The species was first described from Paraguay by Azara, and recently Dr. Borelli has obtained
it in the same country, at Paraguari in Central Paraguay in August, and again at Concepcion in
the highlands in October (Salvadori, Boll. Mus. 'Torino, x. p. 2). According to Mr. Graham Kerr
it is abundant on the Pilcomayo (Ibis, 1892, p. 122).
It is a frequent species in collections from Rio, and Mr. Euler says that it is the commonest of
the Thrushes at Cantagallo in that Province (J. f. O. 1867, p. 408). Mr. Konigswald records it
from San Paulo (J. f. O. 1896, p. 345), and specimens obtained by Mr. Joyner at Pelotas in
Rio Grande do Sul are in the Salvin-Godman Collection. Natterer’s localities for this Thrush are
as follows:—Rio de Janeiro, December; Sapitiba, March; Registo do Sai, April; Mattodentro,
December; Ypanema, April, June, July, August; Curytiba, October; Villa de Castro, December;
Goiaz, September; Cuyaba, January.
Specimens from Bahia and Pernambuco are in the British Museum. Compared with the series
from Rio, the Bahia skins show slight variations. Both summer and winter plumages of the two
forms are before me, and there is certainly as much difference between them as in some- of the
African species which are universally recognized by naturalists at the present day ; but I find that in
summer plumage it is impossible to distinguish the two birds, though in winter dress the southern
birds are much deeper olive in colour. Count Von Berlepsch, however, writes to me that the series
in his collection does not confirm my conclusions.
Prince Maximilian of Neuwied observes:—“ I found this Thrush of fairly common occurrence,
and especially abundant near Espirito Santo. It frequents not only the large woods, but also straggling
bushes. No song worth mention has ever been noticed. Its nest is built in a thick shrub and
placed in a fork of a branch, or upon the thick portion of the branch itself. It exactly resembles
the nest of our Blackbird (T. merula) ; it is made of small roots of some plant, is fairly large, and
interwoven with dried rootlets and small delicate twigs trodden down. A nest with three somewhat
elongated blunt-pointed eggs, of a beautiful green colour flecked with liver-brown, was found
in December.”
Mr. W. A. Forbes procured specimens in Pernambuco, and writes as follows :—“ I found
this Thrush common all over the districts I visited, except in the immediate neighbourhood of
Recife. In its habits it much resembles the Common Thrush {T. musicus) of England, spending
a good deal of its time on the ground in pursuit of its food. It is usually to be seen in paths
in the lower second growth, or in the clearings for railways, on the line itself, and is not found in
the thick forests. The Brazilians call this Thrush * Sabia,’ as well as T. fvmigatus, and esteem
it highly for eating-purposes. Probably on this account it has become rare near Recife, and shy
elsewhere in the neighbourhood of towns ” (Ibis, 1881, p. 327).
There is a specimen from Bolivia, from the Eyton Collection, in the British Museum. .
Mr. W. H. Hudson writes:—“ The Red-bellied Thrush is a noisy, strong-winged, quarrelsome
bird, closely resembling the Dusky Thrush in its manners. It inhabits forests, runs on the ground
in search of food, and, when approached, darts away with loud chuckling notes, flying close to the
ground. These birds are often seen pursuing each other through the trees with loud harsh screams.
The song has a faint resemblance to that of the English Song-Thrush, being composed of a variety
of notes uttered in the same disconnected manner, with frequent pauses; but it is, both in sweetness
and strength, inferior to that of the English bird. As a rule this Thrush sings concealed in a thick
bush or tree. The nest is deep, well made,-plastered inside with mud, and concealed in the centre
of a large bush or low tree. The eggs are four, pale blue in colour, and thickly spotted with
brown.”
“ On the Pilcomayo,” says Mr. Graham Kerr, “ it frequents the open woods and bush. Its
favourite feeding-grounds are the open spaces near the river, which are liable to occasional flooding
from it. On one occasion I observed this species fishing in a shallow pool, pursuing the small
fishes and shrimps by hopping after them from one end of the pool to the other.”
Mr. Euler says that at Cantagallo the species nests in bushes, hedges, and fruit-trees in gardens,
and it especially affects the more densely clothed orange-trees, placing its nest at a height of
from five to ten feet from the ground. He has also found the nest in the upper branches of a high
“manga” tree, quite forty feet up, and again on a tree-stump only two feet high, but always resting
on a solid foundation ; it is placed either by itself in the fork of a branch or touching the stem, but
is always concealed by the foliage. The nest is a deep cup like that of other Thrushes. The eggs
are of a beautiful yellowish-green, with longitudinal zigzag spots distributed over the surface.
Adult. General colour above olive-brown with an ashy tinge, the rump and upper tail-coverts
more distinctly ashy; wing-coverts like the back; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills dark
sepia-brown, edged with ashy, more broadly on the secondaries; tail-feathers brown, shaded with
ashy on their margins; head and neck like the back; lores ashy whitish; cheeks and ear-coverts
ashy-brown, the latter with whitish hair-like shaft-lines; chin and throat white, with narrow
streaks of dusky brown, the fore-neck pervaded with ashy; remainder of under surface from the chest
downwards rich chestnut, including the under tail-coverts, the smallest of which have ashy-olive
margins; thighs ashy, washed with rufous; under wing-coverts and axillaries chestnut like the
breast;. quills dusky brown, rufous along the inner webs : “ bill yellowish horn-colour; feet pale
brown; eyelids orange; inside of mouth ochre ” (0 . V. Apliri). Total length 9 inches, culmen 0*95,
wing 4*6, tail 3*7, tarsus 1*35.
Adult female. Similar to the male in colour: “ bill yellow; feet greenish; iris yellow ”
{Alan Peel). Total length 9 inches, culmen 1*0, wing 4*9, tail 3*8, tarsus 1*4.
In winter plumage the adult birds are much more olive and not so grey as in summer, the throat
is dull white, obscurely streaked with dusky brown, and the fore-neck and breast are overshaded with
brown in contrast to the rufous of the abdomen.
The specimens figured are a Bahia specimen and one from Misiones in the Seebohm Collection.
I have described examples from Rio de Janeiro and from Uruguay. [R. B. S.]