The STONE THRUSHES, or ROCK WAGTAILS (_Petrocincla_), are comparatively large birds, recognisable by their slender body and strong, awl-shaped beak, which is broad at its base; the upper mandible is slightly arched, and curved at its tip; the tarsi are armed with very decidedly bent claws; the wing is long, its third quill exceeding the rest in length, while the tail is short, and almost straight at its extremity. The plumage is smooth, bright-tinted, and sometimes much variegated. THE STONE THRUSH, OR ROCK WAGTAIL. The STONE THRUSH, or ROCK WAGTAIL (_Petrocincla-Turdus-saxatilis_), is a magnificently-coloured bird, about eight inches long and fourteen broad. The head, face, part of the throat, nape, and rump are of a beautiful blueish grey, the entire under side is bright rust-red, the quills are blackish brown, the shoulder-feathers deep grey or slaty black; the two centre tail-feathers are dark grey, and those at the exterior rust-red. In autumn all the small feathers have light edges. The female is of a pale brown, spotted with a still lighter shade on the upper part of the body, whilst the rust-red feathers on the under side are darkly bordered: the throat is white. In both sexes the eyes are reddish brown, the beak pale black, and the feet of a reddish hue; the young resemble the mother. These birds frequent all the mountain regions of Southern Europe, but are also known to breed in some part of Austria, in the Tyrol, along the course of the Rhine, and occasionally in Bohemia and in the Hartz Mountains: in Italy and Greece they are especially numerous, and everywhere appear to prefer the rocky valleys lying immediately at the foot of mountain ranges to the precipices or towering heights occupied by the group last described.