Mr. 11. F. Tonies on White’s Thrush. 
379 
as private persons. But there is one gentleman, with whom, 
from his position as Editor of ‘ The Ibis/ this excuse would 
not be valid; and therefore in exceptionally particularizing Mr. 
P. L. Sclater as one of those to whom whatever merit there 
may be in this paper is largely due, we offer our best thanks 
equally to our unnamed friends, especially those resident in that 
island for whose prosperity we most fervently wish. 
XXXVI.— On the occurrence of White’s Thrush (Oreocincla 
aurea) near Stratford-on-Avon, with remarks on the genera 
Oreocincla, Turdus, and Merula. By Robert F. Tomes. 
The opportunity of examining a recently-killed specimen of the 
Turdus aureus of M. Hollandre (T. Whitii of YarrelPs ‘British 
Birds*), occurs so rarely, that on the receipt of a recently-shot 
specimen, I thought it desirable to make an examination of it 
at once, before it had undergone mutilation of any of its parts 
in the process of preservation. Afterwards I examined with 
care the digestive organs, and the form and proportion of its 
sternum and other bones. The record of these peculiarities, 
with the addition of some remarks which I am able to give 
relative to its habits, will, I believe, render the following de¬ 
scription more complete than any one which has yet appeared. 
When examining the osteology, I had occasion to make a 
comparative use of the skeleton of some other of our British 
Thrushes, and shall take the present opportunity of adding a 
few comments on the value of some of the divisions into which 
the genus Turdus has been divided. 
I may commence by stating that the village of Welford, five 
miles west of Stratford-on-Avon, where the specimen was 
obtained, is situated in a bend of the Avon, and that the soil is 
a rich alluvium. Its position is highly favourable for the 
growth of timber and fruit trees; and it is well shrouded in 
orchards and small enclosures, fringed with their hedge-rows and 
ivied elms, affording a favourite haunt for many of the smaller 
birds, with a good supply of cherries and other fruits in the 
summer months, and of berries through the autumn and winter 
seasons. From a cherry orchard, a few miles down stream, I 
