smaller b ill; the feathers of the tail are broader and darker in colour; the under wing-coverts
are of a lighter pale salmon, and the inner margins of the quills are more cinereous, are less
tinged with salmon colour, and the upper plumage is slightly darker in colour than in my specimens
of T. gymnophthalmus”
I am unable to see any specific characters for the separation of T. caribbceus myself, and Mr. Cory
has united Lawrence’s species to T. gymnophthalmus (Cat. West Ind. B. p. 122). It should, however,
be noted that there is apparently a difference in the colour of the “ iris ” between the Grenada and
the continental birds (vide infra).
Specimens from Bogotá are in the Salvin-Godman and Seebohm Collections, but I have not
yet seen any from Peru. A specimen from Pallatanga in Ecuador, obtained by Fraser,, is in the
Salvin-Godman Collection ; it is doubtless this specimen which was determined by Dr. Sclater as
T. albiventris in 1859 (Z. c.). Prof. J. A. Allen, however, records the species as having been
obtained by Dr. Busby in the province of Yungas in Bolivia (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. ii. p. 78).
In Trinidad, according to Léotaud, “ it is common everywhere and permanently resident; being,
however, most frequently met with in the vicinity of habitations. It feeds in flocks, principally on
berries, and in the evening makes its presence known by a song, which is more remarkable for
variety than for sweetness. For its roosting-place it usually selects the small palm-trees which
grow in damp situations, where the arrival of each additional member of the flock is greeted with
a cackling, which does not cease until darkness sets in. It is of a shy nature, but nevertheless
enters the coiirt-yards of the houses to feed on the berries of the trees, in this respect resembling
the Blackbird of Europe. The gourmands of Trinidad highly appreciate this Thrush, particularly
at the season when it feeds on certain aromatic berries.”-
Mr. Frank Chapman writes as follows :—“ Common in Trinidad near the. borders of the forests
and in partial clearings. They are shy, suspicious birds, and some caution is necessary in
approaching them. In general appearance they are typically Thrush-like, and their manner of
flirting their tail on alighting is exactly like that of our Bobin (Merula migratoria). Their ordinary
call-note is a low chdt, quite unlike the call of any Thrush with whose notes I am familiar. They
began to sing on April 6, and in a few days were in full song. The latter is so like that of our
Bobin, that i f it was heard in the habitat of that species it would pass as a slightly aberrant
Bobin’s song. It is not quite so loud as the song of the Bobin, is lacking in variety, and is
sung less continuously, but the character is the same.”
Mr. Ober writes from Grenada:—“ I am positive that I heard this bird in St. Vincent, but only
once, and did not obtain or even fairly see it. Its cry is peculiar and, when once heard, could not be
mistaken. It resembles the cry of the Whippoorwill in the morning, just as it utters the ‘ poor-wili,’
and just preceding the final cluck. It was not a stretch of the imagination, either, to fancy a cry
like ‘ how de dew ’ (as uttered by the country gentleman when saluting an acquaintance), with the
stress upon dew. It has also, when alarmed, or when threading a strange thicket, the soft call-note
of the Thrushes, similar to that of the Grive or Mountain Thrush. It inhabits the thick growth of
old pastures, and seems to prefer the dark recesses beneath the overhanging trees and bushes of the
hill-sides on the borders of the opens.”
Dr. John Grant Wells says that in Grenada this Thrush is “ abundant everywhere from the
coast to the borders of the mountains, frequenting the cocoa-fields and mango-trees, feeding on
* figeur * and other wild berries: it is also frequently seen on the ground, scratching amongst the
dead leaves for insects and larvas; hence it is often caught in springes set for the Perdrix. It has
several very melodious notes, and also an alarm-note or ‘ cluck.’ Its nest is generally placed in the
fork of the cocoa (Theobroma), and is rather a rude and bulky structure, composed of dry roots and
mud, with no soft lining for the eggs, which are three in number, of a pale green, thickly spotted
with brown'. They measure 1-06 inch by 0'80 inch, 1-16 by 0-80, and 1-12 by 0'82” (Proc.
U.S. Nat. Mus. ix. p. 610). —
Adult male. General colour »abov.e olive-brown, with a slight ashy tint, especially towards the
rump and upper tail-coverts; the tad dark sepia-brown, distinctly washed with ashy; wing-coverts
like the back; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills sepia-brown, washed externally with
ashy-olive; crown of head like the back; sides of face and ear-coverts dusky Olive-brown, a little
more dusky on the lores, the cheeks with hardly any white spots ; chin and upper throat dull white,
narrowly streaked with triangular spots of dusky brown; lower throat, fore-neck, breast, sides of
body, and thighs uniform dull earthy-brown, slightly tinged with olive; abdomen and under tail-
coverts white, the latter with brown margins near the base; axillaries and under wing-coverts very
pale orange-buff, the coverts round the bend of the wing ashy-brown; quills dark sepia-brown below,
with a slight, tinge of ashy-buff along the inner w e b s “ bill and feet very clear brown; iris dark
brown; bare space round the eye yellow ” (Léotaud): Total length 8-5 in'ches, culmen 0-9, wing 4-9,
tail 3*6, tarsus 1*2.
I t must be noticed that Mr. Ober gives the colour of the iris as “ wine-red ” and the bill as
“ olive-green, 'tipped with yellow.” As the bill in preserved specimens is parti-coloured, it seems
probable thatjhe latter description is correct.
The olive-backed specimens I believe to be birds in freshly moulted plumage, for it is
evident that the olive tint becomes abraded and the general tone of the upper parts fades to a dull
earthy-brown, while the underparts are similarly affected, and the colour of the breast and flanks
becomes decidedly paler and clearer brown.
Young birds have the same colours as the adults, but have mesial shaft-streaks of buff on the
fdathers of the upper parts, while the wing-coverts have small spots of orange-buff at the tips ; the
bare eye-patch is well-marked, but the bill is entirely horn-colour, though paler towards the en d ; the
throat and under surface of the body áre mostly buff, a little more orange on the chest, which is
obscured by dusky brown edges to the feathers ; the abdomen is ashy-whitish, the under tail-coverts
being buffy-white with the outer web almost entirely brown.
The descriptions have been taken from specimens in the British Museum, and the species is
figured on the same Plate as T. leucomelas from a Guiana specimen in the Seebohm Collection.
[TLB. S.]. '