110 
TURDUS MELODUS. 
perpetually serenades us with some of the sweetes* 
notes, and as clear as those of the nightingale. I ha^® 
followed it for miles, without ever but once gettiugf * 
good view of it. It is of the size and make of th* 
mocking bird, lightly thrush coloured on the back, in'® 
a greyish white on the breast aud bellv. Mr 
my son-in-law, was in possession of one, which had bee® 
shot by a neighbour; he pronounced it a muscicap^ 
and I think it much resembles the Mouc/te rolle de 
Martinique, 8 Biiffon, 374, pi. enlum. 568. As 
abounds in all the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, yo® 
may, perhaps, by patience and perseverance, (of wlii®^ 
much will be requisite,) get a sight, if not a possessio®' 
of it. I have, for twenty years, interested the yonU^ 
sportsmen of my neighbourhood to shoot me one, b®b 
as yet, without success.” 
It may seem strange that neither Sloane,# Catesbp 
Edwards, nor Buil'on, alt of whom are said to 
described this bird, should say any thing of its melodf’ 
or rather, assert that it had only a single cry or screai®' 
This I cannot account for in any other way than bf 
supposing, what I think highly probable, that this bir'^ 
has never been figured or described by any of tb® 
above authors. 
Citesby has, indeed, represented a bird, which b« 
calls turdus tmmmus,f but it is diflicult to discove®' 
either from the figure or description, what particul®® 
species is meant ; or whether it be really intended 1’®^ 
the wood thrush we are now describing. It resemble®' 
he says, the English thrush; but is le.ss, never sini®’ 
has only a single note, and abides all the year '® 
Carolina. It must be confessed, that, e.vcept the 
circumstance, there are few features of the wood thriis®, 
in this description. Though it is believed that som® , 
our bii'ds of passage, and, among them, the prcsCj 
species, winter in the Carolinas, yet they rarely bre®®, 
there ; and when they do, they are certainly vocal, ^ 
Mr Catesby, therefore, found the bird niute duri®? 
spring and summer, it M as not the wood thrush, otlic®* 
* Itist. Jam. ii, 305. f Catesbv’s Nat. Hist. Car. i, 3*’ 
