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ORE OC INC LA AUREA.
White’s Thrush.
Turdus aureus, Hollandre, Faun, de la Moselle, p. 60.
— varius, Pall. Zoog. Rosso-Asiat., tom. i. p. 449.
fVMtei, Eyt. Hist, of Rarer Brit. Birds, p. 92, and fig.
yarius aeii Whitei, Temm. Man. d'Orn., tom. iv. p. 602.
Oreocincla Whitei, Gould, Proc. of Zool. S6c, 1837, p. 45.
Turdus lunulalvs, Bias. List of Birds of Eur., Eng. edit., p. 9.
Oreocincla aurea, Bonap. Cat. des Ois. d’Eur,, p. 6.
T h e known members of the genus Oreocincla, which are not more than three or four in n um b e r , inhabit
the forests o f most parts of the Old World with the exception o f those o f Africa. Some o f them are found
in the extreme south of Tasmania, in Australia, and J a v a ; while others are distributed over India, China,
and J a p a n ; and it is from these latter couutries that the few individuals of O. aurea that have been killed in
Europe have probably wandered.
The first recorded instances of the occurrence of the bird in England will be found in Varrell's ‘ History
o f British Birds,’ where he states that, by the kind permission o f the Earl of Malmesbury, he was enabled
to give a figure o f the species from an extremely beautiful example shot by his Lordship on his estate at
Heron Court, near Christchurch, Hampshire, in January 1828, and, with reference to a second specimen,
mentions that he was indebted to Mr. Jesse for m introduction to his friend Mr. Bigge, of Hampton Conrt,
d to have been shot in die New Forest, Hampshire, by one
o f the forest-kecpers, who parted will, it to •• iiirtl-prmrver at IM w s t j * .« , o f whom Mr. Bigge bought
it for his own collection ; the thwd o *st«d. .« tit. • fu n d s and «,.,<■ o f Natural History,’ vol. xi. p. 78.
to have been obtained by R. L. A&wws. bwi., in the u‘-»irbfe»»ph-.wwi Bamhm ^ 0f ( v j , j . ,
o f G. J . Allman, Esq., Professor of BdiSttv in H. >5........ Dublin. Rm « armtotfcy hv n hannv
chance for ornithologists, a fourth and living raamplv attracted the notice of is«« of our best naturalist,
and sportsmen, Mr. Robert F. Tomes, who perseveriwgly followed up the bird until >w obtained the prize,
an examination o f which led to L ie production of his admirable paper in * The ibis* for 1859, "O n the occurrence
of White s Thrush ( Oreocincla aurea) near Stratford-on-Avon, with-remarks'on the genera Oreocincla,
Turdus, and Merula," from which I take the liberty of making some extracts referring to the present species.
“ The opportunity o f examining a recently killed specimen of this Thrush," says Mr. Tomes, “ occurs so
rarely, that I thought it desirable to make an examination of it a t once, before it had undergone mutilation
o f any of its parts in the process of preservation. The village o f Welford, five miles west o f Stratford-on-
Avon, where the specimen was obtained, is situated in a bend o f the Avon, on a soil o f 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 hedgerows and ivied elms, affording a favourite haunt for many of
the smaller birds—with a good supply o f cherries and other fruits in the summer months, and berries through
the autumn and winter seasons.
" In a small grass raclosure, immediately adjoining the village, and thickly surrounded by eta*», * <r«ud
of mine observed a bird rise from « dry leafy ditch, which at the first glance was mistaken for #
but soon recognized as one o f the Thrush kind. This happened on the 6th of January ; ¡»raring
the account, I stimulated further search, but without effect until the 23rd of that mouth, whec the bird was
again flushed from the same nxlosnre, and, as before, from the bottom o f a dry ditch agt-rrign dead leave».
Again on the 26th it rose from the same ditch, and within a few yards of the same <q*ot. On each ocntstoo
it was busy in turning over the dead leaves, from beneath which it appears to have taken its food. AUb<*«gU
Blackbirds, Thrushes, and Missel-11«rushes were abundant and seen at the saute time feeding am the ivy
and hawthorn berries, the present bird was id way» observed to resort only to the trees or hedge* Mh*u
disturbed,, and then merely as a place of re.-:?. remaining for some time perched in an upright .'.<■• 1-.,
one spot without noticing the berries or the tpede« feeding on them. Ik flight, when w<ins! imm
feeding, was very undulating and low; and it often tied on the ground, ouiv making choir* o f .- tret when
it happened to pass under one, into which it r;>■ ■ «bm«ut vertically. A-- far as its habit» > w..!,: hr . Ntc.-i - i f
from these short opportunities of observation», A wodd appear to be almost entirel* a vrtmHsi-feeder.
Mr. Blyth says the allied Indian species, Oraaeawfo dewing. is gefteradly met with umnnvM »Neb
situation the ground would very likely be the atM ttM w ra th e r than the canes.