p. 132, 1870, p. 180). The species was likewise met with at David by Hicks (Salvin, Ibis, 1872,
p. 314), and Mr. Salvin observed it at Obispo (Biol. t. c. p. 18).
Specimens from Colombia seem to me to be absolutely identical with those from Central
America, to judge from the specimens in the British Museum. Three of these were purchased
from dealers, but the Salvin-Godman Collection contains one example from Santa Marta obtained
by Mr. F. A. Simons in February 1879 (Salvin and Godman, Ibis, 1880, p. 115).
Grayson writes:—“ I procured specimens near Tepic at the beautiful hacienda of Janja,
belonging to Barron and Forbes, in the months of April and May; they were in full song then, and
commencing to build their nests among the orange- and mango-groves that so handsomely ornament
the grounds of Janja. One was here kept in a cage and its melodious whistling notes could be heard
for some distance. Their song somewhat resembles that of the northern Robin (Turdus migratorias),
but is more voluminous.”
Mr. Nutting says that, in Costa Rica, “ the habits and note were similar to those of Merula
migratoria. It was rather solitary and silent during the time I collected in the region (April), but
this is probably due to the fact that it was the breeding-season.” Von Frantzius did not think much
of the singing-powers of Gray’s Thrush, but his testimony does not agree with that of Messrs. Salvin
and Godman. They write : |||“ It is usually to be seen in Guatemala in the outskirts of plantations
and in the orchards near houses, but not so much in the forest away from habitations. Its song is
rich and of considerable compass, being quite equal to that of any of its congeners. Its powers of
song make it a favourite cage-oird in Spanish and native houses.” Mr. F. M. Chapman also praises
its song §p=íf| The calls of Merula grayi bear a strong resemblance to certain of those of. our Robin
([Merula migratoria), but it has also a wholly distinctive nasal mewing note. Its song I consider to
be one of the finest I have ever heard a bird sing. In its varied character, fluency, and execution it
suggests the song of the Cat-bird (Galeoscoptes carolinensis), Thrasher (Harporhynchus rufus), and
Mocker (Mimus polyglottus), but it is sweeter in tone and less consciously sung; in spirituality I was
reminded of both the Wood-Thrush (Turdus mustelmus) and Hermit-Thrush (T. pallasi). In short,
it is a flawless performance, and, heard at nightfall, when the birds sing most freely, it is one of the
most satisfying bird’s songs to which it has been my fortune to listen.”
In Nicaragua Mr. Richmond found the species common, and he considers the song to be not
unlike that of Merula migratoria, although somewhat inferior. On the Escondido the banana-plan-
tations are its favourite haunts, and it frequently places its nest in the bunches of fruit, occasionally
building in the space at the junction of a leaf with the stem of the plant. “A nest secured on July 1st
resembled that of M. migratoria in having the walls well plastered with mud. It contained two fresh
eggs, measuring 1*09 by 0‘78, and 1*14 by 0-79 inch; pale bluish-grey, spotted and blotched with
reddish-brown. Two young birds just able to fly were found on the 18th of June. It is interesting
to note that in the tropics many species lay but two eggs.: The domestic fowls are not so prolific as
in the north apparently, and'their eggs are small-sized.”
Mr. Salvin says (Ibis, 1859, p. 5):'—“ It breeds commonly at Dueñas in the months of April
and May, making a nest of roots, fibres, and small twigs, with a lining of dry grass and fine roots.
The eggs, three in number, are more or less covered with spots and blotches of red-brown on a
ground of pale bluish green, the spots being more concentrated at the obtuse end. They measure
1 inch ¡¡I lines in axis and 10£ lines in diameter.”
Adult male. General colour above russet-brown, with a strong tinge of olive, the wing-coverts
like the back; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills dusky brown, externally like the back; tail-
feathers ashy-brown, washed on the outer webs with the same colour as the back; crown of head
ruddy-brown, slightly less olive and more rufescent than the back; lores, feathers below the eye, and
ear-coverts dull reddish-brown, the latter with obsolete pale shaft-lines; under surface of body sandy
fawn-colour, browner on the, fore-neck and chest, the throat and cheeks lighter and verging to whitish
on the chin; the cheeks and throat distinctly streaked with rows of dusky brown spots; abdomen
and under tail-coverts and thighs pale sandy-buff, the longer coverts with dark brown bases; axillaries
and under wing-coverts pale orange-buff, a shade of which also pervades the sides of the body; quills
dusky brown below, light orange-buff along the inner web. Total length 9*5 inches, culmen 0*9,
wing 4*85, tail 4#0, tarsus 1*3.
Adult female. Similar to the male. Total length 9 inches, culmen 0 -9, wing 4'85, tail 3*8,
tarsus 1*2.
The specimens described are in winter plumage, the female being from Playa Vicente (Dec.)
and the male from Jalapa (March). In April and May the birds are evidently breeding, and
Mr. Richardson obtained eggs in the latter month at Valles in San Luis Potosi. The ruddy tint of
the winter plumage is almost entirely abraded, and the colour of the upper surface becomes ashy-olive,
while the under surface is remarkably paler than in winter, and the fore-neck and chest are stone-
brown, with an ashy tinge, and are not nearly so dark brown as in winter.
Young birds, procured in August, are rather darker brown than the adults, and have distinct
mesial shaft-streaks of orange-buff, widening out at the end of the wing-coverts into triangular
spots. The under surface of the body is orange-buff, the throat, abdomen, and under tail-coverts
being unspotted; the fore-neck and chest rather darker than the rest of the under surface, and
heavily spotted with dusky blackish, the feathers of the breast and abdomen with dusky brown ends,
producing a spotted appearance.
The figures in the Plate are drawn from specimens in the Seebohm Collection:—that of T. grayi
being from Costa Rica, and that of so-called T. casius from Panama. [R. B. S.]