“ I have been j)articular in the description of the locality in which the bird appeared, on account of the 
interval which occurred between the first and second appearance ; for it must be supposed that it was a 
suitable one, or it would not have aaain returned to it after an absence of more than a fortniffht.” — Ibis, 
1859, p. 379 et seq. 
The secluded, shy, and terrestrial habits of the individual observed by Mr. Tomes accord fully with those 
of its Australian ally, as far as I had an opportunity of witnessing them while in that country. I say as far ; 
for although the bird was strictly indigenous, it was so scarce and dotted about in the midst of the forests 
so sparingly, that I never knew when I should meet with it ; and when I did, a transient view only was af- 
forded me. I once found its nest in the midst of a dense brush under Mount Wellington, in Tasmania; un- 
fortunately it was a forsaken one, and contained only a single broken egg. The shape and structure of this 
nest, as well as the kind of situation in which it was placed, accorded pretty nearly with that of the Black- 
bird {JSIerula vulgaris^ ; the colouring of the egg, too, was not very dissimilar. These details, it is true, 
have reference to another species; but I am sure they will be equally applicable to White’s Thrush whenever 
similar opportunities of observing it have been obtained, and for this reason I claim to he excused for in- 
serting them here. 
Speaking of this bird, in the fourth volume of his ‘ Manuel d’Ornithologie,’ Temminck states that it 
“ occasionally visits Western Europe, of which five or six examples may he cited — one in England [all 
that was known to him at the time], two at Hamburg, one on the Rhine, another in Germany, and one 
near Metz ; some other captures are v^aguely spoken of. The species is very abundant in Japan and some 
parts of Asia, whence it comes to us in Europe. I have not been able to find any difference between the 
Hamburg specimens and others from Japan.” One of the two specimens shot on the banks of the Elbe 
was obtained by me in a fresh state; it formed the subject of plate 81, in the second volume of my ‘Birds 
of Europe,’ and is now in the possession of T. B. L. Baker, Esq., of Hardwicke Court, near Gloucester. 
I may add that this is one of the birds which has made Heligoland so famous for rare ornithological visitors, 
several examples having, 1 believe, been killed there. 
Of all the OreocmclcB, the 0. aurea is the largest in the size of its body ; while at the same time it 
has a disproportionately smaller bill and its plumage more strongly lunated than any of its congeners. In 
none of them is there any marked difference in the colouring of the sexes; but, as is the case with our 
common Thrush, the females are a little less stout in their general contour, and comparatively feeble 
in their structure. 
Head, all the upper surface, and upper tail-coverts pale tawny olive ; each feather tipped with a crescent 
of black ; lesser wing-coverts dark or blackish brown, with a large, yellowish tawny, irregular-shaped spot 
just within the tip ; greater coverts tawny olive, tipped with yellow ; wing-feathers brown, margined exter- 
nally with tawny, and each having a large oblong spot of white about the middle of the interior web ; four 
central tail-feathers tawny ; the remainder brown at the base, becoming tawny at the apical portion, and, ex- 
cept the outer one on each side, tipped with white ; axillary feathers nearest the shoulder snow-white for 
their basal half, and deep black for their apical one ; the next or lower series black at the base, and as con- 
spicuously tipped with white ; centre of the throat and abdomen, and under tail-coverts, creamy-white ; sides 
of the neck and under surface creamy-white, deepening into pale tawny towards, and with a crescent of 
brownish black at the tip ; “ irides very dark brown, almost black; upper mandible uniform dark brown; 
lower one similar, but yellowish towards and at the base ; legs and feet pale yellowish brown ; claws the same, 
but paler ” (Tomes). 
The specific term Whitei (superseded by the earlier one of aurea) was assigned to the species by 
T. C. Eyton, Esq., in honour of the celebrated White, of Selborne, a compliment I retain by employing his 
name as an English appellation. 
The figure is of the size of life. 
