S IEEUI iA 8 B H T A M A ,
-Im Jm JnntzibJfr' Jokrv Atcum%-8eoK*blforto ZunM nuraliy January 4fy 8M
was procured by us in the spring on the north side of Lake Huron; but it was
not seen by the Expedition in any other quarter; it may, nevertheless, be a
visitor to the more northern regions, as it might have been readily overlooked,
owing to its great similarity to some of the other small Thrushes. Wilson found
numbers breeding, in May, in the Chactaw nation. He describes a nest which
he discovered on the 12th of that month, as being attached to the upper part
of the body of the horizontal branch of a tree. It was constructed with great
neatness, without mud or plaster; the outside composed of coarse rooty grass,
intermixed with horsehair; and the lining of a fine green-coloured grass, perfectly
dry and laid circularly. The eggs were four, of a pale greenish-blue, marked
with specks and blotches of olive, particularly at the great end. The food of the
Hermit Thrush consists chiefly of berries, that occur in a perpetual succession in
the low southern swamps which it frequents.—R.
DESCRIPTION
Of a specimen, killed at Penetanguishene, on the north shore of Lake Huron.
C olour of the dorsal aspect yellowish-brown, approaching, on the exterior webs of the
quill feathers, the tail coverts, and tail, to dull reddish-orange: this latter tint is deepest on
the tail coverts. The inner webs of the quill feathers are'pale clove-brown. The auriculars
have a dull hair-brown colour. The chin is greyish-white; the under surface of the neck
and the breast are white, slightly tinged with wood-biown ; and there is a pretty large triangular
mark of blackish-brown on the tip of each feather. The middle of the belly and vent
feathers have a very pale french-grey colour, approaching to white; and the sides of the
breast and flanks have a pure hair-brown tint. The inner wing coverts have a pale tinge of
wood-hrown, and the insides of the quill feathers are clove-brown ; their inner margins
towards their bases being pale buff-orange*. The bill is dark umber-brown above, the under
mandible yellowish, becoming dark-brown at the tip. Legs clay-coloured.
F orm, &c.—Bill shorter than that of M. minor, and a little narrower at the base ; longer
than that of M. Wilsonii; and of the same length with M. silens, but broader. The notch
on each side of the tip is small, but distinct The folded wings are an inch shorter than the
tail. The first quill feather is less than an inch in length; the fourth is the longest, the third
is scarcely perceptibly shorter, the fifth is not a line shorter, and the second, which is two
lines shorter, is a little longer than the sixth : the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth are sinuated
exteriorly, the last-mentioned one very obliquely. Tail slightly emarginated, the central
feathers being about two lines shorter than the exterior ones. Tarsi, like those of the pre-
* In Manila minor and M. Wilsonii, this part is white, or yellowish-white, without any approach to huff. In M
silens, it is cream-yellow,—R.