A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 1. Robert Ridgway
stout, straight, scarcely tapering, strongly hooked. Nostrils abortive. Gular sac moderate, but evident; mostly naked. Wings short. Tail large, fan-shaped, scansorial, of twelve to fourteen broad stiff feathers, exposed to the base. Legs inserted far behind centre of equilibrium … Graculidæ.
Bill rather longer than head, slender, perfectly straight, tapering to an acute tip. Gular sac small. Nostrils minute. Wings and tail, and general configuration, as in the last … Plotidæ.
Bill much longer than head, straight, stout, strongly hooked. Nostrils very small. Gular sac well developed. Wings exceedingly long, strong, and pointed. Tail exceedingly long, deeply forked. Feet extraordinarily short; tarsi partly feathered … Tachypetidæ.
Bill about as long as head, straight, stout, tapering to an acute tip. Nostrils small. Gular sac rudimentary, feathered. Wings moderate, pointed. Tail short, but with two central feathers extraordinarily prolonged and filamentous. Feet small, beneath centre of equilibrium … Phæthontidæ.
Nostrils not tubular, lateral, perforate. Bill with continuous covering, or only broken by a sort of cere, hooked or straight to the end. Hallux small and elevated, but always present … Laridæ.
Nostrils tubular, disjoined and lateral, or oftenest superior and united in one double-barrelled tube. Covering of bill in several pieces; bill always hooked. Hallux minute, rudimentary, or absent … Procellariidæ.
Feet four-toed, palmate. Hallux lobate, connected at base with base of inner toe. Tail perfect. Head closely and completely feathered. Nostrils with a depending lobe or flap. Bill straight, compressed, acute … Colymbidæ.
Feet four-toed, lobate. Hallux lobate, free. Tail rudimentary. Head with a naked loral strip and bristly or variously lengthened feathers. Nostrils simple. Bill straight or decurved at end, compressed, acute … Podicipidæ.
Feet three-toed, palmate. Hallux absent. Tail perfect. Head closely feathered or variously crested. Nostrils simple. Bill of indeterminate shape … Alcidæ.
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS
Family TURDIDÆ.—The Thrushes
The Turdidæ, with the Saxicolidæ and Cinclidæ, form a group closely related, by common characters, and appreciably different from the other Oscines with slender bills and specially insectivorous habits, having, like them, ten primaries (the first much shorter than the second, but nearly always appreciable), and the nostrils uncovered. The great family of Sylvicolidæ, with similar characters of the bill, never present more than nine primaries. The most striking of these common characters is seen in the deeply cleft toes, of which the outer is united by the basal joint alone to the middle toe, while the inner is separated almost to the very base of its first joint.21 The frontal feathers extend, with rare exceptions, to the very nostrils. The bill is elongated and subulate, moderately slender, and usually notched at tip; the culmen moderately curved from the base, and the mouth well provided with bristles, except in a few cases. Usually the scutellæ covering the front and sides of the tarsus are fused into one continuous plate, or else scarcely appreciable, except on the inner edge only; in the Mocking Thrushes they are, however, distinctly marked. The lateral toes are nearly equal, the outer rather the longer. With these as some of the principal characteristics, they may be distinguished from each other as follows:—
Note.—In the present work the length of the tail is measured from the coccyx, inside of the skin, and not, as usually the case, from the base of the quills at their insertion. The wings are measured from the carpal joint, with dividers.
A. Nostrils oval. Loral and frontal feathers with bristly points, or interspersed with bristles; rictus with longer or shorter bristles.
Saxicolidæ. Wings very long and much pointed, reaching beyond the middle of the short square or emarginated tail, and one and a half times or more the length of the latter. The spurious primary very short, the second quill longer than the fourth. In the closed wing the outer secondary reaches only about two thirds the length of longest primary.
Turdidæ. Wings moderate, more rounded, not reaching beyond middle of the often rounded tail, and not more than one and a third the latter, usually more nearly equal. Spurious primary sometimes half the length of second quill; the second quill shorter than the fourth. In the closed wing the outer secondary reaches three fourths or more the length of longest primary.
B. Nostrils linear, in lower edge of nasal membrane. Loral and frontal feathers soft and downy, and no bristles or bristly points whatever about the mouth.
Cinclidæ. Body very short and broad. Wings short, rounded, and concave.
The American Sylviidæ are in some respects very closely related to the Saxicolidæ, but may be distinguished by their much smaller size, more slender and depressed bill, more strongly bristled rictus, etc.; on which account they are more strictly “fly-catchers,” taking their prey in great part on the wing.
Of the three families, the Turdidæ contain a great variety of forms, and exhibit widely different characters, rendering it exceedingly difficult to arrange them in any systematic or regular sequence, or to accurately define their boundaries. In the Birds of North America, the Mocking Thrushes were placed among the Wrens, on account of the distinct tarsal scutellæ, and other characters. We are now, however, inclined to believe, with Dr. Sclater, that their place is with the recognized Turdidæ; and, among other reasons, on the ground of their more deeply cleft toes, and greater extension forward of frontal feathers. The following synopsis of the North American forms will serve the purpose of determining the genera, even if these are not arranged or combined in a strictly natural manner.
A. Turdinæ.—Tarsus covered anteriorly with a continuous plate without scales.
Wings decidedly longer than the tail, which is nearly even. Bill considerably shorter than the head.
First quill usually not one fourth the second. Wings pointed. Tarsus hardly the length of head, but yet longer than middle toe; outstretched toes falling short of tip of tail … Turdus.
B. Miminæ.—Tarsi scutellate anteriorly; scales seven.
Wings decidedly longer than the tail, which is nearly even. Tarsus as long as the head.
Bill decidedly shorter than the head, scarcely notched; wings pointed; first quill less than half the second, third and fourth longest. Claws not peculiar. Bristles prominent. Tarsus considerably longer than middle toe and claw … Oreoscoptes.
Wings decidedly shorter than the tail, which is considerably graduated; first quill half or more than half the second.
Bill notched at tip, shorter than head; straight.
Scutellæ very distinct; gonys straight, or even declining at tip … Mimus.
Scutellæ more or less obsolete; gonys convex, ascending at tip … Galeoscoptes.
Bill not notched at tip, lengthened; sometimes much decurved … Harporhynchus.
Note.—In the Review of American Birds, I., May, 1866, 409, I have advanced the suggestion that the N. American genus Myiadestes, usually placed under the Ampelidæ, really belongs under Turdidæ in a group Myiadestinæ. The relationships are certainly very close, as is shown by the characters given below.
Common Characters.—Tarsi without regular transverse scutellæ, except at lower end. Wings acute, pointed, as long as or longer than tail, which is but slightly graduated. First primary rarely half second, which exceeds the secondaries. Base of quills buffy yellow, as are inner edges. Tail spotted or varied at the end. Young birds with many light spots. Very melodious singers.
Myiadestinæ. Bill short, much depressed; mouth deeply cleft; width at base about equal to the distance from nostril to tip, or greater; commissure more
In a perfectly fresh specimen of
When the toes are all extended in line with the tarsus, the hind claw stretches a little beyond the lateral and scarcely reaches the base of the middle claw.
The plates at the upper surface of the basal joints of the toes are quadrangular and opposite each other.