AVES. 
I 186 
generic features disappear. We have already seen them pass through Petrocincla, into the Chats and Wheatears, 
to which should be added the Robins, Redstarts, Phaenicorns, &o. ; through T. varius, into the lanthocindcsy 
Gould, an eastern group, with large bill and feet, very soft plumage, and short wings, the species of which inhabit i 
shrubberies, and find their food chiefly on the ground, never flying to any distance ; through certain North Ame- 
rican species into the Nightingales ; and the passage into various other received genera is equally gradual : in a 
word, these latter are merely ramiflcations of Turdus, different as some of them appear in extreme cases. Thus ‘ 
Cinclosoma, Vigors, conducts from the Fieldfare to the subdivision Accentor ; the Dippers and Ant-catchers to the j| 
Wrens and Tree-creepers, &c. &c.] I 
Some of these birds appear to approximate the Shrikes in their habits, although there is nothing in P 
the form of the beak to distinguish them from other Thrushes. I 
There are even no available characters by which to distinguish certain African species, which live in iq 
numerous bustling troops, like Starlings, pursue insects, and commit great havoc in gardens. ’ 
Several of them are remarkable for the glossy tints of their plumage, which are of a browned steel-colour, (as 
T, auratus and T. nitens, Tern.) ; and one of the former for its cuneated tail, which is a third longer than the 
body (T. oeneus, Tern.) [The straightness of the wing indicates these birds to belong rather to the Starling group, 1“ 
as does also their brown and spotless nestling plumage, the wing primaries of which are shed at the first moult, 
which is not the case in any of the Thrush tribe. Their habits, as already mentioned, are strictly those of the 
Starlings.] 
We conceive it proper to approximate also the New Guinea Thrush, with a tail three times longer than the 
body, and a double crest on the head, which has been considered a Bird of Paradise {Paradistea gularis, Latham, 
and P. nigra, Gm.), but only on account of the incomparable magnificence of its plumage. M. Vieillot applies to 
it the generic name Astrapia. 
Other Thrushes with brilliantly shining plumage, the occipital feathers of which are pointed as in the Starlings, 
compose the Lamprotornis of Temminck. [These also strictly pertain to the natural family of Starlings.] We | 
should distinguish the L. erythrophrys, on account of its bright red eyebrows, formed of cartilaginous feathers. i 
Some Thrushes have the bill so slender, that it approximates that of the Wlieatears (the Ixos of Temminck). 
[These birds are mostly crested, and have bright red feathers under the tail, which generally intimates that that j- 
appendage is carried erect. They rank among the very finest of singing birds, and the celebrated Buhl-buhl 
of the Oriental poets is one of them : all are peculiar to the eastern hemisphere, and they are closely related to the i ^ 
Philedons, into which they pass by insensible gradations.] 
Others have a slender bill, but straight and strong, and in the greater number of them the tail is excessively ; 
forked. They are the .^Enicures {Mnicura, Tern.), [a group having much the appearance, at first sight, of the Pied i 
Wagtails, and resembling them in habit, but which are essentially modified Thrushes, and not distantly removed 
from the Wheatears]. 
Others, again, [closely allied to the last,] are distinguished by having legs so long, that they have-the general i 
appearance of Waders. They constitute the Grallina of Vieillot, or T any pus of Oppel. 
The Crinons {Criniger, Tern.) — j 
Are Thrushes with strong setae at the gape, and which have sometimes bristly feathers on the neck. | 
Such is Cr. barbatus, Tern. (Col. 88). 
The Antcatchers {Myothera, Illig.) — ■ 
Are known by their lengthened hmbs and short tail. They subsist on insects, and principally Ants : 
inhabit both continents. 
Those of the eastern hemisphere, however, are remarkable for their brilliant colours. They are 
The Breves of BufFon {Pitta, Vieillot), — 
[The plumage of which recals to mind that of the Halcyons and Kingfishers, the latter of which they 
further resemble in their flight, as do also the Dippers and Wrens, and they similarly frequent streams 
and brooks, like the Dipper of Europe.] 
Such are Corvus brachyurus, Gm., and several other beautiful species, to which we add the Turdus cyanurus, 
Latham, or Cornus cyanurus, Shaw, which only diflers in the tail, which is rather more pointed. [There are indeed 
two natural subdivisions, distinguished apart by the form and structure of the tail]. 
The Pitta thoracina. Tern., of which MM. Vigors and Horsfield make their genus Thimalia, is but little removed 
from P. cyanura, Vieillot, if we except its sombre hues and its beak, which latter diminishes more regularly in 
front, and thereby approaches the Tanagers. 
Those of the New Continent, which are much more numerous, have brown tints, and vary in the : 
length and stoutness of the bill. They obtain their living from the enormous Ant-hills which abound ; 
in the woods and deserts of South America ; and the females of them are larger than the males. These ■ 
birds fly but little, and have sonorous voices, even extraordinarily so in some instances. [They are ; 
essentially gigantic Wrens.] 
