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oF NaTurRAL History

Number 63 July 9, 1962 New Haven, Conn.

BRIEF COMMENTS ON THE THRUSHES

S. Ditton RiIeLtey

In Postilla no. 13, 1952, pp. 1-48 et seq., 1952, 1954, I
published a fairly extensive review of this large and sprawl-
ing subfamily of the Old World Muscicapidae. More recently I
have been gathering data on this assemblage for Peters’ Check-
list, and so it appears worthwhile to list here a few of the
changes and revisions which have been made subsequent to my
earlier publication.

Certain large general works have been of the greatest use
such as Chapin’s (1953) section on thrushes in his monograph
on birds of the Congo, Vaurie’s (1959) monograph on Palearc-
tic birds and Mackworth-Praed and Grant’s (1955) volumes
on birds of eastern Africa. In addition shorter papers have been
of value such as that of White (1961) on African thrush
genera. I have been very grateful for comments and help re-
ceived from Messrs. Clancey, Deignan, Dilger, Charles Hart-
shorne, Ivanov, Johansen, Mmes. B. P. Hall and E. Koslova,
Messrs. Lees-Smith, Meinertzhagen, Terence Oatley, George
Watson, White, and Winterbottom.

After correspondence and discussion with these various
authors, as well as with the editors of the Chech-list, Messrs.
Greenway, Mayr, and Paynter, it appeared wise to retain the
Prunellidae as a monotypic family close to the thrushes. I

2 Postilla Yale Peabody Museum No. 63

believe my preliminary revisional work of 1952 has served a
good purpose, however, in raising comments and criticism.
Without such preliminary work and the subsequent eddies and
fluctuations of opinion aroused, little long-range revisional
work would be possible.

Erythropygia, Cercotrichas, and Pinarornis.

Following the suggestion of White (1961), I have grouped
Cercotrichas and Pinarornis next to Erythropygia. I do not
agree to merging Cercotrichas with Erythropygia. This is a
rather distinct species and such field workers as Meinertzhagen
(1954) would keep them decidedly separate.

Pogonocichla and Erithacus.

Moreau’s interesting paper (1951) offers evidence that
Pogonocichla with two included species has characters which set
it sufficiently apart to be kept as a separate genus. Little
published work has convinced me that the genus Erithacus can-
not be kept as an expanded genus. Japanese workers, among
them Morioka (in litt.), point out the close resemblance of the
Japanese robin, akahige to the European rubecula, contra Lack
(1954). More recently Hall (1961) has suggested adding the
species gabela, described from Angola in 1957, to the genus
Erithacus.

Cossypha and Nenocopsychus.

The reasons advanced by White (1961) for transferring
Nenocopsychus to Cossypha seem provocative, and I ac-
cordingly have followed this suggestion, having already in-
cluded Dessonornis (Bessonornis auct.) earlier.

Pseudocossyphus.

I have removed the species sharpet and imerina from
Cossypha and placed them in Pseudocossyphus following Good-
win (1956) whose suggestions and evidence I have found most

helpful.

July 9, 1962 Brief Comments en the Thrushes 3

Rhyacornis and Chaimarrornis.

li

I also follow Gocdwin (1957) in keeping Rhyacornis—as a
separate genus for the small tropical redstarts with such dis-
tinctive alternate plumages, and placing Chaimarrornis close
to Monticola following Oenanthe.

Grandala and Sialia.

It is not obvious to anyone apparently where Grandala
should be listed. I leave it near Sialia for lack of a better linear
arrangement suggestion, not out of any conviction on the basis
of anatomy or phenotypic characters.

Phaeornis.

From personal observation in the field and listening to
songs I have decided that my earlier feeling that Phaeornis
was close to Myadestes following Stejneger (1887) was wrong.
Phaeornis has two species on Kauai Island which overlap ecolo-
gically. The larger, a subspecies of obscurus, has a broad bill
which resembles a solitaire. I believe it is a secondary adapta-
tion to coexistence in an overlapping niche, the separate first
invader being small and possessing a much smaller bill. In
powerful song and apparently in habits these birds seem far
closer to Catharus especially the central American nightingale-
thrush group.

Stizorhina.

Stizorhina may well prove to be a flycatcher. Unpublished
work in this laboratory (Ames ms.) shows un-turdine-like indi-
cations in the syrinx of S. fraseri although the evidence is by ne
means compelling, as Myadestes also has a very similar syrinx.

Myrmecocichla, Pentholaea and T'hamnolaea.

I follow White (1961) in combining Pentholaea with
Myrmecocichla, although I keep Thamnolaea distinct, both on

4 Postilla Yale Peabody Museum No. 63

account of slight plumage differences as well as partially of
habits, as Cave and Macdonald (1955) emphasize for T'. coro-
nata. I have moved the Buff-streaked Chat, bifasciata, to
Oenanthe on further examination, convinced that in plumage
and behavior it fits better with the wheatears.

Catharus and Platycichla.

A few species changes have been made in the arrangement
of Catharus on the advice of various tropical American special-
ists such as Messrs. Blake, Paynter, Skutch, and Wetmore. I
have placed Platycichla as a separate genus on the advice of
several authors including Messrs. Bond and Phelps (personal
communication ).

Turdus.

For advice on the large genus T'urdus I have been much
indebted to Dr. Chapin and Mrs. Hall on African species and
specimens in the British Museum. This huge genus with more
than sixty-five species is a difficult one to arrange and I have
felt constrained to list the species regionally beginning with
Africa and ending with the New World. I have valued Dr.
Wetmore’s comments on ignobilis and plebejus which I have
separated as two species. I have also moved swalesi near to our
North American robin, feeling that this species is merely a
relict robin.

Several problematical genera have been removed from the
arrangements of thrushes of earlier authors just as others
have been added to it. Some of these former are T'urnagra, the
New Zealand “thrush,” obviously not a thrush at all, vide Oliver
(1955), who places the genus in a separate family based on the
presence of mouth bristles, union of maxillo-palatines, long
first primary and lack of spotted young. Namibornis (or
Bradornis) herero,the south West African flycatcher, Achaé-
tops, another South West African genus, inadvertently as-
signed to the thrushes by the South African Ornithological
Society List Committee (1958), and “Cercomela” buryi which

July 9, 1962 Brief Comments on the Thrushes 5

may or may not be a Parisoma, but certainly with its wing
structure appears to be a warbler rather than a chat, are all
problematical species which I would include in the Musci-
capinae, Timaliinae and Sylviinae respectively.

Lirerarure CIrep

Cave, F. O. and J. D. Macdonald, 1955. Birds of the Sudan, Edinburgh,
p. 275.

Chapin, J. P., 1953. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 75A: 480-593.

Goodwin, D., 1956. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 76: 143-4.

, 1957. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 77: 110-113.

Hall, B. P., 1961. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 81: 45-6.

Mackworth-Praed, C. W. and C. H. B. Grant, 1955. African Handbook
Birds, ser. 1, 2: 227-333.

Meinertzhagen, R., 1954. Birds of Arabia, pp. 220-2, 266-7.

Moreau, R. E., 1951. Ibis, 93: 383-401.

Oliver, W. R. B., 1955. New Zealand Birds (2 ed.) Wellington, p. 524.

Second Report of the S. A. O. S. List Committee, 1958. Ostrich, vol. 29, (1),

p. 37.
Stejneger, L., 1887. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 10: 90.
Vaurie, C., 1959. Birds Palearctic Fauna. London, pp. 333-419.

White, C. M. N., 1961. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 81: 117-119, 150-152, 164-168.

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