CRATEROPUS REINWARDII.
Black masked Thrush.
Of the habits of this plain, but singularly formed bird, we know nothing. It is, we believe, one of the numerous discoveries made by that able Zoologist, Professor Reinwardt, in the Indian Islands; and should it not be already described, (a point we cannot fully ascertain,) we trust it may be allowed to bear the name of one, whose important labours merit the thanks and respect of all the scientific world.
CRATEROPUS Reinwardii.
Black-masked, or Reinwardts Thrush.
Family Merulidæ. Sub-family Macropodianæ.
Generic Character.
Bill hard, compressed, either slightly notched or entire: wings and tail rounded, the former short, the latter broad. Feet remarkably large and strong; the two outer fore toes equal, the middle lengthened; hind toe and claw very large; claws compressed, strong, and but slightly curved.
Specific Character.
Above grey; throat spotted; wings and tail brown; head and ears black; chin white.
In Mus. Paris. Nost.
The length of our specimen, as indicated by the scale on the plate, is ten inches and three quarters. The feet, in all their details, are uncommonly strong, while the wings are feeble and much rounded. The fifth and sixth quills are longest; the scapular quills and the tail feathers, when held to the light, exhibit transverse dark shades.
We have elsewhere pointed out[1] the characters by which the strong legged Thrushes form one of the sub-families of the Merulidæ; the two other aberrant divisions, being represented by the true Orioles (Oriolinæ,) and the short legged Thrushes (Brachypinæ.) That these form a circle of their own, independant of the Ant Thrushes (Myotherinæ,) and the true Thrushes (Merulinæ) has unintentionally been proved by M. M. Temminck and Vigors; the first in proposing, and the latter in adopting, the genus Ixos; an artificial group, compounded of birds totally dissimilar to each other, but which, in the progression of certain species, demonstrate the circular arrangement of the three subfamilies above named.
- ↑ Northern Zoology, Vol. ii.