MERULIDiE. 187 



[41.] 1. Orpheus meruloides. (Swainson.) Thrush-like Mock-bird. 



Genus, Orpheus. Swains. 

 Spotted Thrush. Lath. Syn. iii., p. 27, sp. 13. 

 Varied Thrush. Penn. Arct. Zool, ii. p. 337, pi. 15. 

 Turdus nsvius. Lath. Ind., i., p. 331, sp. 13. ? 



Ch. Sp. Orphe us meruloides, nigrescenti-plumbeus subtus ad rostrum usque helvolus, fascia pectoris nigra incom- 



pleta, remigibus extus maculatis tectricibusque helvolo bi-faseiatis. 

 Sp. Ch. Thrush-like Mock-bird, blackish-grey, beneath almost entirely reddish-orange, with the exception of an 



imperfect black belt across the breast ; wings crossed with two reddish-orange bands, and the quill feathers 



blotched exteriorly with the same. 



Plate xxxviii. 



The structure of this bird appears intermediate between Merula and Orpheus. 

 To the first it assimilates by the comparative straightness of its bill, the length of 

 its wings, and the size, length, and scutellation of its tarsi. On the other hand, 

 it exhibits unequivocal indications of those characters by which Orpheus is so 

 decidedly separated from the true Thrushes ; the notch of the upper mandible is 

 nearly obsolete ; the wings, although long, are slightly rounded ; and the tail is 

 not only rounded and more lengthened, but the lateral feathers are marked with 

 those conspicuous white tips, which so strongly characterize the Mocking-birds. 

 It is unfortunate that, in the only specimen procured, the tail feathers, upon an 

 accurate inspection, appear in a state of moulting ; and thus neither their true 

 length, nor, perhaps, their true form, are developed. We remark, for instance, 

 that the two middle feathers, as in some of the typical Merulce, are shorter than the 

 rest ; but these, we apprehend, are feathers not yet fully developed. This opinion 

 is, in a great measure, confirmed by the figure of Pennant, where the tail is repre- 

 sented as rounded, and fully as long as the wings, a structure which precisely 

 agrees with the American Mocking-bird, the type of the genus Orpheus. We 

 have, nevertheless, preferred representing upon our plate a correct figure of the 

 specimen in question, rather than to supply its supposed deficiencies from any 

 other source than nature. We have in vain looked for a second specimen, both in 

 the London and Parisian collections. In placing this bird with its true congeners, 

 we have ventured to bestow upon it a specific name, which will express what 

 appears to us its real affinities. — Sw. 



2 B 2 



