, killed five leagues to the west of Mexico. 

 Colour of the upper plumage hair-brown, inclining to oil-green, — a rather paler and greyer tint than that of M. 

 Wilsonii. The exterior edges of the quill feathers are pale, approaching to yellowish-grey. The tail and its upper 

 coverts present a nearly uniform tint of yellowish-brown, verging towards orange-brown or ferruginous : this colour is 

 very nearly the same with that of the dorsal plumage of M. minor, and is less deeply ferruginous than the tail coverts 

 of M. solitaria. The under plumage is whitish, with a slight tinge of brown on the sides of the throat, and a deeper 

 tint of yellowish -grey on the sides of the breast, flanks, and inner wing coverts. The throat and breast are marked 

 with triangular spots of clove-brown, like those of M. Wilsonii. The interior borders of the quill feathers, particularly 

 towards their bases, are cream-yellow, having less colour than those of M. solitaria, but more than the same parts of 

 the other small Thrushes noticed in this work. Bill dark-brown, lower mandible pale posteriorly. Eyes brown. 



Form, &c. — Bill more slender than that of the other small Thrushes described in the text. The folded wings are 

 an inch shorter than the tail. The second quill feather is a quarter of an inch shorter than the fourth, which is the 

 longest, the third and fifth very nearly equal the latter, and the sixth is only a little shorter than the second : the 

 outer webs of the second, third, and fourth are distinctly sinuated ; that of the fifth is very obliquely narrowed. The 

 tail is more distinctly emarginated than that of any of the other Thrushes with which we have compared it above : 

 the central feathers are upwards of two lines shorter than the exterior ones. 



Dimensions. 



Inches. 

 Length from the tip of the bill to the end of 



the tail ...... 7 



,, of the tail . ... 3 



„ of the folded wing ... 3 

 „ of the bill from the angle of the 



mouth ...... 



Lines. 





 3 

 9 



9* 



Length of the bill on the ridge 

 ,, of the tarsus 

 „ of the middle toe 

 ,, of the middle claw 

 ,, of the hind toe 

 „ of the hind claw 



Inches. 



Lines 







7 



. 1 



Of 







8£ 



. 



3 







5 



. 



31 



