1886.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



167 



accompauied hj remarks by himself. Brebm's remarks accomijanyiug 

 the observation on the Eing-Ouzel's loud and penetrating song contains 

 a parallel comparison of the two species (pp. 91-93), as follows: 



The Northern Eixg-Ouzel. 



The Alpixe Ring Ouzel. 



Merula forquata auct. Alerula alpesiris Br. 



(Male iu spring.) 



Bill yellow, witli a more or less intensive dusky tinge. 



The entire bird, except the somewhat 

 lighter-colored wings, black with a white 

 semi-collar on the lower neck. 



In autumn the male of this species also 

 has white margins to the feathers ; but 

 they are narrow and disappear entirely 

 in the spring. It has never white spots 

 in tlie middle of the feathers. 



The female is more spotted than the 

 male on account of the light margins 

 being broader, although even in the au- 

 tumn much less so than Merula alpesiris, 

 and assumes in summer, when these mar- 

 gins partly or entirely disappear, a brown- 

 ish appearance, which is brought out in 

 contrast with the grayish- white collar. 



The young plumage is unknown to me. 



It inhabits Northern Europe, migrating 

 through Germany along the mountain 

 chains. It is the only species occurring 

 in Northern and Middle Germany. I can 

 assert this with the greatest certainty, 

 since all the specimens which 1 have ob- 

 tained from Northern Germany, from the 

 present region [Rentendorf], from the 

 mountains of the Voigtland, and from 

 the Thuringian Forest belong to the pres- 

 ent species. This is the bird which Bech- 

 stein possessed, for he could get no other 

 in Thuringia, as no other occurs there. 

 It has the song described by him, the 

 father of German ornithology, and not at 

 all the loud whistle of its near relative. 



The upper surface black, rather pale or 

 dull; under surface very spotted and 

 varigated, all feathers below the white 

 collar having white margins which never 

 disappear and most of them liossessing 

 white spots in the viiddle of the feathers, 

 which are most pi'ominent in summer, 

 and which are never seeu in Merula tor- 

 quafa. 



In autumn the appearance of the liiale 

 is very varigated, because the margins to 

 the feathers are very broad, and the same 

 is the case with the female. She also 

 pi'esents a very varigated aspect on ac- 

 count of the whitish margins and medial 

 sijeculum to the feathers, and in autumn, 

 especially in the first year, the margins 

 are so broad grayish white that the bird 

 shows more white than dusky. lu the 

 young plumage the bird is hardly recog- 

 nizable. The entire upper surface is 

 blackish brown, in the female more gray- 

 ish black, with whitish yellow shaft 

 streaks and light margins to the feathers, 

 broadest on the wings, which thereby 

 appear quite light ; the whole under sur- 

 face is spotted transversely yellowish 

 white and black, the male often with 

 nearly entirely white throat. 



It inhabits the southern Alps, especially 

 those of Tyrol and Kaeruthen, and goes 

 as far as the Riesengcbirge. Those which 

 Gloger col'ected there, and all which 

 I have obtained through my friends 

 from Salzburg, Tyrol, Kaeruthen, and 

 Vienna, belong to this species. This is 

 the bird which my collaborator [Count 

 von Gourcy Droitaumont] had in his pos- 

 session, and the only one which he could 

 have had, for the northern species is not 

 represented among the 18 specimens which 

 I have received from the countries just 

 mentioned. This is the bird that has 

 the loud, penetrating song, which has 

 been described above. 



