134 TUBDID^. 



of the head ashy brown, the shafts of the ear-coverts whitish ; 

 chin and upper throat white streaked with brown, the streaks in- 

 creasing in number at the sides ; upper breast olivaceous, spotted 

 with black ; middle of lower breast, abdomen, vent, and under 

 tail-coverts white ; sides of breast, sides of body, axillaries, and 

 under wiug-co verts bright orange-ferruginous. 



In the male the bill and orbital skin are yellow ; iris deep brown ; 

 legs and feet dusky orauge-yellow (Gripjps). In the female the 

 legs, feet, bill, and eyelids are wax-yellow {Hume) ; iris deep brown 

 (Scully). 



Length about 9 ; tail 3*3 ; wing 4*7 ; tarsus 1*3 ; bill from 

 gape 1"1. 



The synonymy of M. protomomelcena has been determined entirely 

 by a careful perusal of the various original descriptions of the bird, 

 which fortunately are sufficiently in detail to render the identification 

 certain. Judging from Hume's remarks (S. F. ix, p. 103), any appeal 

 to Blyth's types in the Indian Museum on this point must prove 

 useless if not misleading. Blyth applied the name Turclus dissimilis 

 to specimens of both if. unicolor and M.protomomelcena, confounding 

 the two together, and consequently it is advisable to discard this 

 name. 



Distribution. I have examined specimens of this Ouzel from 

 Dibrugarh in Assam, the Tipperah hills and Manipur. Blyth 

 appears to have procured it from the neighbourhood of Calcutta, 

 and I know of no other locality for this species, which is probably 

 a constant resident in the above-mentioned places. 



Scully (S. F. viii, p. 284) records a specimen of this Ouzel from 

 Nepal, but judging from his description, in which a supercilium is 

 mentioned, and the sides of the breast and flanks are referred to 

 as ferruginous, there can be little doubt that the bird was M. obscura, 

 which Hodgson procured in Nepal, one of his specimens being now 

 in the British Museum. 



680. Merula obscura. The Dark Ouzel. 



Turdus obscurus, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i, p. 816 ; Hume fy Dav. S. F. vi, 

 p. 251 ; Hume, Cat. no. 369 bis ; id. S. F. xi, p. 130. 



Tardus pallens, Pall. Zooc/r. Rosso-Asiat. i, p. 457 (1811). 



Turdus rufulus, Drop. Diet. Class. ctHist. Nat. x, p. 443 (1826) ; 

 Horsf.fyM. Cat. i, p. 401. 



Turdus modestus, Eyton, P. Z. 8. 1839, p. 103. 



Turdus javanicus?, Horsf., Blyth, Cat. p. 161. 



Geocichla dissimilis {Blyth), Scully, S. F. viii, p. 284, 



Merula obscura (Gm.), Seebohm, Cat B. M. v, p. 273 ; Oales, B. B. 

 i, p. 1. 



Geocichla unicolor (Tick.), apud Butler, S. F. ix, p. 399. 



Coloration. Male. Upper plumage olive-brown ; the forehead, 

 crown, and nape in old birds tiuged with ashy ; lores black ; a broad 

 white supercilium from the lores to the nape ; chin, a patch at base 

 of bill, and under the eye white ; ear-coverts and the whole throat 

 dark slaty brown ; breast and sides of the body chestnut-brown ; 



