MERDXA. 125 



Female. The small series of this bird in the British Museum 

 appears to cousist entirely of males. Legge thus describes the 

 female : — Above dark bluish slate, pervaded with brownish on the 

 head, the margins of all the feathers black ; outer webs of pri- 

 maries and secondaries washed with brownish slaty ; tail blackish 

 brown ; beneath slaty washed with earthy brown, the feathers of 

 the abdomen sometimes with light shaft-streaks ; under wing- 

 coverts edged with earthy brown. 



In the male the iris is pale.brown ; eyelid and bill orange-yellow ; 

 legs and feet paler yellow than the bill ; claws yellowish horny. In 

 the female the bill is yellowish orange ; eyelid yellow ; legs and 

 feet pale yellow (Legge). 



Length about 9-5 ; tail 3'6 to 4 ; wing 4-3 to 4-5 ; tarsus 1*3 ; 

 bill from gape 1"2. 



This species differs from M. maxima in being very much smaller 

 and in having yellow feet ; from M. simillima in being smaller and 

 blacker ; from M. bourdilloni also in being smaller, and in having 

 the feathers of the upper plumage margined with bluish grey ; and 

 from M. enjthrotis in having the whole head black or brown. 



Distribution. A resident in the forests of Ceylon above 2500 feet 

 elevation. Breeds from April to June, constructing a cup-shaped 

 nest in trees, and laying four eggs, which are pale green marked 

 with reddish-brown and umber, and measure about 1*05 by '82. 



669. Merula bourdilloni. Bourdillons Blackbird. 



Merula kinnisi (Kelaart), apud Hume, S. F. vii, p. 35; Terry, S. F. 



x, p. 474. 

 Merula bourdilloni, Seebohm, Cat. B. M. v, p. 251, pi. xv (1881) ; 



Oates in Hume's N. $• E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 91. 



Coloration. Male. The whole upper plumage deep black ; tail 

 black ; wings black, the outer webs of the feathers suffused with 

 slaty grey ; the whole lower plumage blackish brown. 



Female. The only bird of this sex that I have seen has the whole 

 upper plumage dark bi'own tinged with olivaceous, the chin and 

 throat whity brown, and the lower plumage fulvous ashy. 



In the male the bill, legs, feet, and claws bright orange-red ; iris 

 dark brown (Hume Coll.). 



Length about 9 - 5 ; tail 3'6 to 4 ; wing 4*6 to 5 ; tarsus 1*25 ; 

 bill from gape 1*2. 



This species, long accepted as M. kinnisi, differs from that species 

 in being larger and in having the upper plumage (in the males) deep 

 black without slaty margins. The legs would also appear to be of 

 a different colour, judging from the recorded colours above. I have 

 not been able to compare females of the two species together. 



Distribution. The hills of Southern Travancore, extending north 

 to the Palnis. This species does not appear to be found below 

 3000 feet. 



Habits, Sj-c. Breeds on the Palnis in May and June. The nest 



