yalley, m lat. 69°, on the 14th .of July. The winter plumage of the adult and the young hird after
its first moult are described from specimens obtained at the mouth of the Amur by the brothers
Doemes. .An adult female in winter plumage, from Krasnoyarsk, September 28th, 1879, is figured,
and with it a young male in first winter plumage from Shanghai, procured by Consul Swinhoe on
the 11th of February, 1870. [ B B S ] ' G e n u s M IM O C I C H L A .
Mimocichla, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 336 ; Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. v. p. 280 (1881).
Mimokitta, Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. ix. p. 371 (1865).
Mimocitta, Newton, Ibis, 1866, p. 121.
T he rounded white-tipped tail at once distinguishes this Antillean genus from the true Thrushes.
In the ‘ Catalogue of Birds’ (I. e.), Seebohm made the following remarks on its position ; only three
species were known to him in 1881:—“ The genus Mimocichla is a very small one, nearly allied to
Turdus and Merula, but differing from them in having a much more rounded tail, with the three or
four outside feathers on each side white at the tips for a considerable distance on the inside web.
They are also remarkable for the broad pale borders to the secondaries and wing-coverts. The bill
is slightly more slender than usual among the Thrushes, and the rictal bristles are small. • The
bastard-primary is small, and the second primary considerably longer than the secondaries. The legs
are pale in colour, and the tarsus unscutellated.”
Notwithstanding the significance of the generic name, which, by its proposer, was doubtless
meant to suggest a Thrush-like bird, and not a Mocking-bird (Mimus), the evidence of all observers
tends to show that the species of Mimocichla are true Thrushes in their habits.
Key to the Species.
a. Throat black.
a'. Belly ch e s tn u t.......................................................................................................................................{ ™bripes.
*6'. Belly slaty-grey, like* the back. coryi.
q,". Under tail-coverts sla ty -g rev .......................................................................................................plumbea.
b". Under tail-eov.erts white ............................................................................................schistacea.
b. Throat ashy-grey like the b re a st.............................................................................................................ravida.
c. Throat white, streaked with rows of triangular black spots.
c'. White of abdomen not extending to lower breast; no buff tinge on abd om en...................... ardesiaca.
d'. White of abdomen continued to the lower breast; a buff tinge on the abdomen; white
tips to the tail-feathers larger ................................................................. ..... albiventris.
The synonymy of this genus in the | Catalogue of Birds ’ is much confused, and I can hardly
believe that it was written by Mr. Seebohm himself. [R. B. S.]