MEBFLA. 129 



674. Merula fuscata. The Dusky Ouzel. 



Turdus fuscatus, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso- Asiat. i, p. 451, pi. xii (1813). 

 Planesticus fuscatus (Pall.), Jerd. B. I. i, p. 530 ; Godw.-Aust. J. A. 



S. B. xliii, pt. ii, p. 159, xlv, pt. ii, p. 72. 

 Turdus dubius, Beehst. apud Hume, Cat. no. 366. 

 Merula fuscata (Pall), Seebohm, Cat. B. M. v, p. 262. 

 The Dusky Thrush, Jerd. 



Coloration. Male. After the autumn moult the forehead, crown, 

 and nape are black, with narrow grey margins ; the remaining 

 upper plumage black, with broad rufous-grey margins, the rufous 

 increasing in intensity towards the tail ; wing-coverts and quills 

 blackish, each feather margined exteriorly with dull chestnut; tail 

 black, very narrowly edged with rufous ; a distinct pale buff super- 

 cilium from the nostril to the nape ; lores and ear-coverts black ; 

 chin, throat, upper breast, and sides of the head and neck pale buff, 

 with a few brown marks ; lower breast and sides of the body black, 

 the former with narrow, the latter with broad, white margins ; 

 abdomen white ; under tail-coverts brown, broadly edged with 

 white ; axillaries and under wing-coverts dull chestnut. 



Female. Differs from the male in having the dark portions of 

 the upper plumage brown, in having the chin and throat much 

 spotted with black, and in having the black on the lower breast 

 much less in extent. 



In the spring the margins on the upper plumage disappear, and 

 these parts become nearly uniform black or brown. Borne birds 

 from Siberia, however, exhibit a large amount of rufous on the 

 upper plumage even in the height of summer, the black or brown 

 parts becoming very worn and faded. 



Young birds after the first autumn moult have the black centres 

 to the feathers of the upper plumage smaller than in adults, the 

 chin and throat very much streaked and spotted and less black on 

 the lower parts. 



Iris dark brown ; bill horny brown, yellowish towards the base 

 of the lower mandible ; legs light brown ( Wardlaw- Ramsay) ; iris 

 dark brown, bill black above, dull yellow below, legs dull brown 

 (Godw.-Aust.). 



Length about 9-5 ; tail 3*5 ; wing 5 ; tarsus 1*25 ; bill from 

 gape 1. 



Distribution. A rare winter visitor to the north-eastern portion 

 of the Empire. Hodgson procured this species in Nepal; Godwin- 

 Austen at Harmutti in the Daphla hills in Assam and on the peak 

 of Japvo, the highest point of the Burrail range, at 10,000 feet ; 

 Hume at Shillong and Dibrugarh in Assam, and Wardlaw-liainsay 

 at Toungngoo in Burma. A specimen in the Hume Collection 

 from the Bhutan Doars, referred to this species, appears to me to 

 be M. atrigularis in immature plumage. 



This Ouzel summers in the eastern portion of Siberia, and is 

 found in winter in Japan and China. Occasionally it wanders 

 into Europe. 



VOL. II. k 



