PASSERINiE. 
185 
\| 
The Black Merle, or Blaclibird (T. merula, Lin.)— Male entirely black, with the bill and eyelids yellow; female 
blackish brown, reddish and more or less spotted on the breast, [beak seldom wholly yellow. The plumage is soft, 
and wings short and rounded]. A mistrustful species, which however is easily tamed, and sings finely, having 
even been taught to speak. [It is generally seen in pairs, and is at no season gregarious : appears to be peculiar 
to Europe, being replaced by an allied species ( T. p<ecilopterus) eastward.] 
The Ring Thrush {T. torquatus, Lin.).— Black, with the feathers bordered with whitish, and a conspicuous white 
gorget on the breast. [All the proportions of this bird exactly correspond, even to minutiae, with those of the 
Fieldfare, which is placed by many systematists in a dilFerent named division. The Ring Thrush inhabits bleak 
and upland moors, chiefiy in the north of Europe, and migrates far southward at the close of autumn. It is a loud 
but inferior songster, and common only in a few districts of Britain.] 
The lofty mountains of the south of Europe sustain two species (T. saxatilis, Lin., and T. cyaneuSylAn.). The 
first, which is more frequently seen northward, is better known. It sings finely, and nestles in steep rocks, or 
ruined buildings. [These Birds, which with various others constitute the Petrocincla, Vigors, and have since 
even been separated into minor groups, form a natural division apart from the other Thrushes, and are allied to 
the Chats and Wheatears, which they much resemble in habit. They are not found in Britain.] 
The term Thrush is applied more particularly to the species with spotted plumage, that is to say, marked with 
black or brown spots on the breast. There are several in Europe, which assemble in large flocks in winter, and 
migrate southward. 
The Missel Thrush (T. viscivorus, Lin.)— Is the largest [with one exception] of the whole genus. [It is uniform 
yellowish-brown above, and tinged with sulphur-yellow on the under parts, which are speckled with transverse 
spots; beneath the wings white. Is common throughout Britain, and resident at all seasons; feeding princi- 
pally on berries : the young alone associate in large flocks about October, which soon separate and disperse. This 
bird is very wild and distrustful, except at the season of propagation, when it affects the vicinity of human habi- 
tations, and is remarkable for the spirit with which it attacks and drives away Magpies, &c. from near its nest, 
uttering a loud rattling screech : it always builds on trees ; and is a powerful but monotonous songster, heard 
nearly throughout the year.] 
The Fieldfare Thrush (T. lin.).— Distinguished by the ash-colour of the neck and rump, [dark reddish 
colour of the back, &c. Is remarkable for generally nestling in society, being gregarious throughout the year; 
visits Britain in large flocks about November, and departs late in spring; is the least musical probably of 
the whole genus]. 
The Song or Mavis Thrush {T. mmicus, Lin.). — [Brown above, yellowish on the breast, which is spotted with 
Ij! black ; fulvous beneath the wings. It is the finest songster of the European species, and is seldom observed in 
flocks in Britain, where it is resident at all seasons. This bird is a great destroyer of snails.] 
ii| The Redwing Thrush (T. iliacus, Lin.)— Smaller than the preceding, the flanks and beneath the wings, deep 
I rufous ; [back brown, inclining to olive green ; a conspicuous pale streak over the eye ; and longitudinal markings 
on the under parts. This bird is a common winter visitant in Britain, arriving always some weeks before the 
I Fieldfare, and keeping in more straggling flocks, the individuals of which depart gradually in spring, and not 
i| simultaneously, as in that species. It is an inferior songster. 
:j Allied to the Fieldfare, Redwing, and Ring Thrushes, are numerous foreign species, two of which— of interme- 
j diate character to those mentioned— occur in Eastern Europe, T. Naumanni and T. atrogularis ; others, related to 
ij the Redwing and Mavis, all of which are proper to the eastern parts of Asia, including Japan, have slaty-black 
1 plumage, more or less relieved, to which group the T. sibiricus, which has also been met with in the east of 
,j Europe, appertains. There are foreign species of this extensive genus intermediate, in every possible way, to all 
!| those of Europe : some are found almost everywhere. 
■j In a group inhabiting Australia, the Indian Archipelago, and slopes of the Asiatic mountains, the dorsal 
ji plumage is mottled at all ages ; a character peculiar to the nestling dress of the others. One species belonging 
I to it (T. Whitii, Eyton), the largest of all the Thrushes, resembles the Missel Thrush in its form and proportions, 
j[ and occasionally strays to the west of Europe, having been met with even in Britain : it is common on the southern 
1 slopes of the Himmalayas. Another (T. varius, Horsf.) indigenous to Java, conducts to the lanthocinclee, not only 
|l by this style of marking, but by its soft pufiy plumage, short and rounded wings, and large bill and feet. 
; Other Thrushes, peculiar to America, and breeding in the northern division of that continent, are solitary in 
fi habit, and pass insensibly into the Nightingales ; successively diminishing in size ; having the bill gradually 
weaker and tarsi more elongated ; assuming even the russet tint and rufous tail of those birds, gradually losing 
the breast-spots, &c. Such are T. mustelinus, Gm., which differs little from the true Thrushes, T. solitarius, 
Wilsonii, and minor, which last is but arbitrarily separable from the European Nightingales. 
A group now generally distinguished is that of 
The Mockers {Mimus, Boie ; Orpheus, Swains.) — 
Wherein the form is much more elongated, the wings shorter, and tail in particular longer, and the' 
upper mandible more curved. 
The Mocking-bird of North America Lin.).— One of the finest of song-birds, and remark- 
able for its great facility of imitating almost any sound. 
There are several others, all of them peculiar to America. 
Tlie Thrushes form a great centre of radiation, which ramifies in every direction, and graduates till the normal 
