Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/210

174 TuRDus FELivox, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 75-

MusciCAPA CAROHNENSis, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 328 — Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 483.

Orpheus felivox, Swains, and Richards. Fauna Bor. Amer. part ii. p. 192.

Cat Bird, Turdus lividds, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 90. pi. 20. fig. 3 — Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 332.

Adult Male. Plate CXXVIII. Fig. 1.

Bill of moderate length, rather weak, slightly arched, broad at the base, compressed towards the end acute ; upper mandible with the ridge rather acute, the sides convex, the edges sharp, the tip a little decUnate ; lower mandible nearly straight. Nostrils basal, oblong, half closed above by a membrane, and partially concealed by the feathers. Head of ordi- nary size, neck rather long, general form slender. Feet of ordinary length, slender ; tarsus compressed, anteriorly scutellate, acute behind ; toes free, scutellate above, the lateral ones nearly equal ; hind toe rather stronger ; claws compressed, arched, acute.

Plumage soft and blended. Bristles at the base of the bill. Feathers of the hind head longish. Wings of ordinary length, broad, rounded, the fifth quill longest, the fourth nearly equal, the first very short. Tail long, rounded, of twelve straight narrowly rounded feathers.

Bill black. Iris hazel. Feet dark umber. The general colour of the plumage above is blackish-grey, the head and tail brownish-black, as are the inner webs of the quills. The cheeks, and under surface in gene- ral, deep bluish-grey, the abdomen paler, and the under tail-coverts brownish-red. The outer tail-feather transversely barred with white on the inner web.

Length 9 inches, extent of wings 12 ; bill along the ridge ^^, along the edge jf| ; tarsus ^^.

Adult Female. Plate CXXVIII. Fig. 2.

The female is a little paler in the tints of the plumage, but in other re- spects is similar to the male.

The Cat Bird, both in the form of its bill, and the colour of its plumage, as well as in many of its habits, is closely allied to several Flycatchers, while in other respects it approaches the genus Turdus, and especially that section of it which contains the Mocking Birds.