WOOD T II R U S II. 
31 
by a neighbor, he pronounced it a Muscicapa, and I think it much 
resembles the Moucherolle de la Martinique, 8 Buffon 374, PI. Enlum. 
508. As it abounds in all the neighborhood of Philadelphia, you may, 
perhaps, by patience and perseverance (of which much will be requisite) 
get a sight, if not a possession of it. I have for twenty years interested 
the young sportsmen of my neighborhood to shoot me one ; but as yet 
without success." 
It may seem strange that neither Sloane,* Catesby, Edwards nor 
Buffon, all of whom are said to have described this bird, should say 
anything of its melody ; or rather, assert that it had only a single cry 
or scream. This I cannot account for in any other way than by sup- 
posing, what I think highly probable, that this bird has never been 
figured or described by any of the above authors. 
Catesby has, indeed, represented a bird, which he calls Turdus mini- 
mus,^ but it is difficult to discover, either from the figure or description, 
what particular species is meant ; or whether it be really intended for 
the Wood Thrush we are now describing. It resembles, he says, the 
English Thrush ; but is less, never sings ; has only a single note, and 
abides all the year in Carolina. It must be confessed <that, except the 
first circumstance, there are few features of the Wood Thrush in this 
description. I have myself searched the woods of Carolina and 
Georgia, in winter, for this bird, in vain, nor do I believe that it ever 
winters in these states. If Mr. Catesby found his bird mute during 
spring and summer, it was not the Wood Thrush ; otherwise he must 
have changed his very nature. But Mr. Edwards has also described 
and delineated the Little Thrush, J and has referred to Catesby as hav- 
ing drawn and engraved it before. Now this Thrush of Edwards I 
know to be really a different species ; one not resident in Pennsylvania, 
hut joassing to the north in May, and returning the same way in Octo- 
ber, and may be distinguished from the true Song Thrush ( Turdus 
melodus) by the spots being much broader, brown, and not descending 
below the breast. It is also an inch shorter, with the cheeks of a bright 
tawny color. Mr. William Bartram, who transmitted this bird, more 
than fifty years ago, to Mr. Edwards, by whom it was drawn and 
engraved, examined the two species in my presence ; and on comparing 
them with the one in Edwards, was satisfied that the bird there figured 
and described is not the Wood Thrush [Turdus melodus), but the tawny- 
cheeked species above mentioned. This species I have never seen in 
Pennsylvania but in spring and fall. It is still more solitary than the 
former, and utters, at rare times, a single cry, similar to that of a 
* Hist. Jam. ii., 305. 
t Catesby, Nat. Hist. Car. i., 31. 
X Edwards, 296. 
