rounded, and when folded cover about the first half of the ta il; first quill
rudimentary, the third, fourth, and fifth equal and longest, the second and
sixth slightly shorter than the fifth. Tail slightly forked, and the two outermost
feathers rather shorter than the rest. Tarsi modera’tely strong, distinctly
scutellated anteriorly near to the toes, elsewhere entire; toes robust, the
outer slightly longer than the inner one ; all armed with curved and pointed
claws, the claw of the hinder toe both longest and strongest.
DIMENSIONS.
Inches. Lines.
Length from the point of the hill to
the tip of the tail................ 9 0
Length of the tail............................... 4 0
of the bill from the angle of
the mouth ........................ 1 1
Inches. Lines.
Length of the wings when folded..... 4 6
of the tarsus........................ 1 2^
of the middle toe..............— 0 9
of the outer toe...................... 0 6
of the hinder toe.................... 0 4^
The colours of the female are not quite so bright as those of the male, particularly
those of the belly, the inner surfaces of the shoulders and the internal
edges of the wing feathers.
The first specimens of this thrush were procured in the neighbourhood of Kurichane. The
thickets which occur upon the banks of rivers form its favourite, h a b ita t, and it is usually
found early in the mornings actively engaged under these thickets in seeking its food, which
it often acquires by displacing the rubbish with which the ground in such situations is commonly
covered. When disturbed while so occupied it generally takes wing and flies to the spots most
densely supplied with foliage, in which it endeavours to conceal itself. In all its habits it
closely resembles Le Griverou of Le Vaillant* ( T u rd u s olivaceus), and several individuals
were passed in the first instance without notice under an idea that they were of the last named
species. When one was killed, however, the differences were, readily detected: the throat was
found to want the spots which exist in T u rd u s olivaceus, and the colours generally to be different,
though distributed nearly according to the same pattern.
* Osieaux d’Afrique, plate 98.